Summary and Synthesis

Summary and Synthesis - Summarize and synthesize the impact of recent experiences, ideas, and/or issues encountered on Tuesdays and Thursdays in class from your perspective since the previous blog.

During my first blog, I really had no idea where this class was going. I was unsure the point of the way you were teaching, yet I did know it had it's purpose. Now my understanding is that you are teaching us the same way we need to be teaching our students. Asking questions, and finding solutions to our own problems is kind of the way the course is going, and is the way we want our students to be thinking. Instead of being spoon fed information, you are providing us with problems where critical thinking skills are needed, and where we have to be motivated to figure out the solutions to the problems presented. Although it is a different way of thinking, the point is now becoming clear for this course, and our future in teaching math and other subject areas. This course is enabling us to find the reasons behind the spoon fed formulas provided to us in math- the way we were taught growing up. Now I understand a particular concept in math (for example: why area of a triangle is 1/2 bh) and can apply it to many other areas of math (for example, using triangles to find the shapes of polygons). This course has showed me there are many different routes a person can take in coming up with a solution, and our future children need to see this as well. This course is providing me with the necessary skills needed to be able to get my children to think critically, and problem solve in math. The way this course is being taught is challenging, but now I have deeper understanding and meaning behind the math that I originally learned. I now understand how being set in the traditional way of teaching math can offset students in not truly understanding concepts being taught. The whole saying, a mile wide and an inch deep makes more sense now. Because there are so many topics that need to be covered in math, teachers rarely get to touch base with students to know if they are truly understand the meaning of concepts being taught. This new way of learning helps students see the true meaning of mathematical concepts, which can be applied to multiple areas in math, as we are presented with a problem and have to come up with the solution.