The presentation by the lady from the Dept. of Education (whose name escapes me now) was very interesting and a great reminder of fun math games. It seems to me that it would be worth it to have a big stockpile of math games on hand, particularly because they require a bit of time to plan and they won't work if you don't. From experience teaching and being a student, there is nothing worse than someone trying to make something work that just won't.
Also, it rekindled my long-forgotten love of Geoboards. They are pretty endlessly useful, and lots of fun no matter what your skill/understanding level is. My first reaction was obviously to write a rude word with elastic bands, but I was able to suppress the urge and use it to make designs instead. I think it would be neat to develop a large list of tasks to do on a Geoboard (I'm sure one could find such a list online) and have students who have finished their work go through the list.
Also, here is a video I found that is run by an educational supply company. They give a few ideas here and link to some others as well.
23 September 2009
Math Autobiography
In my primary and elementary classrooms, math was most often kept separate from other topics; it was usually taught with a very heavy reliance on the text and our workbooks. I remember some teachers expressing how uncomfortable they were with math, and others making it very clear that they just didn't like math and didn't expect us to either. Math was actually used as punishment sometimes, as in "If you don't all be quiet, we'll be doing math instead of ________ today.
My best memories about math center around 1 particular teacher who was very excited about math and who integrated it very well in to other streams (particularly art). I could list any number of experiences from that year (grade 4), most of them related to exploring new concepts with visual aides and hands-on time. My worst memories around math are mostly from high school, but in elementary school I remember really resenting having to do and redo exercises that I understood really well already, just because the teacher didn't have anything else for me to do. I don't think they had a particularly lasting effect on my attitudes toward math, since I already liked it and was comfortable around it.
I was good at math in general, because I had a very good memory and a fascination with patterns and numbers. I think I also understood it well, and often used it casually and comfortably when problem solving.
The role of the teacher was most often as a facilitator and taskmaster, very seldom very involved. I think that most of them were not interested in mathematics, and some even told us this. Rather than change how they were teaching it or alter the content, they would sometimes just say that we were only doing it because we had to and that it wasn't something we would ever use again.
Assessment was usually in test form, usually a source of dread for most people in the class. It seldom involved application of knowledge, it was usually just the same as examples we had done in class. If you were able to memorize how to do something, you didn't really even have to understand it.
Math in highschool was similar, until I reached Grade 10. I was in Advanced Math and had a teacher who was very focused on covering things in intense detail and advancing as fast as he wanted to. There was no talking, all homework was always done, and we were always being challenged. It was quite competitive as well. Even at the time, we really enjoyed it because it was so productive and he was very respectful of the effort we put in.
I took 2 statistics courses, 2 calculus, and a variety of stats and calculus-based advanced ecology courses.
The only math-related elective I ever took was a basic astronomy course that didn't really involve any new concepts, just application of familiar concepts to astronomy.
I most often use math in my capacity as a small business owner, in all the ways that it requires me to do so. Managing accounts, ordering, cashflow, etc. I use it a lot as a bar supervisor as well, managing inventory and cash, etc.
I also have a variety of strange obsessive compulsions that involve patterns, repetition, counting and timing. I think I developed them when I was treeplanting, a job that leads to being very nitpicky over elapsed times, average speed, counting by various intervals, etc.
In general I am comfortable with mathematical concepts, with the glaring exception of Calculus.
My best memories about math center around 1 particular teacher who was very excited about math and who integrated it very well in to other streams (particularly art). I could list any number of experiences from that year (grade 4), most of them related to exploring new concepts with visual aides and hands-on time. My worst memories around math are mostly from high school, but in elementary school I remember really resenting having to do and redo exercises that I understood really well already, just because the teacher didn't have anything else for me to do. I don't think they had a particularly lasting effect on my attitudes toward math, since I already liked it and was comfortable around it.
I was good at math in general, because I had a very good memory and a fascination with patterns and numbers. I think I also understood it well, and often used it casually and comfortably when problem solving.
The role of the teacher was most often as a facilitator and taskmaster, very seldom very involved. I think that most of them were not interested in mathematics, and some even told us this. Rather than change how they were teaching it or alter the content, they would sometimes just say that we were only doing it because we had to and that it wasn't something we would ever use again.
Assessment was usually in test form, usually a source of dread for most people in the class. It seldom involved application of knowledge, it was usually just the same as examples we had done in class. If you were able to memorize how to do something, you didn't really even have to understand it.
Math in highschool was similar, until I reached Grade 10. I was in Advanced Math and had a teacher who was very focused on covering things in intense detail and advancing as fast as he wanted to. There was no talking, all homework was always done, and we were always being challenged. It was quite competitive as well. Even at the time, we really enjoyed it because it was so productive and he was very respectful of the effort we put in.
I took 2 statistics courses, 2 calculus, and a variety of stats and calculus-based advanced ecology courses.
The only math-related elective I ever took was a basic astronomy course that didn't really involve any new concepts, just application of familiar concepts to astronomy.
I most often use math in my capacity as a small business owner, in all the ways that it requires me to do so. Managing accounts, ordering, cashflow, etc. I use it a lot as a bar supervisor as well, managing inventory and cash, etc.
I also have a variety of strange obsessive compulsions that involve patterns, repetition, counting and timing. I think I developed them when I was treeplanting, a job that leads to being very nitpicky over elapsed times, average speed, counting by various intervals, etc.
In general I am comfortable with mathematical concepts, with the glaring exception of Calculus.
14 September 2009
Testing, Testing...
Welcome to Easy as Pi! If you are evaluating it for the purpose of grading me, then please be merciful; past attempts at blogging have not always started, continued and/or ended well. To all others, please comment and feel free to copy links, email sections, etc.
Cheers!
Sam Paterson
Cheers!
Sam Paterson
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