Mathematics Exploration from Kindergarten to Grade Six

My peers and I spent some time looking through the mathematics resources that Newfoundland and Labrador have to offer their students and teachers from kindergarten to grade six. I was very happy to see the enormous piles of resources that were accessible for all students and teachers. 

First of all, I was very thankful for the supports that would avail to me as a first year teacher (knowing that I most definitely would need them). It was great to see such a wide variety for each grade level including: curriculum guides, teachers manual, textbook, workbook, big books for shared reading, and independent readers for the primary grade levels. 

I was fortunate to peruse the grades in sequence from kindergarten to grade six, and was shocked to see the great deal of difference that existed between the primary and elementary levels. 

The primary selection of resources were brightly colored, large and visually appealing. I was very excited to see what I would be in all primary classrooms across the province. I feel that the selection of resources would make learning fun and exciting for children. Many of the large, shared reading picture books asked questions and played games. I feel that this is a fun way to help engage children in learning. Although, the difficulty of the text changed drastically from grade to grade. While this would be fine for shared reading, it would make learning mathematics very problematic for children who would be expected to read the text to derive an answer or solve a problem in mathematics. But, even still the books remained fun, exciting and full of pictures. 

Once the children began elementary their style of learning mathematics changed drastically. There were no longer picture books to help learn concepts, and textbooks were mainly black and white with very tiny print. These resources while rich in content, were not visually appealing for children. I would suggest using the text as a mere guide to help yourself, the teacher plan and implement lessons, rather then bombarding children with enormous, heavy and plain books that may frighten them from learning and accepting mathematics. 

My experience with these resources taught me a valuable lesson that being- it is great to have resources available when teaching, but it is up to the teacher to choose which resources to use. Most importantly it is our job to help children learn and have fun while doing so!

My Thoughts on YouCubed!

YouCubed, is a wonderful tool for students, teachers, and parents.  It offers tips, tools and resources for teaching math from Kindergarten to Grade 12. I think that since we use technology for a lot of  task in our life today, then it would be useful to use technology as a way to make math fun and interactive for children. As well, a lot of times I have noticed that the methods that parents use to complete math tasks are quite different then those that are used by primary/elementary teachers and students. I think YouCubed would be a wonderful place for parents to consult when helping their children with math work. As a  teacher in training I feel that YouCubed could be a lifesaving resource when I have a classroom of my own. Its detailed and informative videos would be an asset and would help me better teach my classes math techniques I think that a working resource such as YouCubed would be a wonderful tool outside of reading a teachers guide or text book. The games that are on this site would be a fun and interactive way to get students learning. Hearing and seeing real life work in progress enables you to see first hand how to teach and how children learn. I realized that math is often performance based, but as teachers we should help change math into a subject where children are challenged and learning is fostered. I feel that this site and and it resources can help us make mathematics a fun, interactive, and engaging experience for children.

What is Mathematics?

Mathematics? Well, there are lots of ways to define mathematics, but to put it simply Mathematics is the act of doing Math. That doesn't answer much though, so now we wonder what is Math? Math is different depending on where you are around the world, simply put it is an individuals way of calculating, tallying, and recording. But math is not as straight forward as this, the mathematics system that "we" have conformed to is a base ten system. That means that there are ten digits that are repeated over and over they are: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, & 9. We use these numbers every day and usually never think twice about how or why.We have accepted this as the system we would use in our day to day lives to calculate, measure, and predict.

Mathematics helps us function in society. Math helps us keep track of time and dates. It's the reason we know when to get up in the morning, and when to go to bed at nights. Math helps us measure. It helps us measure ingredients to complete a recipe and the distance we are from one place to another. Mathematics helps us keep track of money, and lets face it the exchange of goods a services are really important in today's modernized society. Therefore, mathematics help us add and subtract funds in a bank account.

But really what is mathematics? Mathematics is so abstract that we can apply it to pretty much anything in life. Mathematics is really up to you, there is no right or wrong answer!

Responding to Sir Kin Robinson on Schools Killing Creativity!

Personally, I have always felt that creativity was an important aspect of education. We have learned about people like Howard Gardner and I really believed that, that's how teachers really did it, they gave children choices. More recently I realized that this isn't always the case and that teachers spend so much of their time planning lessons in general and they just don't have the time or take the time to differentiate for different kinds of learners. I also realized that arts we usually placed on the back burner so to speak or used as extras instead of being taught mainstream like mathematics and language arts. Although, I have pondered many of these thoughts previously I had never actually heard such valid points presented in such an honest and sophisticated manner.

