As I went through mathematics in school I always believed that anything we did in class was definite and true. Any formula, equation or activity I participated in during class was as real to me as the person sitting next to me. My love for math grew stronger every year and I became more biased that math made sense, while the arts courses such as english did not. I thought that there were to many opinions in those topics and that math was concrete. After high school I went on and continued my studies in math because I wanted to do courses where there were right answers involved.
My thoughts on mathematics did not begin to change until I entered the education program and then within my first years of teaching. I realized first of all that there was not only one way to get to an answer. I encountered many people who thought of questions in different ways then I did and worked out problems using a completely different method then myself. When I was a student I thought that what the teacher did was right and it was the only way to do the question. This has helped me tremendously in my teaching career as I encourage the students to investigate problems on their own using their own strategic thinking as opposed to doing everything the way I may do it on the board. There are so many kids that amaze me with the ways that they reach an answer. I allow them to share their thoughts with the class and perhaps they will help other classmates understand the concept better.
Sir Ken Robinsons video opened my mind up to so many thoughts. There are many students I encounter that do not like math. They feel like they don't need to know it and that they will never be good at it. I must realize that these students have talents elsewhere. As their math teacher though I feel the responsibility to focus on math when I have them in the classroom. I am beginning to think about other ways I can still teach them math but help them find out what they enjoy, what they are good at and what makes them happy. When I was in school and still today there is the idea that the core courses are the most important in life while the others are not as useful. This however is not the case and we as educators must help diminish this idea.
Monday, 26 September 2011
Monday, 19 September 2011
Math Autobiography
During my time in grades k-2 I remember sitting at a table that was round. All the students faced each other and we were always working together.We used red, yellow, green and blue counters. I remember helping some of my classmates to count in kindergarten and the teacher would go around to each table, helping us and saying good job when we could do the work or if we were being helpful to someone else. I did a lot of worksheets in math from kindergarten up. I will never forget the stickers that we got on each sheet and how we would compare the stickers with one another. Many people in my class would have to count on their fingers. I could do it all in my head. When I was in about grade 3 we would always say our times tables out loud. We would have a quiz every Friday on them. In elementary I remember taking apart an orange and counting pieces of pizza and pies when we did fractions. I always loved my math class especially when we did activities and group work. I had a few teachers who would let us go to the board and show the rest of the class how we completed some of the homework questions.
The best memory I have of my math classes were the group work activities. This includes simply completing a worksheet because I always loved to help others. I found when I explained it to someone else it help me understand and retain the information a lot better. The worst memory I have surrounding math is the year I completed math 3207. At this point I was in grade 11 and graduating early. I had to take so many core courses plus complete some at home. The math 3207 was not going to be a factor in my chances at a scholarship so I always left that course until last to work on. I did not do as well in it as I would have liked and that was upsetting to me. However, when I took my first university course in math and had the time to focus on the material which was similar to the 3207 course I enjoyed it and had a much easier time with it. As an adult I realized that I cannot push things to the side because I don't think they are as important. The course did not turn me from math it simply made me want to work harder.
I believe I was good at math. I always had good grades and really enjoyed all my courses. I could do math in my head that my other classmates might not be able to do. I had excellent grades in my math courses at MUN and I did well in the higher order thinking problems as well.
Within my classroom most of my teachers, especially as I got older introduced concepts and provided examples by writing on the board and standing in front of the classroom. When they assigned work most would pace around the room checking on everyone. If they saw there was a student making a mistake, they stopped and helped. I did have a few teachers who sat at the desk while we worked, correcting or doing some other activity. I think these are the teachers perhaps who may or may not have liked math but were not engaged enough in the course to be a constant help to the students.
In most of my classes assessment included worksheets, assignments, quizzes, unit tests and portfolios which contained our journals. The journals allowed us to express math in words as opposed to using numbers most times. We had to explain concepts and answer questions that made us think outside the box. As mentioned before in the younger grades we had many worksheets that were handed back to us with stickers. The tests came later in school.
In high school we did less group work and less activities. There were a lot more classes where we sat and watched the teacher work and then we were assigned seat work ourselves. Much more of our assessment was based on assignments and tests. The word curriculum and getting it covered came up a lot more as most of us had not heard the word when we were younger. I still enjoyed math because I like to work on problems. Many students however did not look as enthusiastic and were complaining most times. The question was always brought up to the teacher as to how this would help us in life.
In university I completed a math minor. This included math 1000, 1001, 2000, diff equations- 3260, discrete math 2320, math 2050-linear algebra, finance 2090,3331-projective geometry, and of course my methods courses during education.
I engage in math during my life by teaching it everyday. I was, while I taught in Alberta and will be part of a math professional learning community at my new school. I take care of my bank accounts as well as other financial issues in my life where I must use my knowledge of mathematics. I have made many purchases in my life where once again I need to be aware of interest rates and so on.
