Summary and Synthesis

I was really confused on what we were doing and how we were doing everything since the last time I blogged. I felt that we did not cover the material we were going over in much depth and I was not getting what I was suppose to be getting out of class. The mid-term exam then kind of snuck up on me and I did not know for sure what to expect from it. I remembered talking about a lot of the things that was mentioned on the review guide, I just did not know for sure what Dr. Reins was expecting. Since the last time I blogged and now that the mid-term is over, I really have a better understanding of how this kind of teaching has an impact on somebody and how we need to relate this kind of teaching when we teach. I know how to have students problem solve, think critically, and remember the information that I teach them. If they do not remember the information that I teach them ten years down the road, such as equations, they will know how to come up with the equation on their own. I am gaining a better perspective of this class and now I do believe I am getting what I am suppose to get out of this class.

New Insights and Their Implications

I thoroughly enjoyed the instructors way of teaching how to find the area of polygons. At first I didn't understand what was going on but looking back I understand what he was trying to do. It was a great way to show us how to teach a topic so students actually understand what they are actually doing. I had to look up the the Picks -Therum. I needed to see it to understand. I am not one of thoes people that can pick up a math concept without being shown how to do it. I understand it better now but I needed to see what I was to be doing. Implications include a better understanding of how to teach concepts about math so students understand what and why things work. I can teach in this style with some small changes for the different ways students learn.

Summary and Synthesis

I have learned a lot from math methods, since we started this course. The newest topic I learned about was fractions. I never knew how I missed out on when I was kid. I thought all kids learned fractions the same way, but by learning them in a way of halves and that's it, it doesn't help them in the end. Teachers need to help students construct the idea of fractional parts of the whole and equal-sized portions or fair shares. By teaching these two concepts first students will gain a better understanding of fractions. To teach these two concepts teachers should begin with sharing tasks when developing lessons about fractions. These are just a couple of the things that I have learned so far. In class we were also talking about 6 important steps that we need to know. In class we did not get through all six, but I am looking forward to learning more about fractions. Another things that I have learned from the lesson this week was how many magazines there are for teacher to get resources to help teach concepts such as fractions. In the magazines there are so many manipulatives that teachers can buy to help students better understand the concept of fractions. I am glad we were able to keep the magazines we received in class because it will be a good resource for me when I become a teacher. Fractions is a tough topic to understand for some students, but with the right help from teachers and from the the use of manipulatives learning fractions can be fun.