Summary and Synthesis

In class, we have continued to learn about the different approaches students can take to understand problems. The instructor has continued to push us to teach in a new way that does not just involve giving students a formula and telling them how to use it. We have learned not to just tell students how to solve a problem, but to allow them to explore and maybe find their own solutions. I find it very difficult at different times to learn this way and I think that most of the class would agree with me. Some of my classmates have given lessons to the rest of the class using the method of teaching that we are learning about. I have learned a lot from seeing how they taught and approached the lesson. It has made me think about how I am going to teach my lessons when I am a teacher. Sometimes in class, I find it difficult to understand concepts because they are new to me and I was taught and learned the concepts in a completely different way. In class, we have been challenged to understand why we do certain steps to figure out math problems and to not just know what to do. I am starting to understand why I do something, instead of just knowing what steps to take to arrive at an answer. Students can understand more of what they are doing if they learn it by trying different methods and not just following the teacher's steps or solutions.