Stage 3 reflection

Halfway There!

Hi everyone! This week marks three weeks done, holy cow right? Already halfway through the semester! This week I spent a lot of time focusing on getting my mathematics webinar set up, I am very much looking forward to having the opportunity to share some interesting information with some classmates! As we start week three, things seem to be settling down and everyone is getting into their groove again, even their math grooves. I had the opportunity this week to watch a fellow classmates webinar, which I can't say enough good things about! The webinar was full of useful tips and tricks for teachers to use in the classroom as manipulatives and learning tools. 

My classmates provided me with many different resources I could use in my classroom for math, which I found super helpful. My personal favourite was "Which one doesn't belong?" Check it our for yourself here and see why! The main focus of their webinar was how to create environment for math inquiry. I was able to relate extremely well to this topic as I often felt discouraged by math as a student and had a lot of emotional struggles throughout my time as a student due to lack of support and confidence. The website mentioned above is a great way for students to safely provide their opinion, and gives every student in the classroom an opportunity to look at things a different way and to learn from their peers. 

Retrieved September 25th 2017 from: wodb.ca

This image is an image that my classmates shared with us during their webinar. The goal is to determine and justify which one doesn't belong. I was extremely impressed by the conversation that this allowed us to have. Through each other, we realized many different options were possible and plausible. 

I found this week to be extremely enlightening and I can only look forward to the things I will continue to learn through and from my fellow teacher candidates. Thanks for reading again this week! 

Stage two reflection

Math Mindsets 

This week, I want to consider what a math mindset might be. As we've progressed through our second week of the year, I've found myself already being confused in my math class. I know right? It's only week 3! However, I feel like a lot of this feeling might be stemming from a deeper place. As a student myself, I did not believe in my mathematics abilities, I had a hard time believing in myself when I became frustrated. Now however, I can feel myself moving down another path, one where making mistakes isn't seen as an embarrassment, and is seen as progress. 

Retrieved September 18th 2017 From: Growth Mindset

 I took it upon myself this week to do a little bit more investigating when it comes to having a Growth or Fixed Mindset. We were asked to watch a video in class that briefly goes over the differences between the two, and then were asked to try and describe or determine which mindset we believe we have. I had a hard time answering this question because I previously would have said that I had a fixed mindset, "I'm not good at this, I quit". However, now I look at things differently, I wouldn't go as far as saying I have a complete growth mindset, however that I am well on my way to developing one. 

I found a fellow blogger this week that talks about a mathematics growth mindset, and states that this is an approach to teaching mathematics which believes that mindset is more important than initial ability. Helen Hindle, the author of this blog, states that students with a growth mindset will make better progress than students with a fixed mindset. She breaks down the difference between the two and here is a little highlight of what it looks like: 

Growth Mindset:                                                  Fixed Mindset:

View mistakes as opportunity for learning          Are reluctant to take on challenges 

Are resilient                                                          Prefer to stay in their comfort zone 

Believe that effort creates success                       Think it is important to look smart in front of others

Think about how they learn                                 Believe you either have talent or don't 

 Seeing this broken down like this opened my eyes significantly. The column on the right makes me feel like we are failing our children and students. I don't believe that any child should feel that way about any topic, let alone one that they may already have been apprehensive going into. 

If you would like to read Helen's blog for yourself, find her website here. 

I have found that through trial and error, even in my placement last year, it has been one of the most effective ways to learn. My associate teach last year had this saying "practice makes progress" and it has really stuck with me because I don't believe in complete perfection, humans should be allowed to make mistakes, however it's the continued effort and practice that is important at the end of the day.

Thanks for reading! 

 

Stage 1 Math Reflection

 Here we go again!

As I look back on where I started with my math confidence last year, I cannot believe that I have come to a point where I finally feel like I could actually teach math. Throughout my first practicum experience in my first year of teachers college, I learned a great deal about myself and my abilities.

I used to think that math was something you were either naturally good at, or you weren't good at it at all. Through my practice teaching, I came to realize that is simply not true. Math is something that takes effort, patience and practice. I was placed in a grade 5 classroom and I had to completely re-teach myself every concept that I taught to my students! It was through this that I realized that math is not as scary as it once seemed.

Throughout the next 7 months I look forward to gaining more knowledge about math and ways to make math something that students will look forward to in the classroom, instead of dreading it. Growing up I always look at math as something that was daunting and always had a mindset that I simply wouldn't be good at it, so I put in minimal effort.

As a teacher, this is something that makes me sad, for lack of a better word, for my future students, no child should doubt their abilities before even trying something new. As a goal for this year, I would like to learn some tricks that will make my future students enjoy being in my math class and having it be a safe and successful environment.

I would also like to learn of ways to help reduce the daily planning that I found myself doing last year so I believe that the unit planning portion of this year will be extremely useful. I found myself struggling with my planning and always scrounging to put a lesson together for the following day.

I look forward to spending the next six weeks continuing to find ways to personally become more comfortable with math as well as learning new ways that I can help my students find the same confidence.

Retrieved September 11th 2017 From: Youtube