Summary and Synthesis

Recent experiences that have impacted me through my math course on Tuesdays and Thursdays include, new ways of thinking when teaching and learning, new ideas to think about when planning for lessons and tests, and new ways to encourage students to learn. Over the past couple Tuesdays and Thursdays I have learned about what teachers and students are currently lacking such as, teachers are lacking focus and coherence when teaching students, and students are lacking the skills of reasoning and sense making. I have learned that it is vital for students to be able to make sense of what they are learning and be able to give reasoning on why they did a problem the way they did and how they come up with the solution. In the past and recent years, teachers have been failing in teaching students how to make sense of mathematics and how to provide reasoning for their thoughts. Teachers are also lacking when it comes to focusing on the number of math topics covered. Other countries teach fewer content areas and cover them in a deeper manner. I believe, after being in this class, that here in the United States, we do the opposite. Rather than teaching our students what they need to know now and for the future, we teach our students what is in a textbook and then move on. This does not allow students to develop a deeper level of thinking. We need to focus more on certain skills that will help our students succeed now and in the future. I have also learned through this course that mathematics needs to be learned through hands-on activities that use manipulatives and the problems need to be relateable for students. The students can learn math so much easier and can understand different processes better if they have manipulatives to look, touch, and use. This allows students to use their hands and their brains and discover many different routes to solving problems as well as, helping them be able to explain their reasoning for what they did. I have also learned about the 5 strands of math and the 4 processes of math and how to help my students be successful for each one. The impacts these experiences have had on my will affect the way I teach math to my future students. I will not teach right out of a textbook and I will allow my students to focus their attention on a realistic problem for as long as it takes for them to all understand it and be able to explain what they did and why. I will also make math more exciting for students by allowing them to be creative, work in groups, and us manipulatives. Through my experiences in this course, I truly feel that I will be an excellent math teacher for my future students.

-Danyel