One step back and Two steps forward

As this semester comes to an end and we (finally) reach the end of the course, I feel that my thoughts on teaching mathematics hasn't shifted a whole lot. That's not necessarily a bad thing, I just feel that I have already been exposed to many of the ideas brought forth in this course, therefore most of the enlightenment comes from a second glance at mathematics and a different set of glasses (as Dorothy would say). 

One idea I had that was challenged through this course was the fact that the teacher is not some all-knowing being for students to run up to and ask "is this right?" The onus really is on the student to determine if their response to an answer is "right" or not... or even if there is a "right" answer to the question. At least, it should be on the student. 

Also, through this course, we had the opportunity to participate in a math fair. If you had a chance to see me do all those activities (not to mention "practising" aka playing my game at menchies the night before) you would know how absolutely ecstatic that made me. I love games: all the games. By having this math fair we made math fun. I will definitely consider doing activities like this in my future classrooms. You just wait for the day when my students are the weirdos in high school being all like "math is fun!" and having everyone else think they're crazy for thinking that. 

Another idea I took from this course is the importance of making real life connections; making math practical. I think this is crucial if we want to create successful citizens of the world. Seeing my number sense (well, lack thereof) makes me feel like I have a duty to prepare my students better than I was prepared and to teach them practicality with math. Similarly, it is also important to have critical discussions about math. Not only will this be beneficial to their futures, it will also strengthen their connection to the topics and therefore deepen their learning experience. 

At the end of the day I think it is important to remember that math is all about problem solving and teaching math is all about creating a balance. Although all these "new" ideas are truly wonderful, we can't just throw out the idea of formalized testing and using worksheets altogether. We need to create authentic learning experiences that nurture our students' strengths and abilities, plays off of our strengths and passions as teachers and creates the best possible future leaders of the world. 

With this course in my pocket and a whole bunch of resources by my side, I not only feel very prepared to teach math, but more importantly, I feel very excited to get out there and start teaching math. So thank you Ms. (Dr.) Mary Mathematics and good luck with your future baby Einstein; you have been so positive, passionate and enlightening, it has truly been a pleasure. 

Not everything that can be counted counts, 

and not everything that counts can be counted. 

- Albert Einstein

Reviewing Resources

Although I have previously looked through various math curriculum guides along with some resources (specifically math makes sense) this past Tuesday was my first opportunity to compare and closely examine some of the mathematics resources from K-6 and it gave me a lot to consider. 

First of all, I loved the big books for kindergarten and grade one. They are cute and captivating and a great way to introduce math at an early stage. I was a little sad to see that there weren't any big books for grade two or three. 

The math resources that we looked at seemed to reflect the idea that students mature grade by grade. There is an evident jump in language found in books; this is especially evident when going from grade one to grade two. Then, in grade three, students start using text books and by grade five all the fun seems to be gone. There does also seem to be a reoccurring theme of pizza and candy when talking about math... So much for that new healthy lifestyle ideal that schools are supposed to be adopting.

Speaking about the text books... Although these can be a good tool when used properly and not too often, I found that the majority of the questions were close-ended. This type of question is good when ideas need to be practised and reinforced but I don't see it as a useful way to introduce new concepts. Students need to get thinking and relate ideas to real concrete situations, especially ones that can be found in the real-world. 

Also, from experience, I found that a few of the questions to be sort of "trick" questions. For example, today during my observation day, one question asked students to represent a number two different ways but both ways had to use decimals. Turns out they wanted one number to one decimal place (like 1.0) and the second number to two decimal places (as in 1.00). Even I had to ask the teacher about that one. 

Furthermore, I find that some concepts are laid out to be way more complicated than they need to. Like the idea of teaching four strategies to solve a problem and reinforcing the use of each strategy all the time when only one is needed and the others may make things harder for the child. That's may not be the best example, but I still stand by my point. 

I think the main point to take from all of this is to understand and know that there are plenty of resources out there for us future teachers to use but that we are not limited to just these resources. It is important that we use the curriculum simply as a guide and introduce other resources and materials as needed to suit our individual students' interests and learning needs.

The essence of mathematics is not to make simple things complicated,

but to make complicated things simple. 

- S. Gudder

What is education really about, anyway?

Sir Ken Robinson's TED talk about How schools kill creativity:

If that is not something that gets you thinking about education, then I don't know what is.

Robinson discusses some issues in regards to our "current" education system (as of 2006 that is). The overall message is that we need to educate children's whole being rather than just their mind; we need to encourage, promote and support creativity and open our views to what intelligence really is rather than being compliant to the education system at hand. 

One idea that stands out to me is the importance of being wrong. If children are scolded too often for being wrong they will become (or maybe have already become) too scared to take risks, make mistakes and think creatively. I mean, have you talked to a child lately? Do you know how crazily imaginative those little buggers can be? One of the best things about children are their imaginations and, as a future teacher, I believe it is important to nourish and respect this creativity rather than educate them out of it. 

Robinson makes a point about how the purpose of education is to prepare students for jobs and, furthermore, to create university professors. Although I cannot completely disagree with this point, as it's no fluke that I have a French degree in a bilingual country and plan to continue my education even after I get a masters degree, I can still see where he is coming from and how this type of education system does not meet the needs of every student. In saying that, as much as I would like to tell students to follow their hearts and do what they enjoy, I don't want them living in their parents basement and working at McDonald's when they're 40 years old. There's gotta be a middle ground where education can nurture creativity while creating useful and productive members of society.  

Videos like this are great for getting me on the go. Although I often show indifference towards, well, most everything, education is an issue that I am passionate about. Watching this video in a class about teaching children mathematics just re-enforces the idea that education is not about the subjects you teach, but rather the ideas and concepts you re-enforce through teaching itself. Education is more about teaching children how to learn than it is teaching them how to count. If you don't teach children to think critically and solve problems then how do you expect them to become independent learners?

PS: Shakespeare had a dad? Tell me you never thought about that before, because I know I haven't. I suppose he had a mum too...