EDUC115N Reflection #3

Lots of great ideas in session four, but I think the best way to share what I am learning is to share what I am learning. Check out the link below to see the difference between how math is taught and how math ought to be taught.

When I let them own the Problem

Here are my ideas about the problem:
The initial wonder, creativity, and questioning would be so much more interesting to students than a problem in a textbook. I also appreciate how students would have to measure the lines and angles that they drew with ruler and protractor. All of the questions in a text book have nice rounded distances and angles for students to work with that they never get to apply their measurement and drafting skills to an actual problem. Bringing real life measurements into the math problem will develop skills that the students need. Students need to be open to different methods of solving a problem. There is not only one way to do it, but in order to reinforce the lesson, and in order to make sure students have achieved the learning goals, having students work on each others drawings is brilliant. As always, making students explain to each other puts even more learning on the students. I can hear the math teachers I work with objecting that the teacher who wrote this blog took a 20 minute lesson and turned it into a lesson that would take two classes, but the results are worth the time it would take. Instead of only 40% of the class understanding and only 10% of the class enjoying the lesson the teacher should have 100% of the class understanding, 40% of the class having a deep understanding and almost all of the class also enjoying the creativity, skill development, and real world application of math.

Which type of math question will create future engineers?