Summary and Synthesis

One of the things that I have learned from this class is that they way I was taught math when I was growing up was not necessarily the right way. I was taught to use the wrong techniques, and that is why math is so difficult for me today. In class now, we are learning how to teach in a contructivist way, which is totally new to me, and sometimes frustrating- simply because it is a brand new method. In the past, I remember having to do a lot of memorization of procedures and formulas; with the constructivist method, there is much less emphasis on memorization. The students will have to do a lot of figuring out on their own, sometimes without seeing a formula first. This gives each child a chance to work out the problem for themselves first. I think this method is better because it gives the students a chance to really dig deep into the concepts of mathematics and figure things out for themselves.