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A Review of Class #4


This week in review I will be discussing what I learned during week four of Mathematics class. There is so much interesting information I am absorbing and I am enjoying the in-class activities that are being presented by both my professor and my fellow peers. Below you will find an example provided by my professor called a Tarsia Puzzle. Tarsia Puzzles allow teachers to create a wide range of activities, including jigsaws of various shapes and sizes, dominoes, matching rectangular cards and follow-me cards for various subjects. These puzzles are great as well because the teacher does not need to spend time cutting up the jigsaw. The software automatically rearranges the pieces of the jigsaw in the Output section, thus allowing the teacher to simply print out a copy and hand it to the students to cut out and assemble.

Visit this site to learn more about Tarsia Puzzles and free online software that can help you. Please be advised to use the software at your own risk as one can never predict precisely what will happen.






(Tarsia Puzzle)



Learning about teaching fractions, equivalent fractions and decimals has been fun and engaging. Learning how to incorporate games such as the pizza slices game when learning about fractions makes it fun, engaging and practical for students. I liked how the game could be simplified (using the same denominator) or made more complicated by changing the denominators and figuring out equivalent fractions. 




Another aspect of our class that I am really enjoying is learning new activities and manipulatives that I could use with my students. I really enjoyed using the plastic coins to represent decimals and I like how it makes math meaningful by demonstrating the function and importance of decimals in real life for students.



Learning how to make math engaging is important to me. I am understanding that the mathematical formulas are important, however how they are introduced and absorbed are of the utmost importance. I especially thought of this while completing my Problem Solving Activity. Questions emerged in my mind "Are they comfortable?" "Do they understand what is expected of them?" "Do they know the curriculum?" "How will they approach these math problems?" all came to the surface.
I wanted my participants to feel comfortable with the assignment. I did provide them with an understanding of the assignment and discussed how to calmly approach solving mathematical problems. I asked them to slow down and read the questions to assess what the question was really asking them. I think that this inevitably helped them to understand the problems and to solve them successfully.

I really enjoyed this project and I believe that gaining this experience of working with students one-on-one will be invaluable once I finally start my placement. I can now confidently say that slowly but surely I am beginning to see myself as a successful math teacher.

Cheers until next week!

Ashley




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