Blog January 31st

New Insights and Their Implications - What did you learn from your peers, from the instructor, and/or the readings, about elementary school students, and/or about yourself, and the teaching and learning of math and what are their implications to teaching and learning mathematics?

It becomes increasingly evident as we delve further into the semester, that teaching mathematics has to be understood and explained with a broad interpretation. As I speak with my peers, we all have a similar inclination to teach but we all learn material by a variety of methods. I understood that potential students need to have an educator who does not divulge every technique but trains a student to actively seek for a path to a solution. Professor Reins made a very valid point the previous class session. He made the remark that state standards should play a role in how one should teach but is not the absolute reference guide. Standards should be carried out with an emphasis on broadening a mathematical concept. The reasoning is that students need to know the background knowledge of the material and not just a limited amount of highlights that lack transition into other topics. I find that this class will greatly enhance the manner in which I educate. In addition, I feel that this course should have been presented to education majors before or during the math concept classes. The perspective not only teaches one how to explain mathematics, but it also gives a student more a comfortable approach to executing unfamiliar math.