I have never thought of math beyond numbers and theorems, assignments and exams. It always seemed to be a worthless discipline unless one was going into engineering, carpentry, architecture (or another related field). I always approached math as a necessity to graduate – nothing more. However Reuben Hersh made me question my perceptions regarding the discipline of math. His words, “Mathematics is neither physical nor mental, it's social. It's part of culture, it’s part of history, it's like law, like religion, like money, like all those very real things which are real only as part of collective human consciousness. Being part of society and culture, it's both internal and external. Internal to society and culture as a whole, external to the individual, who has to learn it from books and in school. That's what math is”, made me open my eyes. Math is social – of course it is, but I would have never thought of math in this way. Math is culture – of course, but again I would have never thought of math as cultural. Math is part of history – of course! Where would we be today without math? This morning at Tim Horton’s I would not have been about to get my tea without math. I would have never thought of math within a humanistic framework –but now that I have been introduced to the philosopher, it makes sense. Although, I will be honest – I am not quite as passionate about that belief as Hersh. I have disliked math for a long time – I am although slowly changing my jaded perception. I am glad you (and those you introduce us to) are changing my idea of mathematics because I would never want to inflict my negative attitudes upon a child. I want them to make their own decisions about math and not be influenced by my experiences.
One interesting part of Hercsh’s talk was about his friend at the University of New Mexico who said, “There are nine planets; there were nine planets before there were any people. That means there was the number nine, before we had any people.” But in the theme of humanism – can we really say there was “the number nine” if there was no people to have created the label “nine”. Can we have the number 9 if there was no one there to count it?
I don’t agree with the notion challenged in Hersh’s talk regarding Platonism: “ all mathematical objects, entities, or whatever, including the ones we haven't discovered yet and the ones we never will discover-all of have always existed. There's no change in the realm of mathematics. We discover things, so our knowledge increases, but the actual mathematical universe is completely static.” I feel this is far from possible. Can we truly contend, that those things no yet discovered ‘have always existed’? With our rapidly changing society and all the new technology advancements – how can we say that the mathematical universe is completely static, when everything is always changing and evolving? As humanity changes, does anything remain static?
Having read this article and its stance on humanism I feel more confident approaching mathematics with children. I believe children should be introduced to this concept and realize math isn’t just numbers and theorems but real life. Many of the math teachers I have had in the past, I feel subscribed to what Hesch calls Formalism – mathematics as nothing but calculations, applying no meaning to it. Many teachers approach math as having one right answer, one set of rules. However, children need real experiences with math and its components – as Hersh says, “The essential thing is interaction communication”- humanism.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Educating people out of their creativity.
I absolutely loved Sir Ken Robinson’s talk on creativity. I have watched the clip numerous times since we initially watched it in class – I have also made my boyfriend and friends watch it as well. I thought what he had to say we so insightful and effectively stated. I think his ideals and perceptions of the education system are extremely valuable to educators and future educators like myself. I agree with Sir Ken Robinson – we are indeed educating people out of their creativity.
Robinson talked about preparing students for the future – a future we cannot grasp. The children entering school now will be retiring in the year 2065, in a world in which we know nothing about – but a world we are suppose to be preparing children to enter. I have not given this aspect of education much thought – but it seems unlikely that educators today can possibility prepare students for their future. We are preparing them for the life as it stood in the past – and this is not effective education. We are educating students to meet the needs of industrialization – and we are forcing children away from things they are interested. Robison says this is the case because they will not find jobs in the areas they are interested in. I think most students in class can relate to this, I am sure we have heard “Now, where is music going to get you?” or, “Where is art going to get you?”. My high school art teacher begged me to apply to art school. She even set up a meeting with my parents to talk to them about allowing me to go to art school – as she thought I had the potential to make something of myself. But, here I am at MUN, after many arguments that sounded much like “Now Maggie, what kind of job will you get with an Art degree? Art is something you can do as a hobby – it isn’t a career Maggie. You can’t paint to pay rent. You need to go to university and get yourself a career. Get your head out of the clouds”. So here I am, at university – wondering everyday what could have been. Don’t get me wrong, I want more than anything to be a teacher – I cannot wait. But, I hope everyday that I will be awarded the opportunity to teach an art class and offer students the opportunity to be who they are and embrace the potential they have within them. My art teacher allowed me that opportunity and I would love to pass that forward.
