Part 2 - Essay: Write a 2-3 page essay about the central ideas in Math 330. This essay is an opportunity to demonstrate how well you can articulate the major themes, concepts, and ideas from the course. Your essay should include discussions of the mathematics, the readings, and class discussions.
In Math 330 Algebraic Thinking with Technology this quarter we have covered many things. We have worked in groups and collaborated on the big ideas of each unit. On our own we have presented to the class both answered problems and productive failures. We have enjoyed reading books and articles related to math, teaching, and this course. We have learned through inquiry based learning and were able to use other materials such as manipulatives, videos, and our peers. As individuals and a class we were able to reflect on what is working, why its working, and how to be best prepared to be math teachers.
Throughout the quarter we were assigned multiple groups to sit with and work on math. In these groups we would share ideas, steps, processes, and sometimes struggles. Group work was presented in a way that helped us become problem solvers. The problems we encountered were not abstract and could be applied to real life making the units that much more interesting to learn. In groups we could talk, explain, and reason with one another. By doing this we were all becoming fluent in the math language of the course.
Presentations were another key component to this class. We were asked to sign up and present problems that we had solved successfully and could share with the class. I liked how this was set up. It gave students an opportunity to share what they had discovered, which could be a different way than you had done the problem. By letting ...
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...in more than one way, why the problems are important and how we can use similar steps and strategies in our future classroom.
I also liked that we were asked to create our own math problems during this quarter. I had not been asked to do that before and found it to be both challenging and rewarding. I will have to write my own problems for classes in the future and want to make sure I ask appropriate questions that engages students and helped them find success.
Overall, this has been my favorite math class in the math for teachers series. I felt that I truly learned numerous things that will help me both as a math student and as a math teacher. My appreciation for math has grown deeper and I found math more enjoyable during this course. I truly believe that given the correct teacher every student can succeed at math. I hope to show this to all my future students.
It is a brand-new school year for St.Joseph High School. Everyone seems excited to see friends or to be engaged in the course they love. For me, I was very excited to be taking Math 31 with Mr.Abad being my course advisor. In the previous years, I was always fond of Mr.Abad’s teaching style because it always seemed to make sense for me.
The teacher will then introduce the purpose of a main idea and supporting details to the class through a series of examples and present the students with an organizer to arrange their ideas. The teacher will then ask students to engage in think-pair-share, so that they can organize their main ideas and their supporting details.
The Article "No Tears Here! Third Grade Problem-Solvers" by Kim Hartweg and Marlys Heisler focuses on a professional development project conducted in third grade classrooms. This project centered on integrating problem-solving into mathematics. Through this project the classes participating used open response problems. When solving these open response problems, the students thought about strategies they could use and would work on these problems on their own or with a partner. The students participated in productive struggle and after they completed the problem, the students would share their ideas and possible solutions. This presentation of ideas brought about a class discussion, which ended with the students summarizing the classes findings.
So many of us came from completely different backgrounds; social status, learning disabilities, and ethnicities. Being in a small class, with such diverse people allowed me to realize that every aspect of life can be different and surprising. Even people that one would not believe to have valuable input are able to contribute to one's life in some meaningful way. The class opened my eyes to the way different people live. I now understand that everyone comes from different backgrounds, but that does not make us that much
What is the most important concept that you learned in this class? Write this for a reader who is unfamiliar with the concept.
This fall semester of 2014 has been an interesting and learning experience for myself. I haven’t attend school in nearly a decade and was unsure of what to expect from my teachers and myself. I would have to say being in Professor Dybala’s English 1302 to start my school day is interesting. She is an energetic professor and I’m able to feel her passion for teaching and that motivate me to try my best in her class as the rest of my classes. I was driven to do the best of my ability and whatever the outcome might be, I know I did my best.
List any special features of your school or classroom setting (e.g., charter, co-teaching, themed magnet, remedial course, honors course) that will affect your teaching in this learning segment.
I liked how the teacher let us pick a topic that we like instead of the teacher choosing the topic for us.I have seen myself using much more tools on editing and making new projects.I have told myself that I will never get through this and it isn't possible to finish.I have been shown that you can accomplish anything and that you just have to think about what I am going to do.I told the teacher I didn't know what to do,so I created a website and started to work on it.Then I started to post facts and soccer videos and I told myself that I was only go ...
“Class,” I announced, “today I will teach you a simpler method to find the greatest common factor and the least common multiple of a set of numbers.” In fifth grade, my teacher asked if anyone had any other methods to find the greatest common factor of two numbers. I volunteered, and soon the entire class, and teacher, was using my method to solve problems. Teaching my class as a fifth grader inspired me to teach others how important math and science is. These days, I enjoy helping my friends with their math homework, knowing that I am helping them understand the concept and improve their grades.
I thought that this class would be interesting and exciting, but unfortunately, it was one of those classes that I just couldn't seem to care about or just want to put effort in. It definitely exceeded my expectations, but not the way I wanted it too. For that, it was pretty much a nightmare taking this
The understandings I have gained from this course have completely revamped my way of teaching. I have been using the unit plan and curriculum map I created in this course for the past two years, and my students enjoy it more and more each year. Learning the importance of using big ideas and essential questions in the classroom have made me a better educator and has assisted my students in learning content and skills that they can transfer to all academic areas and into their everyday lives. I now use big idea and essential questions in every ...
As a secondary subject, society often views mathematics a critical subject for students to learn in order to be successful. Often times, mathematics serves as a gatekeeper for higher learning and certain specific careers. Since the times of Plato, “mathematics was virtually the first thing everyone has to learn…common to all arts, science, and forms of thought” (Stinson, 2004). Plato argued that all students should learn arithmetic; the advanced mathematics was reserved for those that would serve as the “philosopher guardians” of the city (Stinson, 2004). By the 1900s in the United States, mathematics found itself as a cornerstone of curriculum for students. National reports throughout the 20th Century solidified the importance of mathematics in the success of our nation and its students (Stinson, 2004). As a mathematics teacher, my role to educate all students in mathematics is an important one. My personal philosophy of mathematics education – including the optimal learning environment and best practices teaching strategies – motivates my teaching strategies in my personal classroom.
One very important factor in every life is the education received as we mature. Education in all subjects is necessary to become a well-rounded individual. Even so, I feel that my subject area has more significance in one’s future because every person uses mathematics every day. Students need to understand why mathematics is important and why they will need it in the future. The way to do that is integrated into the views of the role of the teacher. Teachers need to be encouraging role models that provide students with safety, nurturing, and support in the classroom, along with providing excellent instruction by allowing students to explore and expand their minds in the content of mathematics. Teachers should set high expectations for all students and persuade the students to live up to those expectations. Along the same lines, teaching and learning are complementary concepts. Students need for the teacher to provide them with the knowledge that will be used not only in that class but also in their future endeavors. ...
Throughout out this semester, I’ve had the opportunity to gain a better understanding when it comes to teaching Mathematics in the classroom. During the course of this semester, EDEL 440 has showed my classmates and myself the appropriate ways mathematics can be taught in an elementary classroom and how the students in the classroom may retrieve the information. During my years of school, mathematics has been my favorite subject. Over the years, math has challenged me on so many different levels. Having the opportunity to see the appropriate ways math should be taught in an Elementary classroom has giving me a
...d a better understanding of differentiation, I have had several of my students tell me that I am the best math teacher they have ever had. They express their happiness by telling me that I teach math in a way they understand. They state, “You do not stand in front of the classroom and explain how to do the problem, give us homework, and move on to the next topic”. I take pride in this. I try very hard to help each of my students understand the necessary standards so when they leave my room, they are able to take a real-world problem and find solutions to them.