Math has a lot of misconceptions that can really affect how a student performs in the subject throughout their educational career. As a teacher, I plan on building on student’s strengths and allowing them to grow in confidence in the subject of math. According to Hwang, Morano, and Riccomini (n.d.) “With careful design, independent math practice can build students’ confidence and proficiency and help them move from novice learners to expert learners.” As a teacher I plan on building upon my students strengths, and assessing their learning in order to organize my content. Using hands-on materials, and differentiating instruction so that each student can build upon their knowledge will do this and will allow students to succeed. As a future
educator I promise to make sure that each student has an ample amount of strategies and materials that will allow them to succeed and gain in confidence over the year. This will set students on the best course for their future and will allow them to see that there can be joy in math. As an elementary teacher, it is important to me to show students that math can be fun and is doable. By teaching my students with the best strategies, hands-on materials, and build upon their strengths, they will succeed as math students in my classroom, future classrooms, and future careers that could come into their life. Misconceptions of math will no longer be an issue when students have to perform math skills.
The second part of this memo contains a rhetorical analysis of a journal article written by Linda Darling-Hammond. Interview The following information was conducted in an interview with Diana Regalado De Santiago, who works at Montwood High School as a mathematics teacher. In the interview, Regalado De Santiago discusses how presenting material to her students in a manner where the student actually learns is a pivotal form of communication in the field (Personal Communication, September 8, 2016).
I am currently a teenager in high school, and I am struggling. I know all about these topics that I most likely will never use. I don’t understand most of it, and I have struggled to pass these courses. I want to know something that will have actual use in my life. Things that will actually help in the ‘Real World’. The way I see it, algebra and other subjects that are not necessary in real life should not be required to graduate.
Through exploring multiple learning theories and reflecting on my own teaching beliefs, I have developed my own theory of learning. As I developed my theory, I wanted to consider what it takes to be a highly effective teacher. An effective teacher must have mastery of instructional strategies, classroom management, classroom curriculum design, and use assessments as feedback (Laureate Education, 2010a). By using a variety of instructional strategies, teacher’s can meet the learning styles of all the students in the classroom. Effective classroom management can lead to students feeling safe and more willing to take risks. When a student feels comfortable to take risk, then learning will increase and the students’ confidence will grow. Classroom management also creates order in the environment, which will allow effective learning to occur. By understanding curriculum, the teacher can target skills and causes learning to take place. Teachers need to deliberately plan lessons around standards and specific goals based on curriculum and the school’s mission (Marzano, 2010). Assessments need to be use to guide instruction and used as a “method for improvement and mastery,” (Marzano, 2010). While determining my own theory of learning, I believe that I need to consider what effective teachers demonstrate in the classroom.
Wu, Y. (2008). Experimental Study on Effect of Different Mathematical Teaching Methodologies on Students’ Performance. Journal of Mathematics Studies. Vol 1(1) 164-171.
First and foremost, most parents probably take karate and other martial arts as undertakings that encourage violence. Nevertheless, there is little research that submits that kids who learn karate are more hostile; actually, the exact opposite can be true. Karate is a fun art that helps children maintain fitness while similarly developing attention. During karate lessons, children not only workout but they are taught about concentration, respect, and self-control. Kids learn fighting abilities in the perspective of a safe environment that promotes camaraderie and stern attention to the instructor.
Using literacy strategies in the mathematics classroom leads to successful students. “The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM, 1989) define mathematical literacy as an “individual's ability to explore, to conjecture, and to reason logically, as well as to use a variety of mathematical methods effectively to solve problems." Exploring, making conjectures, and being able to reason logically, all stem from the early roots of literacy. Authors Matthews and Rainer (2001) discusses how teachers have questioned the system of incorporating literacy with mathematics in the last couple of years. It started from the need to develop a specific framework, which combines both literacy and mathematics together. Research was conducted through
Chess, the Royal Game, is one of the oldest and most mentally challenging games there is. The benefits of playing chess range from increased problem-solving skills and even helping to prevent Alzheimer's disease. There are many academic and social benefits that it provides for children, which is why chess should be taught in school. It wouldn’t be a required class, but rather an optional elective class for students who want to take it. Chess should be taught in school because it improves concentration and memory, enhances reading and math skills, and creates an opportunity for students to socialize.
