Math is EVERYWHERE!
Last first day of being a student.. but not the last first day of math class!
Welcome back to all my teacher candidates and our teachers! I cannot believe we are back to school already and how fast the summer flew by! No better way to start the week back to school with MATH on the first day back.
I found myself excited for Mathematics in first year, learning the strategies to teach students math and how to enjoy teaching it myself because of bad experiences with mathematics as a student. Unfortunately, today I found myself going right back into that "I hate math" mindset and "math is frustrating and difficult" that I had had during my educational career. It was not until the class participated in a word garden that I was able to see all the other perspectives of my fellow teacher candidates, mostly positive. It made me recognize that I need to get back into the growth mindset for both my learning experience and my future students'. It is easy to fall away from the growth mindset having had the summer off but I am ready to dive into school, learning, and teaching!
 |
| http://easytrickmagic.com/card-tricks-101/ |
After introductions and catching up with our peers, the class began with a card trick! It was easy to see that I was MIND BLOWN and very happy to learn that I can perform this card game in-front of my students and create the same questions, thoughts and connections that the teacher candidates experienced. Mina had all the teacher candidates gather around her and observe her shuffle and perform the trick. The end goal of the game was, although there was shuffling, subtracting and adding to the piles, to end up with all Queens on the top of the piles.
When divided into groups and trying the game on our own, we were able to manipulate the cards to see how many we could add and subtract and still have the same end goal! Mina did it with Queens on the top, but it can be done with any of the suits! Below is a link that you can follow to check out the game and learn for yourself!! Fun game/ trick, will engage your students and will create further questioning and inquiry for all participants!
https://www.thespruce.com/cut-to-four-aces-magic-card-trick-2266982
 |
| http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/mind-blown |
https://www.thespruce.com/cut-to-four-aces-magic-card-trick-2266982
After the opening activity the class all contributed to a word garden, reflecting back on words that reminded them of math, or their experiences surrounding math. Some of the words were:
- frustrating
- everywhere
- fun
- challenging
It was not long before teacher candidates could see that everyone has their own feelings and experiences with math but it was our jobs, as future educators, to make every student's experience a positive and fun one!
Live Streaming For Dummies
 |
Courtney, Daniella and I testing out my webinar/ live stream account!
As one of our major assignments, our groups have to perform a thirty minute live stream/ webinar. In our first class we learned how to set up a live streaming account and signed up for our presentation day, topic and time!
My partner Paul and I are presenting our Webinar on September 29th on Teaching Strategies.
We also determined, with our unit plan group, what unit we wanted to concentrate on! I am excited to see what this term has in store and to learn lots more about making math fun and meaningful to the students.
My group and I are creating our unit on Fractions - we have not decided what grade but are leaning towards grade 7 and 8.
***************
In closing, a question posed by the "Wrapping it up" reflection slideshow was: What is something done this week that you will remember and use in your classroom?
I think that one thing I will remember and use in my classroom would be what I learned from this week's online module as a whole. Mistakes should be praised when a student makes one. Not only does it provide room for the students to grow, reflect and learn further but it also makes them comfortable to make them without fear of being ridiculed. Mistakes are a good thing. I think this is very important for us future educators to know so our students can have a safe space to make mistakes, grow and learn in an accepting environment.
***************
Although today was my last first day of being a student, I cannot wait for all the first days as a teacher I have.
Thanks for reading,
Emily.
Awesome post Emily!
ReplyDeleteI can really tell that you are excited for this upcoming year in Math class, which is refreshing. Genuine excitement is hard to fake, and not many people are often excited about learning and doing math. I'm glad to hear that your developed appreciation of math did not fade during your time away from campus, having a growth mindset is crucial for all teachers who want to exhibit what it means to be a good learner to their students. I also really enjoyed the card trick we were shown in class. Simple activities like that is a great way to engage your students in the future.
I look forward to your next blog posts! Great work again
Drive on.
Hey Emily! Great post this week. You not only summed up our first class exceptionally well but you also summed up a bunch of similar feelings that I had coming back into math class. I too agreed that starting the class off on a fun note with the card game and Mina, really got everyone's attention. I think this is key when starting any lesson with our future students. WE NEED, or WE MUST capture their attention at the beginning of all lessons, especially math. I feel like we have both grown over the past year and our opinions about math have changed for the better! I had to teach 3 classes, grade 7, grade 8, and grade 7/8 split all math last year. This taught me to leave my fears about math at the door and to keep on trying and learning new ways to make it exciting for myself and my students. I feel like we have a lot to cover in these 6 weeks, its going to be a roller coaster of emotions. Your post this week is really inspiring, keep up the great work!
ReplyDeleteps. Love the last picture! Making friends in Math is key to a successful year.
Cheers, Courtney
Thank you for your interesting post.
ReplyDeleteYour post is enriched with links, lovely photo, and positive words! Looking forward to attending in your Webinar!
-mina