Youcubed is a nonprofit website developed by Jo Boaler to
provide parents and educators with free and affordable K-12 mathematics
resources. The goal of this website is to make math enjoyable for learners, by
basically changing the face of mathematics completely.
I found the article Unlocking Children's Math Potential very interesting. I think it is
absolutely amazing what the brain is capable of. With hard work and
perseverance, anyone is capable of learning math. Boaler also talks about the
importance of not allowing students to limit themselves because of fixed mindsets;
students have to believe in themselves. It is important to make mistakes in
math, if there are no mistakes, there is no learning being done. Finally the
article states that there is absolutely no reason to encourage speed in math, as
all it does is cause more stress for the students. Boaler’s article ultimately
backs up everything that I already believed in. For a student to be successful in
math, they not only need to believe in themselves, they need someone like their
teacher or their parent to believe in them as well.
There are also a lot of great games and ideas on this
website to engage students with mathematics. I think students would enjoy the Crazy 8’s activity with the glow sticks as it adds a fun element to a
subject that may otherwise be boring.
Overall, it is a great website with a lot of new ideas. I
cannot wait for it to be fully operational so I can use it as a resource in my
future classroom.
Have you ever searched “What is math?” on Google? If you have
you know there are approximately 445,000,000 results for this question. Many of
the results state that math is about solving problems, numbers, quantity,
logic, change, and so on. When I think of math, I think about problem solving,
numbers and logic. When you think of math, you may think of something
completely different; your answer depends on the experiences that you have had
with it.
What does it means to do mathematics? Math doesn’t have to be
about sitting down and trying to solve a problem on paper (but it can be). To do math, you
could be counting your change when you buy your Dairy Queen, so that you don’t
have to break a twenty. Or you could be measuring the length of the new table
you want to buy, to see if it’s going to fit in your dining room. You could
even be reading a weather graph of the temperature for the next week, to see if it’s
really necessary to buy that new coat. Math isn’t always difficult, in fact
most of the time it’s actually pretty simple.
What is going on if you are thinking
mathematically? According to Doctor Edwin, “thinking mathematically is the
ability to lift the abstract structure of a situation away from the specifics
and answer it based on that alone.” He gives the example that he doesn’t have
to sit down to figure out that two people times three meals a day, is six. Personally, I
think that thinking mathematically means that you are taking things that you
have previously learned and are using them subconsciously in every day life.
This week
we watched Sir Ken Robinson express his thoughts on creativity in schools. Throughout
the video, Robinson had many interesting points about the flaws in our system,
but the thing that stood out most was when he said was that we are educating
children out of their creative capacity. He talks about how children are not afraid to make mistakes,
they believe in taking risks. When people make mistakes, they are learning. In
the education system, students are encouraged to not make mistakes. Isn’t that
a problem? Shouldn’t we be encouraging students to become creative? Encouraging
them to learn? As educators, we are too focused on completing lessons and
ensuring that our students come out on top in the main subjects (math,
language, science) to focus on the arts, this is happening worldwide.
Essentially doing exactly what Robinson is saying, educating children out of
creativity.
Honestly,
I found everything that he said to be interesting. The video was one of the
most interesting things I’ve had to watch so far this semester. There were a
couple of things that he said that were also somewhat troubling. The first
thing he said was that the purpose of public education is to produce university
professors because all schooling focuses on educating the head. People were
once told “don’t do art, you’ll never be an artist” or “don’t do music, you’ll
never be a musician”, and I think that is sad. You should never tell anyone
that they cannot do something, especially a young student. Who are you to say
what they can accomplish? Because of situations like that and the current
education system today, students think they’re not intelligent enough. They
feel like failures because they’re good at music and/or art and not the
subjects focused on by schools. Another troubling thing was the story of
Gillian Lynne. Her story itself wasn’t troubling, as she ended up being a
successful dancer and choreographer. The thing that was troubling is how
different her life may have been, had she went to a different doctor, or ever
had been born into this generation. Her doctor was smart enough to see that she was in
fact very intelligent and did not have a learning disorder, because of him she
was sent to a school of dance and became very successful. Had she went to a
different doctor, or had been born into this generation where everything seems to have
a diagnosis, she would have been told that she had a learning disorder (ADHD),
put on medication and would have stayed in regular school for the remainder,
maybe never becoming a dancer/choreographer. The thing that troubles me most is this
question: how many people could benefit from a different type of learning but
never get the chance?
