Week 2 Reflection, Let's Talk About Math

Let's Talk About Math

Let me start by asking this question: do you think there is a negative opinion of mathematics in todays society? This is something I have personally always struggled with because I've "disliked" (for lack of a better word) math nearly my entire life. I have always found it difficult and have never put in as much effort as I should have because I never felt like I had the support that I needed to really just get something. I believe that kids of this generation have a negative opinion of mathematics simply due to the way it is presented to them, you start off being forced to take it, at a very fast paced, sometimes in a classroom with 30 or more other students and it can all become very hectic. There is also the question about how much mathematical knowledge teachers have in todays society, in an article we were provided this week to read, there is a very interesting opening statement that says "With all the talk of teachers’ weak mathematical knowledge, we begin with a reminder that the problem on the table is the quality of mathematics teaching and learning, not—in it- self—the quality of teachers’ knowledge. We seek in the end to improve students’ learning of mathematics, not just produce teachers who know more mathematics" (Simmt, Elaine and Davis, Brent. Canadian Mathematics Education Study Group. 2002). 

For more information regarding this article, please visit this page. 

I personally found this article very beneficial because it states that teachers do not need to know every math equation per say, however they need to know how to teach these equations, which are two different things. 

In class this we were presented with a task, Miss Bunz asked us the simple question "if there are 22 people in the class and everyone was to shake everyone's hand, how many total handshakes would there be?". This seems like a fairly simple question right? So we thought, however there were a few elements that needed to be analyzed before jumping into finding the appropriate solution, you couldn't shake the same person's hand twice, so my hand shake with Miss Bunz would only count as one, hers to me would not count. Troubling right? Right away my brain jumped into, let's look at this as if you're on the outside of a bubble and everyone else is on the inside, if everyone has a turn outside of the bubble, 22 people will have the chance to shake 21 other peoples' hands. 

After having done this activity, we had the chance to go around the room and look at the equations everyone else came up with to solve the problem and I was very surprised to see that nearly every group had come up with the answer a different way, however every group had the same answer. 

This made things quite clear to me when I ask myself "what makes an excellent mathematics teacher?". Being able to accept more than one way to solve the same problem. I believe that teachers who aren't open to change aren't necessarily as flexible when it comes to trying to explain something to a student who may just not be getting something. To finish things off today, I think the big picture is that you can do it, even if you're scared, you just need to be willing to accept new things and change your way of thinking in this never ending evolution. 

Miller, J. Howard. "We Can Do It!" poster (1943). Retrieved from: Wikipedia