Summary and Synthesis

On Wednesday, October 14, 2009, our class went to Beresford Elementary for Operation Coyote. While at Beresford, I taught not only one math lesson but two math lessons. The first math lesson was in first grade and we introduced the number line and worked on addition and subtraction. The second math lesson was in third grade and we worked on the number 5 times tables. At first, I struggled with the thought of teaching a math lesson without adequate preparation time, but once I started teaching the first lesson (in first grade), I become confident in how I was presenting the information. Later in the afternoon during my second lesson (in third grade), we taught a lesson about the number 5 times table. We gave the students a problem of the day and had them work on. Then, we had the students talk about the answers they got. Most of the students had the correct answer but some had different ways of getting the answers. We had the students talk about the different ways in which they found the answers and told them that just because you had a different way of getting the answer, does not mean your way is the only way. I found experience to be a great connection to what I am learning in this class, math methods. When I was doing math in elementary, there was one way to do a problem and that was it. When this type of instruction is introduced to students, more students will "get" math problems.