Math Blog Year 2 Week 5

Our learning has focussed on the Junior/Intermediate learners but attitudes towards Math begin in the Primary
grades. I would imagine that if teaching in a school where the primary classes are also focusing on having students
see themselves as Mathematicians and are open to asking questions and are making sense of math in their own
way, then in the J/I years they could go so much further in their math learning. Of course we can talk about a lot of
other scenarios, such as, in primary grades the math has the focus on the learning and then some junior classes
focus on the textbook and boring worksheets. This is so confusing for students and their families. How fortunate
for the students who are in schools where Growth Mindset is encouraged for all. The Ministry Monograph that
was part of our reading this week, Making Math Children Will Love stressed that a lot of children don’t feel
confident in math. It’s important to develop the “WOW” factor that captures a child’s attention. If you have this,
it is more likely to contribute to the development of greater understanding of positive attitudes towards Math.
This will certainly lead to more children enjoying mathematics which leads to a better understanding.
In class, we learned that about the importance in developing the concept for Patterns and that this leads to
Algebraic Reasoning. We now know that students can reason algebraically at an early age if instruction supports
and encourages this kind of thinking.
Thinking like a Mathematician is really a matter of making sense of the math. Through asking questions to
ensure that one really understands the math helps to develop intuition. Mathematicians rely on their intuition
more than memorizing facts. This leads to really understanding the math and being to make connections and
apply new knowledge to other learning.
                  
The video on Blended Learning  provides digital tools to teach concepts and to differentiate instruction. Using
the resources such as, TIPS and Guide to Effective Math Instruction through 3 part lessons that are provided,
complete with Minds On, Activation and Consolidation learning opportunities. Students are able to discuss
online or face to face, and can work on online tasks before doing pencil/paper tasks. This provides them with
information to self-assess by reflecting on the provided Success Criteria. Besides this great information, one of
the “take-aways” for me was the way they worded “Success Criteria”. Through our courses, we have learned
how important it is to use Success Criteria so that students are aware of why they are learning a particular skill
or concept. However, I found that by actually stating “I know that I will be successful because I can/I will….”
makes it that much more clear. I know that I will make an effort to include Learning Goals and Success Criteria
not only in my plans but to intentionally mention these at the beginning of the lesson and try to have an exit
ticket at the end of the lesson that reflects the Success Criteria.

Technology is a great tool to use in the Math classroom, besides Blended Learning, most classrooms have
interactive whiteboards (as highlighted in the Monograph, Technology in the Math Classroom which can
increase levels of student engagement using a variety of multimedia resources. However, in some classrooms,
I have observed that these interactive whiteboards are not used effectively for instruction but are used more for
entertainment. So how it is used makes the difference.

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