During the TED video, and after its completion I began to really think about how this video could help me make the world of education better for the children who would be in my classes. I knew that I would have the opportunity to change this "norm" for the children who would be in my classes.

I feel that when I become a teacher and have a classroom full of children to inspire, I will help them develop their own ideas and be creative. It is much easier for us to sit back and teach by the book and out of a book, but I think what can be truly motivational for children would be to put them out there in the real world and allow them to learn naturally through their experiences, through trial and error. It is our jobs as teachers to provide children with the education experience they deserve, and I feel that is by allowing them to "reach for the stars" and try on their own. 

As for mathematics, what a more practical way to teach children how to "do" math then to let them do it in the real world. I bet if you take that approach you won't hear, "How will we use this in real life?' As a student I myself have said that exact phrase. Now as a teacher in training I have realized that I "CAN" show children how it will be used in real life. If we are teaching children concepts in measurement. What a better way then to actually allow them to measure objects. Give them a book: have them measure its length and its width. Show the children how to find the area of an object that they can actually see, not one that little Johnny had in his backyard in Florida. If you want children to understand volume and weight, let them see for themselves, give them beakers, containers, balloons, or bags. Remember your the teacher, it's your job to teach the outcomes but it's up to you how you are going to do that! Provide children with the tools they need to experience learning, not just hear it!

As Robinson alluded to, we aren't all the same, so why teach in all the same way?

Math Autobiography

Mathematics, just like other subjects across the curriculum look different in every classroom! Personally, I have had a fantastic experience with Math during my seventeen years as a student.

As a child in primary and elementary I had a different Math teacher every year, each one with their own unique teaching style. My very first memory with Math occurred on my Grade One class. I was sitting with my peers on a colorful rug in the back corner of our classroom. Our lovely teacher pulled a chair next to the chart paper and began to explain that we would add numbers together today. In her hands she held four different colored markers and continued to say that when it was our turn to write on the chart paper (I thought to myself WOW I get to write on Teacher paper) we could each choose a marker and show our friends an example of adding. Always eager to go first, up went my hand and I waited, and waited for what felt like forever for the teacher to call me up to the chart paper to do the first example. I already knew I would use the red marker, because their was no pink or purple to choose from. I wrote very large 2 + 2= 4. I can remember like it was yesterday the applause I received from my classmates when my teacher said I was correct. I can remember skipping back to my place on the rug joyfully with my curly hair bouncing, thinking of how happy my Mom would be when I told her my story during lunch time. I cannot remember a single thing that happened after I got back to the rug that day, but one thing is for certain that even at the age of six I loved the idea of showing my skills to others in the front of the classroom. I think that this one positive experience that I had as a child in Primary school set me on the right track to loving Math. I admit, I am not saying this one event was the only reason I liked math as a child, and I am not saying that I had no other positive experiences during primary school. I just feel that by starting out confident in a subject area can only be a BONUS for what was left to come. (We should all keep that in mind when we are out their in the classroom.)

As my school years progressed, I continued to love math, usually finishing first and moving on to what was considered more challenging problems. Do not take me wrong, I mean I loved doing these problems, but mainly I loved finishing quickly so I could walk around the classroom and help my peers. To me this was the BEST thing that could happen at school. My experience and ability to help others, helped me decide that a career in Education was right for me!

During high school mathematics I would always volunteer to do problems on the whiteboard. I loved opportunities where I could be the teacher! My peers and teachers both knew that I LOVED this experience and they would sometimes say why don't Samantha teach the class today. Well, I never actually got to teach class, but I did spend time tutoring my peers math.

Once, I started Math at MUN I found myself a tutor, not because I necessarily needed one, but because for some silly reason I wanted to get a 100% in every assignment. I love the feeling of achievement in Math, and the more paper used to complete a problem the more excitement I felt.

I use math often in my everyday life: at the grocery store, when buying clothing, when keeping track of calorie intake, when counting down the number of hours of sleep I can possibly get if I go to bed right NOW!

Math has always been around me and I LOVE IT!

Welcome

Welcome to my blog. This blog will be used during  Education 3940 to post about Mathematics!