Let's congress

This past week in Math was different then past weeks. It felt more of a continuation from previous weeks with fractions and decimals and adding on with ratios. This week I also had my mini lesson presentation that I think went well. But first with the lesson, we started it off again with another captivating open activity. This specific activity had me challenged, I found it hard to start and once I started writing down the information fro the equation I couldn’t think of a way to solve the problem. I found it difficult to solve this particular problem because I could not visualize the problem. At first I wanted to start by drawing the figures out and trying to imagine them but then I just tried to do the same by looking at the image on the screen. One we wrote it out as a ratio it started to make sense to me but then when we did it as solving for the variable it was hard for me to grasp that concept of solving for this particular equation. This equation came with the opportunity to use different methods to solve and definitely could have the potential to build on from the original problem.

A big part of this week’s lesson was the concept and idea of a math congress. We built from last week’s math problem with figure out Joel’s kitten problem. We expanded our small 4 people group into bigger congresses. A congress can really bring out the importance of group work and working in a team setting, getting students to share ideas and problem solving solutions with each other, help build connections to solutions and even connections to real world and bring forth a deeper understanding. Starting off by learning about congresses and being apart of one helps to understand the importance and deeper meaning. It allows for us educators to be in the shoes of our younger learners. It brings forth to strong mathematical process that are in the curriculum and that is reasoning & providing and communication. These two processes can sometimes be overseen in math; as a student I never really provided reasoning behind how and why I solved my math problems I just did what I had to, to find the answer. But when we allow our students to share their understanding and thought process it will make it easier for them to be able to do it again with a different problem. We allow for our memories to bring forth important concepts because we understand them better. Communication is the same and it falls and in hand with reasoning and providing. With a math congress students can have ownership of their work and ideas and have a choice, which in mathematics is important for students to have the ability to choose how to solve a problem the way they understand it best.

Like I mentioned earlier I also had my presentation this past week. I think overall it went well I think my idea made sense to what I was teaching and I hope it targeted what I wanted it to, which was to help my peers understand that adding integers is as easy as walking forwards and backwards. Adding movement and physical activity is something I think about frequently when creating lesson plans and concepts. I understand sometimes concepts and ideas won’t always be captured with that strategy but with math it makes it easier then other subjects and I for one will work in crossing curriculum’s and subjects over to help explain the relationship with one another. I think all three of the lesson plans on integers were well done by both Adam and Kelley, they taught integers different then me and I enjoy seeing that. I think as educators it is important to work with one another and share ideas and strategies that work in your classroom. I think as teachers we can make a strong team and working with each other is a piece, but allowing each other to become a part of their classroom and share ideas and perceptions is something I look forward too.

Making flipping fractions a thing of the past

Diving fractions...without the flip! 

This week in math class we were yet again blown away by Patricia by turning flipping fractions and dividing a thing of the past. Our opening activity falls into the category of physical activity which is one of my favourite cross-curriculum subjects to incorporate into the classroom. The concept of the activity incorporating fractions could help students understand the difference between a variety of fractions and the values that each fraction has. It started as a wide base activity that got students to first work individually and then with elbow partners/group and then gave the options for students to use any method that got them to best visualize the people in the activity and the distance to the teacher. This activity has definitely been added to the mathematics toolbox of resources.

In addition to the opening activity dividing fractions have been made easy with finding common denominators. Having students know their multiplication time tables is important to help them grasp concepts of finding common denominators. I myself still have a hard time flipping fractions and divide with the new equation so learning this algorithm will help in my understanding process. I felt accomplished this past week in math, a lot of that is because I understood and did not get frustrated with learning fractions. The concept of universal design is important for us educators, I think it is important to design a problem that is both universal and connected to real-life to help students become more engaged with the problem and more inclined to ask questions and come up with solutions.  This could also turn into a positive way to get students more engaged by thinking of questions, and start to think outside of just solving questions but how to formulate the start of questions themselves.

The strategies for creating open questions are a great tool that we teachers can add and consider when teaching our own classrooms. There insight from these strategies will help us create sound lesson plans similar to how we are learning in mathematics with Patricia.

