8P29 Week 4 Post

Anonymous. "Billy Madison Math Class." Retrieved from
http://quotepix.com/That-Moment-When-You-Understand-Something-In-Math-Class-4603/order/top

I learned some valuable lessons on teaching this week, not just about teaching math but teaching in general. As part of a report for school, I was required to observe some subjects (preferably students) completing grade 6 EQAO questions, focusing in particular on their problem solving process. Now I don’t have easy access to a grade 6 subject pool, so I thought I would make do with my resources available. A friend’s 8-year-old daughter Amy (pseudonym) volunteered to help me out and try her hardest on the problems.

         
The first question she found approachable enough, she was required to draw a 3D shape from the net given, but during the second question we ran into some serious problems, and this was the error on my part. The second question is a multi-step word problem that during one step requires you to divide decimals. Amy, having just started grade 4 has neither encountered long division nor decimals, rendering the question impossible without the aid of a calculator (but even then if you don’t entirely understand the question, that can only take you so far). To make a long story short, she gave it the old college try but became upset and frustrated, leaving the room at one point with what I’m hoping wasn’t watery eyes. Luckily, the night wasn’t completely ruined because pizza arrived to save the day and we put problem solving to rest for the time being.

I learned a couple things from this experience. One, when I go into a classroom to teach, I need to make sure I am familiar with the curriculum, so I know activities that students can and can’t reasonably complete, otherwise there will be frustration all around. Some students have fragile egos and can become disheartened when they can’t complete a question, and take it personally, or even to extremes. They can get a question wrong and then out of their mouths come, “I suck at math!” Well no, I don’t think you can make that broad a claim. You just didn’t get this particular question right. Thus, making sure students have appropriate challenges is important for their self-esteem and overall learning. Especially with a subject like math, where students seem to quite easily get hang-ups, I don’t want to scare students away from trying new things and growing.

            
Two, I need to be more self-aware of my vocabulary when I speak. Amy was sometimes becoming confused with my explanations because I was using language she didn’t understand. I need to think about the language I’m using to ensure that I’m saying things in a way that a student of that age and maturity can understand. I also need to make sure I have a few ways to explain things, just in case one method doesn’t make sense to the student.

            
On the subject of alternative methods, we were learning about teaching strategies for fractions today in class, and a classmate shared a method I had never encountered before! For adding/subtracting fractions with unlike denominators, I always went to the tried and true Lowest Common Denominators, but the Macarena Method is fantastic! It’s fast, it’s easy, it makes you want to dance…there is nothing more you could want from a math strategy. I always liked fractions, apart from trigonometry and quadratics, I always liked fractions the best. I’m so pleased to find a way to make it more enjoyable (I hope the students like it too!!). It’s very encouraging being able to find so many resources online to help make math easier and more amusing. I like all the math parody songs you can find on YouTube as well, for example this place value song based off of “Rude” by Magic!:

The grade 4/5’s in my placement are on place value right now, so I may share this with them and see if they found it catchy like I did. I like that it goes through different types of notation as well, which is something the students have been getting mixed up. If you try it in a classroom, comment below and tell me how they liked it!