ELED 330

Before I started ELED 330, I was very naïve about how math should be taught. I was positive that the best way to teach math was: the teacher shows the students how to do a problem, then the teacher and the students do a problem together, then the students do problems alone. Consequently, this was the way I was taught math in elementary, junior high, high school, and even college. My approach to teaching mathematics has completely changed within the first three weeks of class. Teaching through problem solving is a great way to get students engaged in their learning and use mathematics in real life situations as opposed to learning one type of problem out of context. However, I am struggling to understand how a student who has no idea about the concept of addition or subtraction can learn it through a complex problem. Is it necessary to teach basic concepts prior to the big problem? The textbook says no. Also, what if a problem does not work out and the children do not reach the desired answer and/or method that the problem was designed to teach? Do we make another problem or go straight into teaching the concept? These are just a few questions I have so far as I learn a completely new way to teach math.