Why would
this video be showed in a class for teaching children mathematics? The better
question is why isn’t this video being shown in every education course that has
to be taken? Robinson has many valid points throughout the entire 20-minute
clip. We are educating more people than ever before and everyone is interested
in education. Education is meant to take us into the future and unless we want
to wipe out creativity and originality all together, we have to rethink the
principles that we are teaching. All children have tremendous talents; we have
to showcase these talents instead of trying hide them so we can teach the main
subjects. Integrate a math rap or a science art project to allow students to
show what they are capable of, to make school fun again. Educating a child’s
brain is very important, but we have to begin to educate their whole being.
As
Robinson said, “Intelligence is diverse, intelligence is dynamic, intelligence
is distinct”.
In case you haven't watched the video, here it is:
Looking back on the
Primary/Elementary grades, I can remember a lot about mathematics. In
Kindergarten, we had a number chart on the wall, with the numbers 1 to 20. I
don’t remember how often per week, but we would sit on the carpet and count. In
grade one, there were numbers everywhere. We learned how to count to 100, by
1s, 2s, 5s and 10s. We also learned how to write numbers 1-20. I remember every
classroom having colourful posters with numbers, the operations,
charts, and eventually multiplication tables.
My best memory of mathematics in my
primary and elementary years is from grade two. Due to our school closing, we
had limited space so the top ten students from grade two were put in a
classroom with grade ones. I enjoyed helping the grade one students with their
math (and other subjects) once I finished my own work. I believe that this
experience was what set my mind on becoming a teacher, I enjoyed helping others
and I loved school. I can honestly say that I have no bad memories associated
with math.
I was very good at math. I know this
because I never struggled with it and I always received high marks on tests and
quizzes. I also know this because the teacher would always pair me with someone
who was weaker at math, so that I could help them.
The role of the teacher in math class
was to teach the concepts in a way that everyone understood them. I think she
(always had a female teacher) did that fairly well as there were only a couple
of people who had difficulty with the concepts. I think she felt very strongly
about mathematics. She always had a positive attitude towards the subject and
always tried to help those who were struggling by either pairing them with a
stronger student or sitting down to help them one on one.
Assessment came in various forms.
Most times I didn’t know what we were doing was actually an assessment. It’s
only now that I know the different types of assessment that I realize what we
were actually doing. I obviously knew that tests and quizzes were assessment,
but we also had a problem of the week where we had to take home a math problem
on Monday and have solved it by Friday.
I absolutely loved math in
high school. I always loved math, but I had an excellent teacher and I think
that really enhanced my love for the subject.
Once I came to university, I was
turned from math. I talked to the academic advisors that came to my school
before choosing my schedule. I had an A+ in math, but he suggested that I take
math 1050 and 1051, as they were the best courses for the education faculty. I
absolutely hated those courses. I achieved an A in both of them, but I
really did not enjoy them. After that I swore I’d never take another math
course unless I had to.
I engage with math on a daily basis.
Even though those university courses turned me from taking more math courses, I
still love math. I try to make everything about numbers. I always notice when
the clock says 12:34 and I notice numbers on everything, for example on the
bottom of drinking glasses (weird, I know).
Welcome to Lemon Pi, my blog for the MUN Education course
3940. If you’re wondering why I chose Lemon Pi, it’s simply because I love
lemons and I love puns.
This blog is designed to help me rediscover mathematics,
communicate with my class, and publish my thoughts about mathematics.
