Personal Reflection for Math
4173 X1: My Learning & Growth
When I first started this course in
September, I was unaware of how much the teaching of mathematics had changed
since I was a child. Even though, I had been a school volunteer much of my work
centred in the area of Resource for Language Arts or helping during Middle
School Social Studies. What is impressive is the numerous ways that children
are being taught to express their math work. Being exposed to the pentomino
puzzle as well as to the video of Ms. T. Oliver has taught me that teaching
math to our students should be an enjoyable experience that is makes learning
fun for the children.
My growth has gone from the mindset of
no longer wanting to use Math worksheets. Looking back to my elementary school
days, I had never enjoyed doing math in this way, but we were not exposed as
children to other ways of doing math. As a teacher, my classroom will not be
quiet, but would be a busy, active learning environment in which children have
opportunities to work collaborately in groups, and also with manipulatives. I
believe that the use of manipulatives not only improves learning, but also
opens the door to children learning other problem solving techniques that will
grow with them. In my class children will no longer learn by rote memory, but
through being actively engaged learners. They will have many opportunities to
express their work in engaging, insightful ways.
The fundamental role that literacy can
play in math was also an eye-opener. Through this course, we were exposed to
many books containing stories that appeal to both children and adults. As a
teacher, I would appreciate being able to incorporate both math and language
arts into a lesson. It was interesting to learn how this can be done!
Lastly, my learning throughout this
course has grown through leaps and bounds. I’m grateful to have had the
opportunities to work alone, with a partner, and with groups to expand on my
understanding of elementary math. I had not realized that there was such a
degree of mathematics material through visual arts, literacy, through computer,
and other games that can expand on children’s learning. I’m grateful to have
had the opportunity to take this course, because it has enabled me to be better
prepared to teach math to children.
Two Stars and A Wish
Two Stars
1. I have
worked well on my weekly math journal.
2. Another
area that I have worked well on is in my class work.
One Wish
I need to
work on improving on my problem solving.
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