- Math to me is a puzzle, a challenge, a game. It's a way to manipulate and understand abstract structures ranging from numbers to graphs, to sets, to so much more. It's a neat way to understand the world.
- Simply, the way I learn math best is doing it. Sitting in the classroom is great, and so is studying. But the way I learn best is sitting down and actually putting the pieces together.
- I believe my students will learn best by seeing the math done clearly and concisely. After helping others through math and tutoring, I've found that shortcuts and tricks and cool facts are all just clutter to most. And a consistent, memorable way of doing any set of problems is the best way to do it.
- Note taking! Foremost I believe this achieves so much because everyone learns differently, and on top of that, in class examples are given and explanations are given that students can copy and refer to later.
- Clutter! Sooo many math teachers clutter up the material with confusing side-notes or underdeveloped ideas. Before moving a step further, the subject matter should be clear. That's what I think.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Blog Entry Numero Uno
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Note taking is also extremely helpful to me for when I need to recall information that I haven't seen in a few months. As for questions 3 and 5, while it's true that clutter is never good and can be extremely confusing, there can often be shortcuts in math that makes concepts less confusing then say how they are explained in a textbook. I've had teachers with their own way of doings things, and a lot of those things I have adopted into the way I think about problems and do steps. Perhaps to avoid inconsistency in the way different teachers teach certain things, the math teachers within the department of a given school can discuss the simplest way to explain how do a math concept and then the teachers can all teach it the same way. Or maybe a teacher could present several different ways of approaching a problem, one with a trick or shortcut, another just the basic tradition way. Then the student can choose their preference. Just my thoughts.
ReplyDeleteGreat job!
I totally agree about not cluttering up what you are teaching. Learning new material is already confusing enough, you don't need the extras.
ReplyDeleteI agree about the notes as well. I do think to help the student learn best the teacher needs to teach in several ways to suit all the students' learning types.
I like your explanation to math because that is how I feel about it also. I feel like math challenges me and when I accomplish the challenge I am glad! I agree that teachers need to be organized, clear, and concise also. Students can be disorganized and pre-occupied with other things in mind, so when a teacher has the lesson prepared and the ideas clear, then the student will be more focused becasue the class is so clear.
ReplyDeleteThough being clear and concise will help students, I think there are more things to do to teach students rather than just taking notes. Some people can learn well with notes but i know a lot of others who need different ways to learn, so it's good to do more than just lectures and note taking.
I really like what you have written. I agree, math should be kept as simple as possible. I don't think we need to add anything to it to make it more confusing than it already is. Something you might want to consider in your teaching style on top of using notes is one-on-one help or maybe even group or individual assignments. This way you can better determine how well the students understand the material.
ReplyDeleteI like your analagy of math to puzzle. Does everyone see math that way? How will your students see math?
ReplyDeleteHow will students know which "consistent, memorable way" applies in any given situation? Do they always have to memorize equations and formulas? Should they be able to reach conclusions on their own, having never seen a problem like that before?