Why yes, I know..it has indeed been a while! I hope every one enjoyed their summer! But I am excited to be back for our second and final year, here in the Teacher Education program at Brock University. This just means we are one step closer to reaching our dreams! Or a very particular dream, I should mention; which includes inspiring the young minds for a brighter future.
We had our first mathematics part II edition this week. Insightful it was! Our instructor, Mina, opened the class with an intriguing card trick. With a few shuffles and flips of the cards, organized into 4 piles, the end goal was to reveal four cards of the same number. Seemed easy enough, but it still presented difficulties for my group. Eventually, with lots of trial and error and as we communicated with another group, we were closer to being successful. Once this activity was complete, Mina posed the question "What did I do wrong as a teacher?" We had to stop and give it a few moments of thought. She told us that initially, when introducing the activity, she said "This is a simple card trick." The tricky - pun intended - word being "simple." The language used can be condescending for students who, after the first few tries, do not succeed in the desired result. Further, the student(s) may feel devalued, suddenly lack confidence in their own skillset, or just be simply confused! It is best to stray from this type of language, so that students approach the challenge without a predetermined label of whether it is an easy activity or not. Remember - what we may find easy may be difficult for others! This is where the beauty lies of learning from one another. :)
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| Swister_p. "Cards?" Online photo. (2007, March 19). Retrieved from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/swister/426950151/. |
I also happened to notice that when first choosing a student to demonstrate the trick, she asked "Who is good at cards?" And while this may be a wonderful opportunity for a student to showcase and lead something they enjoy, again - the use of language may suddenly highlight the activities we aren't very good at. It can stir an insecurity within us. If a student who is not very good at cards, but has the willingness to participate, is present, then the opportunity to try and possibly improve in the activity would be amazing. Let a child step out of their comfort zone! I think this is especially important in mathematics, where a lot of these insecurities tend to loom. Give it a go -you may be surprised at what they accomplish.
I bring attention to these situations - not to criticize, but to welcome the "teaching/learning moment." I am constantly seeking these out, and appreciated how Mina encouraged us to analyze what could have been done differently.
Next, we played an online game called "The Game About Squares." Wow! This was incredibly fun, but also had its own challenges! It's essentially a game where you need to line up the squares to their corresponding dot (by colour). But the game is colour-blind friendly, so it is great to know that inclusive practices are prioritized in content creation. The square could only move in the direction that its arrow points to, so that is where the challenge was. The simple graphics and design are deceptive to its complexity as the levels increase.
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| Digital Vincent. "3 Squares." Online photo. (2014, August 17.) Retrieved from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/7699384@N07/14952667635/ |
Later, we discussed what helped us during this activity, and it was great to have the opportunity to pause and think about what strategies worked and what did not. Thinking about our own thinking - an important technique to consider when fostering that metacognitive piece for our students. Also, I believe this is an admirable education tool to use in the classroom because students are not given any prompts to direct them what to do. It's a chance to explore what the game entails, and what innate strategies students may gravitate towards. Are you a logical thinker? Does it take time to figure out a plan of action? Do you tend to seek help from others when stuck? What a great learning experience it can be. Here is the link for the game, incase you would like to check it out and make use of it in your own classroom: Square Game.
That wraps up class 1 of our mathematics course!
Until next time,
Have a beau-tea-ful day every one!
Giuliana
That wraps up class 1 of our mathematics course!
Until next time,
Have a beau-tea-ful day every one!
Giuliana
Hi Giuliana!
ReplyDeleteI thought your review of our first mathematics course of the year was great!
When Mina opened the class with her card tricks, comparing magic to mathematics, I agree with your statement that we realized there was a lot more to a card trick that we might have previously perceived. I liked how you mentioned how communication between groups was important to our successes with this mathematical application; that it was a beauty of learning from one another. I hope that we as teacher candidates can all learn from the strategies mentioned from class stated in your blog, and can consistently provide a mathematics positive workspace to young learners.
- Jacob
Guiliana, I also really loved A Game about Squares. In fact, I loved it so much that I downloaded the android app version and have been playing it all week long. One of the things that I found interesting about this game was that it never explained the instructions to you, but encouraged the player to discover the rules through exploration. While plenty of puzzle games allow the player to reset the puzzle, I liked the fact that this game also allowed the player to undo a move, which further encourages experimentation by reducing the fear of doing something wrong. I think that this is a great game for strengthening their problem solving skills.
ReplyDelete- Nicole