Mathematics teachers teach their students a wide range of content strands – geometry, algebra, statistics, and trigonometry – while also teaching their students mathematical skills – logical thinking, formal process, numerical reasoning, and problem solving. In teaching my students, I need to aspire to Skemp’s (1976) description of a “relational understanding” of mathematics (p. 4). Skemp describes two types of understanding: relational understanding and instrumental understanding. In an instrumental understanding, students know how to follow steps and sequential procedures without a true understanding of the mathematical reasons for the processe...
Within the classroom, I experimented with how these concepts could be applied within the math content area by blending both traditional instructional practices as well as performance based practices. Mathematics has proven both here and in Lindsay to be the hardest area to implement performance based strategies. Having been in the trenches in the most difficult subject will provide me with credibility amongst your staff as someone who understands the struggles, can explain some of the benefits and provide ideas and ways to help teachers implement sound instructional strategies. One of the core aspects of performance based education is the ability to collect and use data to help drive instructional practices. The combination of my math background, my work with Classroom Instruction that Works and my Masters in Instructional Technology will also aid in my ability to offer ideas and solutions when working with staff in this
In this case, imagine if schools continued to use books and worksheets for their learning and research. They would eventually be at a disadvantage versus a school who incorporates the phycology behind the hues of colors, design and technology into their classrooms. One article disputes that claim though, giving the reasoning that changes should come based off student interest. Students appreciated the easy use of e-books provided, but “contrary to what most would expect, the younger and supposedly tech-savvy students are not all that into e-textbooks.... It runs counter to the push for paper-free digital classroom where e-books are often marketed as the lower cost (and lower weight) option” (Lewis-Spectator). When we personalize learning, we have to take into account whether the
... a sense of accomplishment, something they cannot get through direct instruction alone. This sense of accomplishment will raise their mathematical self-esteem. This can, in turn, help students appreciate and enjoy mathematics even more. Few would argue against the idea that any teaching strategy that gets students to believe in themselves and enjoy the subject is a good one.
Did you know that half of the kids that are born today turn out to be deaf? Studies have proven that parents that are both hearing could have deaf children. People are telling them that they should get a cochlear implant. If you guys didn’t know what a cochlear implant is, it would be that you get to hear and talk like a normal human being. Half the deaf people don’t want to get a cochlear implant because it is really dangerous. I strongly believe that schools should teach sign language in schools. Yes there is school for the deaf and it is called Iowa School for the Deaf, but some people don’t want to go there and they just want to be around regular people and not get looked at funny or made fun of. Kids just want to live a normal life among other kids and have friends and not have to worry about looking at the interpreted while they are trying to do their work.
“They should be able to critically evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the technologies and resources they use, and to assess how well those two things relate to the mathematics lesson being taught, keeping in mind subject matter, student diversity, and instructional strategies” (Ridener & Fritzer, 2004, p.97). It also allows for teachers to plan more hands on activities, classroom discussions, and open learning. Giving students the time to actually think about what they are learning and how they actually got their answers helps them gain a deeper understanding of what they are learning. “Encourage them to think about their thinking, to conceptualize how they got an answer to a math problem” (Wakefield, 2001, para. 6).
Mathematics is considered as one of the disliked subjects. Every student needs to do some efforts for this subject; it is difficult but if you can understand the concepts of Mathematics, solving problems will be easier. Many students have had negative experiences with Mathematics, and end up disliking it or failing. But truly, understanding Mathematics requires effort and perseverance and is worth the time if they can still perform well. Students often enroll in non-Mathematics courses before they learn that each Mathematics teacher teach it differently, or that different topics are drawn from different skills.
I consider the role of the constructivist teacher to enable to guide and facilitate a student’s thought processes and support the invention of viable mathematical ideas. A skilled teacher will also construct an appropriate classroom environment where students openly discuss, reflect on and make sense of tasks set before them (Clements et al, 1990). Through peda...