Wednesday, 25.09.2013

Rhymes and songs are to be used to teach children rote counting.  Movement games are also a creative way to enhance children's learning of Mathematics.  According to Richard Skemp's theory, conventions are learnt by social interaction.

We had a quiz today, which is actually our Problem #10.

i was extremely happy looking at the first question coz i recalled our first lesson where we had to count the 99th letter in our name as well... :)
The quiz was okay...

Then we came across Problem 11...
We have to share a piece of 'chocolate' equally among 4 friends. And boy, it was a thrilling problem.. We folded the paper and discussed how we came to the solution.

These are some of the initial solutions i came up with... and then we escalated to the next problem which was q little mind-boggling for me cz by then my brain was already shutting down due to the terribly hectic day i had.  Nevertheless, i managed to pull through Day 3... Yeay!!!!!

XOXO
-Rufi-

Tuesday September 24, 2013

I learnt that children (and everyone else...) need 4 skills to do Rational counting.

• classifying
• rote-counting
• 1 to 1 correspondence
• Cardinal number - to appreciate that the last number represent  the size of object.

I enjoyed doing Problem 6 very much...

We had to count down the number of seeds given till we get to 0.  I found out that when we have 5 seeds left, we can somehow determine who the winner is. Natasha, Aida and i took turns to challenge one another :) As we were minusing the seeds, i was already calculating how many i should take away in order to win the game...

For problem 7, we had to draw 3 sets of "10 frames".. The question was to find out how many different ways are there to figure out the number of beans Jack received in all...

Method 1
counting the beans 1 by 1...

Method 2
count the beans in 6s...

Method 3
make the beans to 10

Method 4
to count the beans in 5s...


We did the number bond a.k.a "make 10" method like the one below...

I had fun doing the activities during class and i believe thru play and interaction, children will learn better and enjoy Math.

XOXO
-Rufi-

Monday 23th September 2013

When i stepped into class and saw Dr Yeap at the desk, i told myself

"Oh boy, here we go.... Another boring Math session".

When i read the schedule written for the night, i couldn't believe my eyes when i saw 4 problems given...

Problem #1 "Name"
Problem #2 "Card Trick"
Problem #3 "Shredder"
Problem #4 "Tangram"

I learnt about the difference between rote counting and rational counting when we did the problem.  From my name, the letter 'F', which is the third letter of my name is the 99th letter.
I was truly amazed by the card trick that was shown to us in class.  I was numb with shock for a while when Dr Yeap told us to discuss how to get the trick done / how the cards were arranged in such a way where the number appeared after it was spelled out.

BUT

Through discussion and brainstorming, i found out that we were able to get the solution.

Problem #3 took me quite a while to understand the question and derive at the answer.  My friends had to explain to me a couple of times before i understood the method to solve the question.

While we were told to form rectangles using the few different shapes of tangrams, my friends and i  came up with a few different types of rectangles.

All in all, i do believe that learning Mathematics using concrete materials help enhance my learning and makes the problems easier to comprehend.  I kind of look forward to other problems coming my way :))

XOXO
-Rufi-

EDU 330 Elementary mathematics

Chapter 1 & 2

I have never been a big fan of mathematics since in my school years.  The formulas often drive me insane. 

But after reading the first few chapters of the Elementary mathematics textbook, I felt more confident about teaching Mathematics...

To be an effective teacher, my knowledge of mathematics and how my students will learn is the most crucial factor.  The NCTM has emphasized the five content standards which is commonly used. They are number and operations, algebra, geometry, measurement and also data analysis and probability.

Apart from these, the environment that makes up a mathematics classroom is equally important. Some of these include active student engagement, using technology to enhance understanding and incorporating multiple assessments to guide and enhance their learning.

Doing mathematics means developing strategies to solve the problems and check to see if the answers makes sense.  Using a calculator facilitates children's exploration of a certain problem.  When a child make errors, it means that the child has misapplied her prior knowledge to new problem.  Therefore it might take some time for the child to reflect on how to solve the problem.

A lot of effort is required to teach mathematical proficiency.  The best learning opportunities, are to engage children in using their own knowledge to solve problems.


XOXO

-Ms Rufi-