Ellyce Uy
MATH335 201
*500+ words
Introduction and Part One
The introduction is about the author, a university mathematics teacher, and his deciding to teach elementary kids at Maalot, his overestimating of the ease it would be and the surprises and lessons he learned in his experience. Chapter one talks about the fundamentals and basics of mathematics, what math material should be taught in elementary school, and the profoundness and beauty of “simple” mathematics. Chapter one highlights what mathematics is, how it orders, generalizes and represents, why math is beautiful, whole numbers, meaning and calculation, and the decimal system. The most important and novel points that stood out to be from this section will be described below.
One is that elementary mathematics isn’t simple at all. It actually has depth. Mathematics and its fundamental ideas can be learned
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Mathematics anxiety arises when one or a few stages are unheedingly skipped. The student hears something meaningless and does not understand why he or she does not understand, and then anxiety is born. The teacher is also perplexed because he or she cannot identify the source of the confusion or difficulty. The notion I get from reading this section is that mathematics is made up of various simple basic concepts. As the level of math gets higher, the basic concepts accumulate. If an outsider were to have no experience in math, and were to look at, for instance, level 8 of math, it would have no meaning to him. We would have to teach him levels 1-7 in that order first. Apart from teaching concepts in order and steps, a common mistake to avoid is teaching two ideas (or more) at once. Concepts should be taught separately. Oftentimes, when breaking a problem into bits, the learner can figure out the rest on his or her
In this essay, I will be exploring different ways on how ‘addition’ can be taught in Year 2 and how they link to the National Curriculum; looking at the best mental approaches that a child should take. I will then progress by exploring a particular calculation in extra detail, evaluating ways to teach how to solve the problem and use ‘manipulatives’ to support it.
A key aspect of developing skills in maths is that the purpose of it is understood and that they can go on to apply this to real life situations i.e. to solve problems, to process information, to check answers, to interpret data, charts and diagrams, the understanding of money and how to manage finances, to use in practical every day activities. Mathematical skills are therefore developed in the earliest stages through practical work, which provides a child with a grounding in various aspect of maths such as shape, pattern, counting, sorting etc. these basic skills are then built upon as a child progresses..
Math anxiety is a negative emotional reaction to mathematics that can be debilitating, It has been defined as a feeling of tension and anxiety that interfere with the manipulation of numbers and the solving of mathematical problems in ordinary life and academic situations. Math anxiety often results in a lack of confidence in the subject, which impedes academic performance. It perilous hurdle for many children across all grade levels. Individuals with math anxiety often avoid studies in mathematics and therefore limit their career options (Hembree, 1990). Hence, interventions are imperative in order to prevent further affecting students success in both academic and life itself.
Rittle-Johnson, B., & Alibali, M. W. (1999). Conceptual and procedural knowledge of mathematics: Does one lead to the other? Journal of Educational Psychology, 91(1), 175-189.
Countless time teachers encounter students that struggle with mathematical concepts trough elementary grades. Often, the struggle stems from the inability to comprehend the mathematical concept of place value. “Understanding our place value system is an essential foundation for all computations with whole numbers” (Burns, 2010, p. 20). Students that recognize the composition of the numbers have more flexibility in mathematical computation. “Not only does the base-ten system allow us to express arbitrarily large numbers and arbitrarily small numbers, but it also enables us to quickly compare numbers and assess the ballpark size of a number” (Beckmann, 2014a, p. 1). Addressing student misconceptions should be part of every lesson. If a student perpetuates place value misconceptions they will not be able to fully recognize and explain other mathematical ideas. In this paper, I will analyze some misconceptions relating place value and suggest some strategies to help students understand the concept of place value.
To investigate the notion of numeracy, I approach seven people to give their view of numeracy and how it relates to mathematics. The following is a discussion of two responses I receive from this short survey. I shall briefly discuss their views of numeracy and how it relates to mathematics in the light of the Australian Curriculum as well as the 21st Century Numeracy Model (Goos 2007). Note: see appendix 1 for their responses.
