On this page you will find my reflection of my time spent in EDU 454 Math Methods at Urbana University. As is true with every class I have taken during my time here, in Math Methods I gained new insights, new strategies, and an even stronger passion for teaching my future students.
With time as a sometimes constricting factor, it is easy to fall into the routine of explicit teaching though lectures and by-the-book, pencil-and-paper practices. This class has really shown me the importance of design in my lessons to keep students engaged and showing optimal growth in the practice of mathematics, not just the skills and standards. Math is more than just a bunch of problems, it is an approach to a problem – a way of thinking and finding ways to use logic and our own personal tactics to arrive at an answer. The path that we take to do this may look entirely different from our neighbor’s, but THAT’S OKAY. Just because we both know the same language doesn’t mean we both speak it the same.
As teachers of mathematics, our job is to encourage our students to think outside the box and add their own approach to arriving at the same conclusion, or sometimes maybe even a different one. They need to think abstractly and view a problem from many angles in order for them to determine their best and most efficient way of solving it. Lessons that promote this sort of abstract thinking will support and nurture this type of thought process and help develop our students into mathematical thinkers.
Without thoughtful and meaningful design, we run the risk of not challenging these young, developing brains. Children may be our future, but we shape the minds of the children that become our future. It is our job to teach them how to problem-solve. It is our job to show them how to communicate ideas and collaborate and welcome other approaches that are different than their own. It is our job to instill in them to confidence to tackle such problems, and stand up, dust themselves off, and push even harder when they do trip and fall. It is our job to create an environment where students not only learn, but love doing it.
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