Chapter 1- Teaching
Mathematics in the 21st Century
A question to ponder,
“Is the ability to
learn mathematics inherited or learnt through teaching?”
I
hated math during my school days. Till now I do not like to do count or do
calculations. I always had negative thoughts about Math, “Oh my god,
math is impossible”. Somehow I had passed this thinking to my own
children. Today my daughter hates math as much as I did in my school days. My
son on the other hand, loves this subject and excels in it. Perhaps it is
hereditary I thought, as my husband has a flair in this subject as well.
However after
reading the chapter, Teaching Mathematics in the 21st Century,
I agree with the authors that “Families and teachers attitudes toward
mathematics may enhance or detract from students’ ability to do math. It is
important for you and for students’ families to know that mathematics ability
is not inherited - anyone can learn mathematics” (p.9).
“It is you, the teacher, who will shape mathematics for the
students you teach” (p.1).
I
understand the important principles and standards for School Mathematics. Each
principle emphasizes on how children learn mathematics and the different
instructions, strategies used by the teacher for the children to excel in
mathematics. Teachers should bring technology into teaching to enhance
students’ learning of mathematics in the classroom.
“Teachers help children to think of themselves as mathematicians
in the same way as encouraging the children to think of themselves as readers.
I understand that teachers can be a better teacher if we are aware of the
following two criteria, your knowledge of mathematics and how students learn
mathematics are the most important tools you can acquire to be an effective
teacher of mathematics” (Van De Walle, Karp, Bay -William, 2013, p.1).
Chapter 2 – Exploring
what it means to know and do mathematics
Classroom environment
for doing Mathematics
“Students are
actively engaged in solving problems, and teachers are posing questions that
encourage students to make connections and understand the mathematics they are
exploring” (p.14).
I
agree with this statement, as I believe children cannot learn “Math” just by
observing or imitating the teacher. For young children, math is experience and
not something to be merely taught. Children should be actively engaged in their
learning and exploring of materials in the class environment. Teacher should
provide hands on experience where children can make connections with the real
world. It is saddening to see children being pushed into counting or addition, which
leads them to learn those skills through memorization instead of true understanding
of the concepts or the patterns involved. Rather than having children to sit
down and to do worksheets all the time, Children’s learning should take place
through child-initiated and self-discovery instead of teacher-directed
activities.
Children
learn best when they are interested and use experiences to construct their
knowledge. Piaget J. (as cited in Fosnot, 1996) believed that young children
use experience to construct or build knowledge. “This can happen in two
ways-assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation occurs when a new concept
“fits” with prior knowledge and new information expands an existing network. Accommodation
takes place when the new concept does not “fit” with the existing network so
the brain revamps or replaces the existing schema” (Van De Walle, Karp, Bay - William,
2013, p.20).
As stated by
the authors, “The worthwhile goal is to create an environment in which students
interact with each other and with you. The rich interaction in such a classroom
allows students to engage in reflective thinking and to internalize concepts
that may be out of reach without the interaction and input from peers and their
teachers”(p.22).
References
Van de Walle, J.A., Karp, K.S. &
Bay- Williams, J.M. (2013).
Elementary
and Middle School Mathematics: Teaching Developmentally (8thed.)
United States of America : Pearson
Education, Inc.
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Lesson 1 1/4/2013
How children learn and construct their knowledge?
On the first day of lesson, Dr.Yeap emphasized children's learning will take place in groups referring to Vygotsky's theory as "how children learn in social setting". I also believe that children learn through interaction. As Vygotsky mentions, "Children construct their knowledge through social interaction which simultaneously guides their cognitive development". I trust that children's learning will take place when teachers provide support, coaching, assistance and scaffolding in helping children to achieve the goal. I suggest that teachers should provide cooperative learning experiences where children can share their knowledge with adults and their peers in the learning environment.
Children learn math with Concrete,
Pictorial and Abstract (CPA Approach)
Bring home ideas from today's lesson
- Children are young and new to ideas - Teachers should model and scaffold children's learning.
- Knows about cardinal, ordinal prime and perfect numbers
- Mathematics based on facts not assumptions
- Learnt to observe the patterns in counting and sequencing
- Different ways we use numbers in daily life
End my blog by quoting Dr.Yeap's words, "You cannot count things that are different nouns". Example: Cannot subtract one orange from 3 apple
Lesson 2 2/4/2013
We started our lesson today by discussing the question"What Does it Mean to Understand Mathematics?".
Dr.Yeap explained that children understand mathematics by making connections between existing and new ideas. We referred to the text book, page number 2,3 which provides information on how children understand mathematics. However, one of the interesting and essential ways to understand math is by using manipulative as a tool to teach young children. We learned some important skills through scenarios and from the examples given in class in understanding mathematical concepts. The following are the big ideas that I learnt in class today.
Scenario
I learnt a new term "subitized" which means the child will be able to tell the number without counting during this discussion.
There is a boy who is not able to count. What will you do as a teacher?
1. Assess the child through concrete materials
2. Perhaps he is able to count using real things
3. Possible to do 1 to 1 correspondence and rote counting
We conclude that the child may be not able to count by looking at the object(visual)but may be able to count using real things.
I agree with Dr.Yeap statement "Teachers should know the root cause of the problems and must know possible strategies".