Skemp, R (2002). Mathematics in the Primary School. 2nd ed. London: Taylor and Francis .
...ett, S. (2008) . Young children’s access to powerful mathematical ideas, in English, Lyn D (ed), Handbook of international research in mathematics education, 2nd edn, New York, NY: Routledge, pp. 75-108.
The early acquisition of mathematical concepts in children is essential for their overall cognitive development. It is imperative that educators focus on theoretical views to guide and plan the development of mathematical concepts in the early years. Early math concepts involve learning skills such as matching, ordering, sorting, classifying, sequencing and patterning. The early environment offers the foundation for children to develop an interest in numbers and their concepts. Children develop and construct their own meaning of numbers through active learning rather than teacher directed instruction.
Towers, J., Martin, L., & Pirie, S. (2000). Growing mathematical understanding: Layered observations. In M.L. Fernandez (Ed.), Proceedings of the Annual Meetings of North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education, Tucson, AZ, 225-230.
The prominence of numeracy is extremely evident in daily life and as teachers it is important to provide quality assistance to students with regards to the development of a child's numeracy skills. High-level numeracy ability does not exclusively signify an extensive view of complex mathematics, its meaning refers to using constructive mathematical ideas to “...make sense of the world.” (NSW Government, 2011). A high-level of numeracy is evident in our abilities to effectively draw upon mathematical ideas and critically evaluate it's use in real-life situations, such as finances, time management, building construction and food preparation, just to name a few (NSW Government, 2011). Effective teachings of numeracy in the 21st century has become a major topic of debate in recent years. The debate usually streams from parents desires for their child to succeed in school and not fall behind. Regardless of socio-economic background, parents want success for their children to prepare them for life in society and work (Groundwater-Smith, 2009). A student who only presents an extremely basic understanding of numeracy, such as small number counting and limited spatial and time awareness, is at risk of falling behind in the increasingly competitive and technologically focused job market of the 21st Century (Huetinck & Munshin, 2008). In the last decade, the Australian curriculum has witness an influx of new digital tools to assist mathematical teaching and learning. The common calculator, which is becoming increasing cheap and readily available, and its usage within the primary school curriculum is often put at the forefront of this debate (Groves, 1994). The argument against the usage of the calculator suggests that it makes students lazy ...
Some children find that mathematics is too abstract and does not connect to their daily life. They may find mathematics boring and irrelevant. Children who are forced to learn mathematics through rote memorization might find that they do not understand mathematical concepts and are unable to solve problems at a higher level as their foundation and grasp of basic math concepts are weak. Children who are forced to sit still and learn math by doing many worksheets may develop math anxiety and an aversion to numbers.
What is math? If you had asked me that question at the beginning of the semester, then my answer would have been something like: “math is about numbers, letters, and equations.” Now, however, thirteen weeks later, I have come to realize a new definition of what math is. Math includes numbers, letters, and equations, but it is also so much more than that—math is a way of thinking, a method of solving problems and explaining arguments, a foundation upon which modern society is built, a structure that nature is patterned by…and math is everywhere.
Logic and mathematics starting with basic arithmetic showed me how to follow steps, one at a time and one after another, to arrive at the results, one step at a time and after another. I learned that an error in one step will make all the following steps and results wrong. Mathematics like any other rule and pattern based discipline may show through experience and trial or error, how to solve problems first by following given methods and later, if needed, by combining and exploring different methods.
Throughout out this semester, I’ve had the opportunity to gain a better understanding when it comes to teaching Mathematics in the classroom. During the course of this semester, EDEL 440 has showed my classmates and myself the appropriate ways mathematics can be taught in an elementary classroom and how the students in the classroom may retrieve the information. During my years of school, mathematics has been my favorite subject. Over the years, math has challenged me on so many different levels. Having the opportunity to see the appropriate ways math should be taught in an Elementary classroom has giving me a