A Final Piece of Math

I think the biggest thing I learned this quarter is something all professors have made very clear, knowing your students.  Students have a wide range of mathematical abilities.  By knowing the range of abilities in my classroom will help me prepare lessons to reach all students…differentiation!  Oh yes, differentiation.  All the activities we did in class this quarter, including how to use manipulatives  in higher grades has influenced how I would teach a middle level math class and has helped me further see the many aspects of differentiated instruction. 

My focus is teaching in the primary grade levels, but I did get my middle level mathematics endorsement.  This class has helped me grow as a middle level teacher.  It would have been great to have this class last quarter when I was actually in a middle level classroom.  I would have loved to use the information we learned about integrating mathematics into other subjects, like creative writing, while at my dyad placement.  Nevertheless, I have the knowledge now that I can apply to lesson in the future…assuming I end up teaching middle level math.

This quarter was the first time I used Tangrams…love them!  I used to think manipulatives were something only elementary school students used.  I hadn’t thought about how they are still beneficial for the upper grades.

Thanks for a great math class, Robin!

Mathematical Identities

Recently, in science class, we have been discussing what it means to be an expert at something.  I have always been good at math, So am I an expert?  Far from it.  I like math, but I have to wonder if the reason why I like it is because I am good at it.  With this in mind and the article for this week, I thought more about the mathematical identities of the students in my class (well my MT's classroom).  There are a wide range of abilities and prior to class and reading this article, I thought I would have been able to pinpoint which students like math and which ones can't wait for the hour and 15 minute block to end.  Thanks to Taryn, I see that my thought process was very wrong.  I am grateful for her story of a student who is great at math, but informed Taryn she despises doing it.  I wonder how many other students I have been wrong about.  The idea behind learning the mathematical identities of all my students is that of getting to "know" your students; not just what they like to do outside of school, but also everything they like and dislike within school...not necessarily what subjects they are good at.

The activity the article mentioned was something Allison had us do last quarter.  It was surprising how many words I had not related to math prior to the activity.  The article states that "a greater awareness of our own beliefs about math, and of the range of different beliefs our students may have, can significantly influence classroom interactions and help us motivate students" (p. 227).  The activity did just that for me, it helped me gain a greater awareness of my own beliefs about math.  Know I hope I can take what I learned from the activity and this article and apply it in the classroom.