As I teacher I chose to teach math because I have a passion for it. I enjoyed it in school and I want to help others enjoy it as well. I am happy teaching math as opposed to teaching something that I may not be interested in and I would be teaching it just because it was a job. In my classroom there is an atmosphere where students are not afraid to ask questions. They know that no question is the wrong or stupid one. Everyone feels comfortable expressing their concerns and are not afraid to ask for help. I get my students to participate in activities and group work. I always ask the students what they prefer and there are times when my instruction at the board is a majority vote. They like it when I introduce topics and go through examples. I don't simply just do out the example on the board but we go through it together and I will constantly ask questions throughout the process. I try to make everyone feel part of the class.
I am responsible for teaching grade 9 math along with all the high school academic and advanced math courses. The challenges I face are trying to get those students who are convinced they hate math and are not good at it, to become interested and try to do better. I attempt to build up their confidence levels by making them feel good about themselves when they are getting things right. Even when they do things incorrectly I tell them that this is a mistake anyone could make and we work through the problem again where I simply guide them leading them to the correct answer which in turn makes them feel much better.
The one thing that will and has helped me as a math teacher is constant collaboration with others
The best memory I have of my math classes were the group work activities. This includes simply completing a worksheet because I always loved to help others. I found when I explained it to someone else it help me understand and retain the information a lot better. The worst memory I have surrounding math is the year I completed math 3207. At this point I was in grade 11 and graduating early. I had to take so many core courses plus complete some at home. The math 3207 was not going to be a factor in my chances at a scholarship so I always left that course until last to work on. I did not do as well in it as I would have liked and that was upsetting to me. However, when I took my first university course in math and had the time to focus on the material which was similar to the 3207 course I enjoyed it and had a much easier time with it. As an adult I realized that I cannot push things to the side because I don't think they are as important. The course did not turn me from math it simply made me want to work harder.
I believe I was good at math. I always had good grades and really enjoyed all my courses. I could do math in my head that my other classmates might not be able to do. I had excellent grades in my math courses at MUN and I did well in the higher order thinking problems as well.
Within my classroom most of my teachers, especially as I got older introduced concepts and provided examples by writing on the board and standing in front of the classroom. When they assigned work most would pace around the room checking on everyone. If they saw there was a student making a mistake, they stopped and helped. I did have a few teachers who sat at the desk while we worked, correcting or doing some other activity. I think these are the teachers perhaps who may or may not have liked math but were not engaged enough in the course to be a constant help to the students.
In most of my classes assessment included worksheets, assignments, quizzes, unit tests and portfolios which contained our journals. The journals allowed us to express math in words as opposed to using numbers most times. We had to explain concepts and answer questions that made us think outside the box. As mentioned before in the younger grades we had many worksheets that were handed back to us with stickers. The tests came later in school.
In high school we did less group work and less activities. There were a lot more classes where we sat and watched the teacher work and then we were assigned seat work ourselves. Much more of our assessment was based on assignments and tests. The word curriculum and getting it covered came up a lot more as most of us had not heard the word when we were younger. I still enjoyed math because I like to work on problems. Many students however did not look as enthusiastic and were complaining most times. The question was always brought up to the teacher as to how this would help us in life.
In university I completed a math minor. This included math 1000, 1001, 2000, diff equations- 3260, discrete math 2320, math 2050-linear algebra, finance 2090,3331-projective geometry, and of course my methods courses during education.
I engage in math during my life by teaching it everyday. I was, while I taught in Alberta and will be part of a math professional learning community at my new school. I take care of my bank accounts as well as other financial issues in my life where I must use my knowledge of mathematics. I have made many purchases in my life where once again I need to be aware of interest rates and so on.
As I teacher I chose to teach math because I have a passion for it. I enjoyed it in school and I want to help others enjoy it as well. I am happy teaching math as opposed to teaching something that I may not be interested in and I would be teaching it just because it was a job. In my classroom there is an atmosphere where students are not afraid to ask questions. They know that no question is the wrong or stupid one. Everyone feels comfortable expressing their concerns and are not afraid to ask for help. I get my students to participate in activities and group work. I always ask the students what they prefer and there are times when my instruction at the board is a majority vote. They like it when I introduce topics and go through examples. I don't simply just do out the example on the board but we go through it together and I will constantly ask questions throughout the process. I try to make everyone feel part of the class.
I am responsible for teaching grade 9 math along with all the high school academic and advanced math courses. The challenges I face are trying to get those students who are convinced they hate math and are not good at it, to become interested and try to do better. I attempt to build up their confidence levels by making them feel good about themselves when they are getting things right. Even when they do things incorrectly I tell them that this is a mistake anyone could make and we work through the problem again where I simply guide them leading them to the correct answer which in turn makes them feel much better.
The one thing that will and has helped me as a math teacher is constant collaboration with others
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