Course Synthesis

As a math teacher, I would love to incorporate the things I have learned in this course to better teach my students. For example, I would like my students to understand that they need to be critical in mathematics even though math usually comes across as being a purely objective field of study. I will teach them about Newton and how Einstein came along with the relativity theory and replaced Newton's theory of Gravitation. Also, there is much to be critical about in the world of statistics. I just read a book by Keith Devlin, "The Language of Mathematics" in which he said that almost any data could be made to look like a bell curve. So the students in my class would explore different methods of collecting and presenting statistical data.

Comprehension instruction is vital in mathematics (and probably every other topic). One way I would incorporate this would be to give plenty of before during and after reading activities so that the students had many exposures to the material and could receive the information in different ways. I can also incorporate vocabulary words in mathematics by exposing the students to the words and definitions throughout the year. This way, they will be able to become familiar with the words. I think by allowing students to work in groups as well as assigning specific group activities, students will enhance their oral language in mathematics. They will have a chance to teach their peers, hear "student" friendly explanations, and use the vocabulary words. 

I can support writing and making representations by having students write a journal entry each day about the new concepts they have learned to be turned in and graded only for completion and effort. I can also ask students to represent data, draw graphs, and make other representations that will help them visualize the things they are learning. These things may be helpful to English Learners and Culturally Diverse Students because they will be able to see concepts in pictures as well as ask questions in their journals about words or other things they don't understand.

Some ways I could incoporate digital technology into my lessons would be to use apps, online videos, and graph making websites. Aside from probably some "required textbooks" I would like students to be encouraged to read interesting texts written at different levels as well as different types of text about math topics that are interesting to them. For example, I would like to have my copy of "In Code" by Sarah Flannery available to students. After I answered all of the questions in the blog prompt I read that I don't have to answer all the questions, haha. 

Effective Dimensions of Reading

I don't necessarily think of myself as being a good reader. I like to read good books, and can read and comprehend things. I don't read well under pressure though. The things I enjoy reading most are journals (from ancestors) and novels that interest me (love stories, books about math, religious texts, cookbooks). I really enjoy reading when I am looking for information on a topic, like when I want to make a cheesecake, I read all about it and am interested because I want my cheesecake to turn out perfectly. I have an interest in the text because I need the information so I don't waste my time and energy on a bad cake. 

Sometimes I don't like to read though if I will be tested on the reading afterwards. If I am reading to be tested, my mind is too worried about what the teacher might pick to test me on and I can't enjoy or internalize or make connections to the reading. I hated doing book reports in school, I didn't read chapter books when I was in grade school because I was too busy playing with my brothers and sisters, doing homework, and helping around the house. It was hard for me to be motivated to read long books because I didn't like being alone.
I was encouraged to read as a child, but mostly I read picture books because I liked them better and hadn't learned to appreciate novels without pictures.
I think by getting my students interested in different math texts I could foster an atmosphere where they want to read more about math. I could give small shout outs about interesting and different ideas and give references of where they could find the information.

If one of my math teachers had applied math to something I love (like music or cooking) maybe I would have responded and sought out more information on the topics or maybe they did and I just didn't care to do any more homework. I think if I could create a desire in students to want to know more about a topic, they would be more likely to pursue the information because they would "need" to know for themselves. As for the last question in the prompt, "How can you build up your students’ self-perceptions of themselves as readers?" 
Any suggestions? 

I liked math when I was young because I didn't struggle with it in school until Jr. High. I think part of the reason that I did well in mathematics was because I first learned about it at home. I sang hymns in church and learned to play the piano and so I was exposed to fractions in music (quarter notes, sixteenth notes, etc.). This didn't seem to help me much when I went to school though. I actually didn't understand the fractions in music until I was in High School. One thing that did help me learn fractions was having 7 siblings
(6 younger). Whenever my mom would come home with treats, my siblings and I divided them between ourselves. This was an incentive to learn to divide things equally, especially if the youngest gets to choose first. If my mom brought home a bag of candy, we would make sure everyone got equal amounts of each color (even the yellows, bleh!). Sometimes we would even cut up candy bars so everyone could have some. I think these and other experiences built my "background information" which made it easier for me to learn fractions in school. I want to help my future students to be able to connect new ideas to their background knowledge by finding things that they have experienced and using that to teach the new concepts. It's hard for anyone to store information to which they can't make a connection.

Updated Picture

Beauty in Mathematics (Fractals)




http://www.brainbashers.com/fractals.asp

I would say a "typical text" in mathematics would be a textbook. Something that says do it this way and don't do it that way. You need to know this in order to pass such and such a test or to go to college. Of course the textbook also tells you that math is applicable in the world, but rarely do secondary schools teach kids about the beauty and art that I have come to see in, yes really, mathematics.

The first experience I had in thinking math was wonderful was a Snow College. We did use a textbook, but it was a different kind of textbook that was written with the intent of engaging art-brained students. Thus, it went about teaching in a way that was new to me. Instead of practicing arithmetic we dove deep into riddles, nature, and probability. It was in this class that I began to see math as more of an interest rather than a "have-to". Once we read about the game show were the car is behind one of three doors and donkeys are behind the other two. When our group struggled to understand how the game really worked, our teacher would give us a hint on how to look at the problem so we could proceed.

In 11th grade, we were mostly left to fend for ourselves in learning Calculus. The teacher was there and she tried to teach. I must not have been ready for calculus. I remember sitting with a group and straining to understand the passages in the textbook. When someone would finally get an inkling of what was expected, they would let the rest of us in on it and we would attempt the homework. It was not fun, it was mostly just stress. 

I want to choose texts that are interesting for students. I do realize thought that I will have to front-load and fill the room with oxygen (prepare the students to enjoy the reading) before students read. It will also be vital to provide scaffolding for students during reading and some kind of solidification afterwards. 

This is an older picture, the little one in the middle is 14 months old now.