Dr.Yeap quoted this "some concrete things are real, but not natural which we use things
to illustrate".
This may sound confusing, but it is meaningful. There is no such thing like a "Square block which exist in the world".
Concept of big and Small
Use same images to teach children the concept of big and small
I always use small fruit (rambutan for small) and watermelon for big) to teach the small and large concept. After this lesson I understand that we should use small watermelon and large watermelon to teach this concept. This is a big idea that I learnt from today's lesson. I also understood that mathematics and languages are connected in children's learning.
Word problems
(pictures from Dr.Yeap's blog)
Lesson plan
Learnt about substantative lesson plan and poor lesson plan. the information that Dr. Yeap gives is very useful from today's lesson,
Dr.Yeap says that we should never tell the children, "Fewer means subtraction, altogether means addition.
Dr.Yeap says that we should never tell the children, "Fewer means subtraction, altogether means addition.
Lesson 3 3/4/2013
We analyse "Humpty Dumpty song" and discuss how we can use this literary work as a stimulus to teach mathematical concept. We can derive few mathematical concepts that can be taught like measurement, length, concept of balance (science activity) and counting. I realized that language activities can be used to teach mathematical skills for young children.
Dr. Yeap asked us, "What is the difficult math concept to teach young children?".
Some of my classmates and I said, grouping, Money, Time, Counting in 2's & 4's.
I get some ideas on how to teach money concepts for young children. We reviewed paperclips in the can activity. My estimation fro a few of the containers was correct. Today's topic is about fractions and we learnt 3/4 is 3 out of 4 and not 3 upon 4. I like the song about fraction today, "numerator - is never under, denominator is for down".
Dr. Yeap quotes this,
"Teach money concepts in real situations and not in artificial environment".
"You cannot show fractions".
"You cannot show numbers as numbers are abstract and things you are showing are
nouns".
What do you need to do for K2 children?
This answer is very important and useful for me as a K2 teacher. I understood that we should
give visual literacy experience to the children and start with concrete materials. I learnt that
exposing children to visuals is very important for them to learn future essential skills in formal
schooling.
"Teach money concepts in real situations and not in artificial environment".
"You cannot show fractions".
"You cannot show numbers as numbers are abstract and things you are showing are
nouns".
What do you need to do for K2 children?
This answer is very important and useful for me as a K2 teacher. I understood that we should
give visual literacy experience to the children and start with concrete materials. I learnt that
exposing children to visuals is very important for them to learn future essential skills in formal
schooling.
We ended up this session by quote "Teacher job is building knowledge structure".
Lesson 4 4/4/2013
Today's lesson we started with the theory, "How children construct knowledge?" Jean Piaget believed that young children use experiences to construct or build new knowledge. It is a two way process in which the first part is a assimilation whereby a new element of experience are incorporated into existing structures and the other part is known as accommodation whereby a child either modifies or create new scheme.
Exercise:Tangram shapes (pre-cut pictures)
We learnt about Tangrams shapes and adapt some ideas on how to compare the area. I explored how shapes fit together to form larger shapes and larger shapes can be made of smaller shapes. This activity enhances me with a higher level of thinking and I am able to find out what makes these shapes alike and different. During the process, I was thinking about the following.
1. How many 2's can be fit in piece 4? (I rearrange and overlap)
2. In 1 and 2, I compare the half of piece 1 with the half of piece 2. (fold overlap, rearrange)
3. For 2 and 3, I figure out 3 is 4 times larger than 2.
We learnt to compare the area in today,s lesson and also to pronounce the word "area"
Dr.Yeap quote this in class, "Nobody is born clever"
Lesson 5 & Lesson 6 5/4/2013
Dr.yeap says that,
- Teaching of Numeracy is not in isolation.Teacher should know the structure of mathematics, so we can help children to construct knowledge". Learning opportunities should be given to children in preschool to learn social skills and motor skills.
- The concrete objects that we use to teach mathematical concepts must be identical and avoid different length of concrete objects.
- By the end of K2, the children must be able to work with one noun and they should understand that 25 are 2 tens and 5 ones.
- Use the term "greater instead of bigger" to represent large quantity.
- Math is a common way to teach visualization.
Exercise 1
98-89 = 9
45-45= 9
32-23= 9
We found a pattern during this exercise. whenever a 2 digit number, where the digits are
consecutive, is subtracted from the same 2 digit number but with an opposite order, the number
9 is obtained. The goal of the lesson is to practice subtraction by renaming.
Dr. Yeap mentions that,
- What is important is never to focus on teaching but to focus on learning.
- Teachers should know "What do I want the students to learn?
- How do I know the child's learning?
- What if they cannot (Teachers do remediation and revisit the process)
- What if they already can? (Differentiated instruction for advance learners)
- Teachers should know "Learning Goal"
Dr.yeap emphasized 4 teaching strategies, Modelling, scaffolding, do themselves, and
explanation (Adapted from the article "What is a professional Learning Community?"
Exercise 2
Age in years
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20-29
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30-39
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40-49
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50-59
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Number
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14
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10
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16
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5
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Our group represent the age group through bar graph. The smallest size represents the least
number of people in that group. The largest size represents the most people in that age group.
The size of the bar varies based on the number of people in the group.
