The question of what my vision of mathematics instruction has really came to mind through out this semester. I think about what I want my students to know and walk away from my class thinking. I do not just want to teach them math, I want to teach them how to solve math tasks using tools that they are most comfortable with. I think back to middle school and elementary school math classes. I was never comfortable with math itself. As a teacher, I want to provide my students with tools to understand and be comfortable with math! A lot of math problems in elementary level schooling are completely set in stone.
Thinking back about all the different methods of math teaching I have been exposed to this semester, I want my math teaching to be very engaging and hands on. I want it to look so interesting and fun that a new touring student will want to just jump right in! I think to how I can create this atmosphere and I believe ways to do that will include providing students with tasks that seek a bigger thinking. I think that students need to learn tools that will help simplify math for them, and they need me to teach it to them.
I think a lot of people who hate math is due to the believing that the goal in math is to confuse them. I want to shatter that misconception and provide tools that help them clarify math and understand it. I want my students to love math and for those that love will simply not happen, I want them to learn and understand that they can do math.
You speak a lot about "tools". What will these tools look like? Be specific: are there specific tools that are best for learning specific mathematical concepts? On what do you base your assessment? What other types of "tools" are you referring to? How might your students practice their use of these tools?
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