Week 2 Reflection

This week we were responsible for reading three different articles regarding mathematics and different mathematical concepts. The first document that we were responsible for reading was the “Paying Attention to Mathematics Education, K-12” which was issued by the Ontario Government. In this document 7 foundational principles for Improvement in Mathematics are laid out as follows:

1.     Focus on Mathematics

2.     Coordinate and Strengthen Mathematics leadership

3.     Build understanding of effective Mathematics Instruction

4.     Support collaborative professional learning in Mathematics

5.     Design a responsive Mathematics learning environment

6.     Provide assessment and evaluation in Mathematics that supports student learning

7.     Facilitate access to Mathematics learning resources.

These principles were issued serve as a guide for planning and implementing improvements in mathematics teaching and learning and as support for Math programs and changes that school boards are already implementing. The first principle states that teachers must focus on the curriculum in terms of what they are teaching, as well as what the students should know and what they will learn in the upcoming years. The 2^nd principle focuses on ensuring that, the teachers, as well as the board members, principals etc are all aware of effective mathematics instructing techniques and can engage in conversations with the teachers about how to improve etc. This leads to the third principle, which is building an understanding of effective math instruction for students to become successful in the 21^st century. The 4^th is to ensure that you and your fellow teachers are working and learning together when planning math units etc. The last three principles are focused on creating a responsive learning environment for the students, providing students with assessment and feedback that supports their learning and lastly ensuring that students have access to varying learning resources. I thought that this was a valuable resource because not only did it provide principles for improving your mathematics pedagogical ability, but it also gave specific examples regarding how you could go about achieving this improvement.

The second document that I read was, “Paying Attention to Proportional Reasoning K-12.” This document was focused on proportional reasoning and why it is so important to Mathematics education. I always knew that proportional reasoning was important, but it wasn’t really until I read this article that I realized that we really do use proportional reasoning in so many different situations, in, as well as outside of, the classroom.  Teaching a student to really understand proportional reasoning gives them a logical lens through which they are able to look at the world. Proportional reasoning involves a number of different aspects and concepts and this document does a great job of providing examples of these concepts and explanations as to why they are so important to the greater concept of proportional reasoning.  The document also lists the strands within the grades that are related to proportional reasoning as well as sample questions so you can focus your teaching. One last piece of this document that I found useful was the inclusion of sample EQAO          questions for grades 3 and 6.

Strand of Math. Proficiency. 2001, Journal. http://bit.ly/2cAdzUY

Lastly we were responsible for reading, “The Strands of Mathematical Proficiency.” This document describes the 5 strands of math proficiency as Conceptual Understanding, Adaptive Reasoning, Strategic Competence, Productive Disposition and Procedural Fluency. The document describes these different strands in detail whilst providing examples of each. The most important piece of information from this document is that fact that it is stated that these strands of mathematical proficiency are not stand-alone concepts. Rather, they are intertwined, much like a rope, and when put together they result in mathematical proficiency.

There were three things from class this Monday that really stuck with me.  I think that the personality colour test that Patricia briefly touched on would be a great activity to lead your class through at the beginning of the year to establish the different learning styles and thus be better able to tailor your lessons to meet your specific class/student needs. I also thought that the hate example was a great refresher on the concept that everyone looks at math differently. While one person may prefer to think of the problem algebraically the other student may want to think about it visually etc. Finally, the video about the shepherd’s age really resonated with me. I was interested in this video because it showed me the problem with much of the math instruction in today’s classrooms. Students are taught to really think and understand the problem/question they are being asked. Rather, they instantly start looking for numbers, which they can use as clues, to plug into an equation and reach an answer. This is the difference between Understanding vs just Doing. We have to be teaching students to really think about questions they are being asked and to try and understand the problem/question first, and then try and solve, rather than just looking for information to plug into an equation that does not make sense.