Week #12 Reflection

To begin  I must say I cannot believe that this marks the end of our mathematics course. Over the duration of these past twelve weeks I feel that I have made tremendous growth in my level, attitude and mind set towards mathematics. Prior to the commencement of the course I was anxious and unsure if I would be a suitable mathematics instructor for I felt my confidence and skills greatly lacked. One of the more valuables lessons I have learned is that ALL individuals, no matter age, gender or abilities has the power to learn, love and understand math. Our classroom lessons focused heavily on the deconstruction of the once “accepted” method of teaching math and encouraged a new wave of instruction. As a future mathematics instructor it is my responsibility to work together with my students to develop their skills level in order to demolish the negative connotation surrounding mathematics.

In my final week of my observational placement I had been given the opportunity to conduct my first mathematics lesson, and let me tell you it was not as scary as I imagined it would be. My associate teacher and I co created a data management lesson which focused on enhancing students understanding of terminology so that their ability to develop effective graphs would increase. To begin we introduced students to the "Frayer Model", an organizational tool used to categorize knowledge regarding various concepts. To introduce this model we played a game where I concealed the middle word and filled out each category to provide a description of what the word was.  Once this was complete I showed another slide and explained each category focusing on the differences between each category and why information is inputted into each section. Finally we collaborated as a class to sort out and categorize information regarding the word “Rocks” -a concept they had been studying in science. Once I felt that students had a thorough understanding of how to use the model I explained to them what they would be doing during the lesson. My associate teacher and I extracted six key terms (Axis, Table, Talley, Scale, Graph, Bar Graph) which we felt were necessary to build students understanding around data management.  

Students were split into six groups of four and were responsible for building a Frayer model based on their assigned word. To begin, I had students work independently to gain a sense of their knowledge on their term. After about ten minutes students gathered in their groups to produce their Frayer model on a graph piece of paper. It was amazing to see the different interpretations and understandings brought forward by each student, as well it was astonishing to watch students learn off of one another. The collaboration of ideas allowed the more timid, quite pupils to work together with the more knowledgeable students to heighten their understanding.  

The exchange of conversations were fascinating as each student appeared to have a multitude of ideas and opinions in regards to their concept. When this was complete the students then displayed their final product and participated in a "gallery walk" where they had the opportunity to look over at each others work, record what they had observed and provide constructive feedback for their fellow peers. I felt that this activity was an amazing success as the students truly gained a great sense of knowledge in regards to data management terminology. 

Math does not have to be scary, instead it can be something which kids can look forward to and be excited to learn if structured well. Never would I have thought that the activity I created would be suited for a mathematics lesson however it was incredible to watch the progression of knowledge.This course has truly opened my eyes to the wonder which can come from a mathematics classroom and know that I will continue to work on my skills so I can continue to build my knowledge.