Chapter 4:
Planning Instruction
Math Anxiety is
a fear that many students and teachers alike have experienced. The challenge
will be helping our students to have a positive experience with Math. Through
the use of games such as Around the World, and also providing positive help,
and feedback we may better help our students, so that Math anxiety does not limit
their career choices. As teachers we must not be too hard on ourselves when
striving to overcome our own Math anxieties.
Teachers
create unit plans to help them stay on track during the year. The unit covers a
specific theme such as fractions; lesson plans are essential in limiting loss
of instruction time, because the teacher is able to cover a specific theme each
day. The lessons are differentiated to meet the needs of diverse learners
including those with learning differences, gifted learners, and also students
whose primary language is not English.
Since all
students learn differently, it is essential to provide children with
opportunities that allow them to do Math in different ways. This may also lead to class discussions that
are beneficial to all students. Both guided activities allowing students to
come upon their own understandings, and direct instruction are helpful. Group work can also benefit some learners. It
tends to be more helpful for stronger students.
Math practice
should be encouraged for all students. The more a task is completed the greater
the understanding.
References
Robert Ahdoot. “The Power of Yay Math.” TedXAIU. Online
video 19 February 2013.
Retrieved Web
11 September 2015.
Small, M.(2013).Making math meaningful to canadian students, k-8.
2nd ed. United States of America,
Nelson Education Ltd.
How about you?
ReplyDeleteWhat's your math history?
How do you feel about potentially being responsible for teaching math to elementary school students?
Jill
Math has always been a difficult course for me. I have struggled with numbers from the time I was in grade one or two all the way through my schooling including high school. Since Math was a challenge for me, I choose to take Arts based math in grades ten-through-twelve. Math was still difficult, but I was able to get through the courses.
ReplyDeleteAfter high school graduation, my focus was on Sociology and Psychology. Aside from taking a Statistics course that was required to complete my thesis, I had thought that Math and I might not course paths again. Life is full of surprises; clearly I was wrong, because, here I am doing Math again. As I get older, I can better see the benefits that can be acquired by those who are literate in Mathematics. When the children we teach have a good grasp of Math many more doors can be open to them in the future.
My concerns about Math are also that newer methods have been employed to teach Math since I was a child. I do worry about learning these methods as well as having a good grasp on the former ways that Math had previously been done. Teachers have much to learn and understand for a wide diversity of subjects. My goal of course is to meet all the necessary criteria for Math and other courses, so that I can best meet the needs of my students.