Blog #2

New Insights and Implications

I will admit, as interested about learning this new of math as I was at the beginning of the semester, there was still a part of me that was very nervous about it as well. I was unsure of whether or not I would be able to fully comprehend it. However, though I have struggled along the way, I have begun to discover that I am starting to grasp it (at least for the geometry part). It was very interesting to see how geometric understanding builds throughout the grade levels, and thus how we can build off their prior knowledge to help them discover new concepts of mathematics. From one of our beginning activities where we took a rectangle and transcribed a triangle into it to actually developing a formula for the area of a triangle, I was able to see how this way of "discovering" math is accomplished, and accomplished well. Another example was through developing multiple formulas for determining the area of a polygon to being able to take the idea further to apply it to a real-life situation - determining the amount of shingles it would take to cover Mr. Reins roof. Through this activity I was able to discover how we help students take the mathematical concepts they are developing and go beyond it to other areas and know how to do it. That was something I had quite a bit of difficulty doing in my math classes, so being able to help students achieve this is one reason why I will be very happy to use this math method in my future classroom.
A final new insight I have gained in the past few weeks is how difficult this will truly be to implement. I know that we discussed it, however, one never truly grasps it until he or she sees it done. From watching the groups present, I have been impressed by what they have done, and I have come to discover just how much effort it will take to teach in this style. However, I have also learned how important and beneficial it will be as well. So, I hope that I will continue to progress in my understanding of the method as the semester continues on, and that I will become confident in using it in my own classroom.