Miss M's Learning Space

People often dislike math because they believe that math involves memorizing rules and methods, and should be learned in isolation involving correct/incorrect answers. They also often believe there’s no room for creativity and they need to be able to do math quickly in order to be good at math. These assumptions/beliefs are incorrect and don’t accurately represent what math is about. In order to facilitate healthier beliefs about math we need to allow students the opportunity to explore math reasoning (i.e. discussing ideas and problems with peers and allowing them to 'reason' to an answer). In addition, we need to teach math in the context in which it exists rather than in isolation to any other mathematical concept. The video below summarizes this idea. By presenting students with the opportunities to explore math and also by showing them where math can go, I think we can inspire creativity and a curiosity in math that will allow them to be successful. 

One of my biggest pet-peeves is when teachers test the speed student's can complete a math problem. Being fast at math has nothing to do with how well someone knows math. For example, I consider myself fairly competent at math and I enjoy solving math problems. However, I don't have my times tables memorized and it takes me time to solve questions. I find that whenever I'm tested on speed and compared to my peers I get really stressed and completely shut down. This is a great concept to both encourage students to realize as well as practice (i.e. don't have timed activities and/or tests). Another great point that was raised this week was a discussion around making mistakes. According to research, when students make mistakes in math more synapsis in the brain fire and allow the brain to grow. Below is a video that summarizes this concept.

Is knowing something memorizing it? This was a topic of debate in class last week. There were basically three sides to this debate: Yes, students need to memorize times tables in order to know multiplication.  No, students don't need to memorize times tables in order to know multiplication, they only need to know how multiplication works.  A bit of both; students should understand what multiplication is but also memorize the tables so they can actually solve multiplication questions.  My opinion is that memorization does not represent knowing something . Quite the opposite, in fact. I can't memorize anything - if something has no meaning then I will forget. Instead, why don't we teach students a strategy for solving multiplication? There are so many! Then, they can solve any multiplication question they face without memorizing anything. They 'know' how to do multiplication if they can solve a question. Nowhere does it say we need to do math quickly.  The

I'm sure we've all heard about growth mindsets before by now. Generally, a growth mindset is one where you embrace challenge and believe you can accomplis anything you set your mind to. A fixed mindset, on the other hand, is one where you believe your mind is 'fixed' and you can't learn something you don't know naturally. It's summarized in the following graphic. Retrieved from: http://big-change.org/growth-mindset/  In math, especially, they're important. As discussed briefly last week, there is not a great attitude towards math in our schools. Part of addressing that, is breaking the idea that only some people are good at math and those who aren't never will be. We need to praise students for effort and encourage them to continuously seek challenges and opportunities for growth. The following video discusses this idea as it relates to math. This idea of not praising students for being 'smart' is new to me, but I can immediatel

The title of this video is a little harsh, but the message is worth listening to.

Autumn Clip Art #14312 http://goo.gl/rKZvv1   The school year has begun again, and with that we have a new, condensed, math class. For our first class we did some ice-breaker activities and played a math game, as well as introduce the assignments for the semester. The ice-breaker and game were ones I haven't heard before, so I'll share here. Toilet Paper Ice Breaker The first was a toilet paper introduction. As we walked in, we were instructed to grab as much toilet paper as we wanted. Later in the class, it was revealed that we had to share one fact about ourselves per square. I liked it because it gave everyone the opportunity to say what they wanted to about themselves rather than the prescribed questions. Plus, it's a little silly/goofy so it broke the ice even before we shared facts about ourselves. Game about Squares This game  is an addictive one, so be warned! Our professor introduced this game without any instruction. Since we had to figure i