Summary and Synthesis

I grew up doing a completely different way of math compared to what I have learned recently. During the past couple weeks in Eled 330, I have realized that math can be learned through a different approach with problem solving. Instead of the teacher standing in front demonstrating a few examples and then assigning a book assignment, now the teacher immerses the students in math. The students learn for themselves what math is all about. Problem solving is an enriching activity where the teacher chooses appropriate problems and stands back to let the students figure out their own mistakes, instead of holding their hands and guiding them the whole way. I learned that there are certain qualities that make a good problem or task good; multiple entry point problems are ideal since students can attack the problem starting at different levels and problems that are meaningful will help the students connect to the problem more, resulting in a more positive math experience. Learning these qualities will help me in the future when teaching math because I will be aware of what type of problems my students will need. During the past couple weeks, I also learned there are different problem solving steps and strategies that need to be used in this new way of teaching. By learning these steps and strategies, I am understanding how children learn and the different techniques they will use to find the answer. Through hands-on activities in class, these techniques have been demonstrated and I will be sure to utilize hands-on activities in my classroom as well. Even though we have been in this course for too long, I have learned so much and I will be sure to utilize this quality information in my future!