The presenters this past week all did a great job incorporating fractions with ratios. Elizabeth’s presentation brought real-life scenarios to mathematics, a lot of us bake and cook and the connection it has to fractions is very relevant. Each week my confidence in mathematics is increasing and I my understanding math more. Our class works well sharing strategies that they discover work well for them, as well as Patricia sharing and educating us on different strategies we can implement in our junior classes. 

'Frenemies' with Fractions

This past week in Math we explored the more friendly side of fractions…and I become more friends with fractions as opposed to enemies. We started the class with an open-ended problem and got our minds thinking about fractions. I enjoyed Patricia’s activity with think of any fraction, a fraction we each liked and can draw it out however we liked. This activity built on to the next, which was to work with our elbow partners and add our fractions together. This beginner activity started individually and then got us to work collaboratively and start working with different fractions, different manipulative tools and get us to start talking fraction vocabulary. As an educator I would walk around the classroom at this time see how students are working together, get a feel of there current knowledge is with fractions and then bring it back together as a whole class and share each other’s fractions and work of adding the fractions. This beginning activity will be added to the toolbox of lesson plans in mathematics.

My favourite fraction 5/8 

Working with fractions has always been very difficult for me to grasp as a student. Some of the more difficult things I found myself struggling with fractions were to simplify large fractions to the lowest possible fraction, add/subtract/multiply or divide mixed fractions and to get them to an improper fraction. One tool that helped me visually understands fractions this week were the different manipulatives used in class. One specific key concept I would like to take away from fractions and try to implement into future lessons is the practicality to real situations; for example comparing boys and girls in a family. As a teacher candidate learning about fractions for me can be discouraging at times. I find it hard to understand how to operate them, and work with them to solve problem solving questions. I would definitely take any opportunities I can to continue learning about fractions until I understand them comfortably to teach them.

The different lesson presentations were done well by each candidate. I enjoyed Sarah’s lesson plan because she connected math with another subject area and for me I personally work a lot with physical education (being my background) and try to connect it to other subjects such as math, literature and tech class.  This particular lesson plan not only introduced basic fractions but related them to reading musical notes and also being able to physically clap out the beats. Harpreet’s lesson plan also allowed students to find fractions simply from our names. I thought this was creative and very practical and could show students that fractions exist in places we wouldn’t consider to have fractions.

'Array' of Sunshine ☀️

This past week in Math class brought some enlightenment on how to do simple addition and subtraction problems. I decided to title my blog “Array of sunshine” because of the different key concepts that we took away from the class. We learned a number of alternative algorithms for solving addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.  One algorithm that I understand quickly and would label as my ‘ah ha’ moment is the objects in an array. Breaking down the equation into a visual aid of a box helped me break down the equation to smaller, simpler equations to solve and get the final answer. I was happy to understand this algorithm because I was having difficulty grasping the other concepts such as compensation subtraction. 

"Objects in an array," alternative algorithms

Learning how to problem solve with alternative algorithms can be instrumental in the classroom for students as it encourages them to be creative and explore other solutions. I would strongly promote this alternative of learning math in the classroom. Over the course of the past few weeks math class has allowed me to think outside the box and explore my creative problem solving side of mathematics. It can also benefit students to learn different ways of solving math problems and to test their knowledge and abilities. One of the more challenging parts of the past week’s class was learning the alternative algorithms and able to understand them before moving onto the next one. As a learner I like to learn something and then be able to absorb the information before learning a new concept. After being able to go home and sit and review the alternative algorithms they become clearer to use and understand. 

Additional key concepts that I found valuable to take away is the need for students to see mathematics as sensible, useful and doable. It is important to relate math and problem solving to the learners interest As an educator it is important to learn what is trending and what students like depending on their ages , for example ‘Pokemon Go’, or Harry Potter. The presentations from my peers this week were well done and enjoyable. Each person created a mini lesson plan that was interesting and grasped our attention given it was catered towards younger learners. The problem solving with batman done by Matt would get the attention of the learners who like a challenge and steps to achieve/discover the outcome of a problem. Daniella’s dice activity was a fun and interactive and can allow for the learner to implement addition and multiplication skills to a tangible activity. Emily’s flash card activity was one of the more challenging activities but simple to understand. Working with others definitely made the activity easier because other students can work on different problems at once and other students need to solve just one problem before moving onto the next. Overall the lessons were all successful and presented well by all the presenters and I personally enjoyed participating in each one of them and could collect these lessons and include in my math resources as a future educator.