Hopefully I can refresh everyone about what we learned last week (Week 2), and the variety of different math aspects that I'm going to reflect on.
One concept that I am becoming more familiar with is the two strands of education for content expectations, which are overall expectations and specific expectations (OME, 2005, pg. 7). After attending some of my other classes I have noticed that overall expectations and specific expectations are used in a majority of subjects with very similar concepts. Additionally, in mathematics, there are strands of subgroups taught to students throughout the primary and junior grades. These strands include number sense and numeration, measurement, geometry and spatial sense, patterning and algebra, as well as data management and probability (OME, 2005, pgs. 8-10). The purposes of the strands are to help focus on specific aspects of knowledge and skills and are taught and assessed to help further develop the students learning. With this being said, students are expected to explain and show a high level of understanding concepts through problem-solving, reasoning and proving, reflecting, selecting tools and computational strategies, connecting, representing, and communicating (OME, 2005, pgs. 12-17).
When looking back to our first-class, professor Forbes discussed how students need to be proactive as opposed to reactive when it comes to learning new subjects, especially math. This is because students tend to view math negatively if they are having trouble learning a new concept or have been discouraged in the past. Also, professor Forbes addressed that everyone has certain strengths and weaknesses, which is okay. But that the most important aspect of learning is to have the courage to take on new challenges with an open mind and be adaptable.
In my opinion, my strength when it comes to mathematics is problem-solving. However, I know my greatest weakness is selecting tools and computational strategies, improving these would help me to become more successful in mathematics. During this course I will be keeping an open mind to develop a growth mindset, to improve my ability to learn computational strategies and use them in a future teaching setting.
As I reflect, I think about how excited I am for the entirety of this course. Math was a subject that I enjoyed learning in elementary and high school more than the other subjects that were taught. However, I found that my teachers also made it fun while incorporating ways to enhance student's learning. Moreover, during the last class, I was more engaged than in the first week due to the excitement of Jeopardy. I felt that utilizing this tool was informative and a clever way to teach some mathematics concepts. When I become a teacher I will look back at the enjoyable moments I had as a student during math and the array of feelings I had while participating in the different types of games. Therefore, I would like to use these ideas in future educational practices to teach students important mathematical concepts, while at the same time making learning meaningful and fun.
Resources:
Ontario Ministry of Education (2005). The Ontario Curriculum Grades 1-8 Mathematics. Retrieved from: http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/math18curr.pdf
Hello Mackenzie
ReplyDeleteI am happy you have identified you strengths and weaknesses as it relates to the process expectations. That is really good. That is the first step in being a good maths teacher.
Wendy