Final Post

My Vision of math in the classroom:

In the classroom, I imagine students will have a combination of hands-on exploratory lessons as well as the more "boring" and rote lessons used mainly for assessment and practice. By hands on, I mean lessons and activities the students can explore that are open ended but carefully designed to yield specific outcomes around a particular math topic or concept. I do believe worksheets are important and there is some value in children having the opportunity to practice the method of the concept they are learning (i.e. addition and subtraction worksheets). However, in my classroom I hope to use the more hands on activities to teach a concept and allow the children to fully understand different points of the same concept (build a foundation) and then use the worksheets to solidify their knowledge.

The Role of Math Instruction

Unfortunately, I expect that due to the emphasis on literacy in the classroom, other subjects may not have the time that is really needed to fully flesh out a concept. However, as I talked about above, in my classroom I would like to use interactive and open ended teaching when first beginning a lesson or concept. Giving the children materials to explore, allowing them time to ask questions with each other and the teacher, and also posing questions to guide their exploration. By using this interaction, the children will not only be more attentive and interested in what they are learning, but I also believe they will have a more in-depth understanding of the concept. After the children have had the chance to explore and complete a variety of high level tasks, I would use first assess using anecdotes taken during the interactive lessons. What kinds of things are the children saying? What vocabulary are they using? Are they on task? Where did they need support or guidance? Were their explorations leading them to the same conclusions I expected? I will then use my observations to adjust my teaching and further assessment. Children would have worksheets or assignments that emphasized the strategy they were learning. This allows the children to become familiar and comfortable with  directly answering questions related to a specific concept as well as becoming comfortable completing mathematical formulas and algorithms. At the end of a unit, I would try to do a combination assessment of written "worksheets" to assess their ability to complete a formula (27-18=?) and also higher level tasks. This combination will allow me to assess if they understand the general concept (higher level task) and if they are able to use their understanding and apply it to formulas (worksheets).