Personal Concerns and Next Steps

When we first began this course, I was unsure of how it would help me understand and apply math methods in classrooms. Rather than focusing on definitions and formulas, this course aims to explain how definitions and formulas are formed through understanding the process that it takes to create them. For example, in the Pick's Theorem activity, we did a number of examples to demonstrate how the formula is formed, and how it applies to different shapes. Another example would be the "What's my Rule" Activity where we described the properties of shapes. Although I found it frustrating at first, having us explore what we know about concepts through worksheets, and then discussing them in class has proved to be helpful. As we near the second half of this midterm, I plan to take more in-class notes and to ask for help more if I don't understand a concept that is being covered in class.

Personal Concerns and Next Steps

There are many concerns that I have with this new method of math. I understand that exploring the concepts of math is important but it makes me wonder how the students are supposed to learn the basic skills of math. When I think of math I think of a set of rules and formulas and that help us find an ending number. Personally I am not a big fan of math to begin with so I dont exactly enjoy exploring math. How do you motivate children to want to explore math? I guess to me it is something very different and it is something that I will need to get used to. However, I do see a lot of classes besides math getting more into the explore and discover method of teaching rather than telling children what to know. It will be interesting to see how teaching changes in the next few years.