Sir Ken Robinson says that all kids have tremendous talent to be creative, and this is as important as traditional literacy and should be treated with the same status. I thought the story of the little girl drawing god was invaluable and one that I will continue to carry with me. As Robinson contends, kids are not frightened to chance and they are prepared to be wrong. We, as adults should take a cue from this – we need to be prepared to be wrong, otherwise what is the point of trying? If we do only what we know is right, how are expected to learn anything?
Children are most definitely educated out of creativity – as proposed by Robinson. I had the opportunity to observe a kindergarten class on Friday and this notion came to mind. The children were offered the opportunity to paint, to sculpt, build, sing, and dance – to be creative without limits. Compare this to a grade 12 classroom where drawing is labelled “doodling” and is considered punishable and singing is a distraction. Robinson says we educate students from the waist up and then gradually from the neck up. The body serves only as a means of transportation for the head. I think this is a brilliant insight – mainly, because it is true. We devalue all other forms of intelligence that aren’t associated with traditional literature – so what happens to the children who are so incredible talent in other areas? We force the talent out of them – and it gets repressed and it eventually gets so diminished that it ceases to excess. The example of the choreographer who was labelled with a learning disability until someone offered her an opportunity to show her strengths. I loved Robinson’s stance that this woman would have been diagnosed with ADHA, except the disorder had not yet been invented. She was not sick – she was a dancer. She had to move to think. These are beautiful words – truthful words. Today, as Robinson says, such a child would be put on medication and told to calm down. How can we possible risk taking such gifts away from the world – as the works of Cats or Phantom of the Opera? Can a child simply be a child – not a disorder? Child need to be offered every available opportunity to express who they are and the talents they possess. Educators have no right to limit the potential of a child. We need to embrace every child as an individual and allow for their strengths to grow – regardless whether this strength is math or drama.
Robinson talked about preparing students for the future – a future we cannot grasp. The children entering school now will be retiring in the year 2065, in a world in which we know nothing about – but a world we are suppose to be preparing children to enter. I have not given this aspect of education much thought – but it seems unlikely that educators today can possibility prepare students for their future. We are preparing them for the life as it stood in the past – and this is not effective education. We are educating students to meet the needs of industrialization – and we are forcing children away from things they are interested. Robison says this is the case because they will not find jobs in the areas they are interested in. I think most students in class can relate to this, I am sure we have heard “Now, where is music going to get you?” or, “Where is art going to get you?”. My high school art teacher begged me to apply to art school. She even set up a meeting with my parents to talk to them about allowing me to go to art school – as she thought I had the potential to make something of myself. But, here I am at MUN, after many arguments that sounded much like “Now Maggie, what kind of job will you get with an Art degree? Art is something you can do as a hobby – it isn’t a career Maggie. You can’t paint to pay rent. You need to go to university and get yourself a career. Get your head out of the clouds”. So here I am, at university – wondering everyday what could have been. Don’t get me wrong, I want more than anything to be a teacher – I cannot wait. But, I hope everyday that I will be awarded the opportunity to teach an art class and offer students the opportunity to be who they are and embrace the potential they have within them. My art teacher allowed me that opportunity and I would love to pass that forward.
Sir Ken Robinson says that all kids have tremendous talent to be creative, and this is as important as traditional literacy and should be treated with the same status. I thought the story of the little girl drawing god was invaluable and one that I will continue to carry with me. As Robinson contends, kids are not frightened to chance and they are prepared to be wrong. We, as adults should take a cue from this – we need to be prepared to be wrong, otherwise what is the point of trying? If we do only what we know is right, how are expected to learn anything?
Children are most definitely educated out of creativity – as proposed by Robinson. I had the opportunity to observe a kindergarten class on Friday and this notion came to mind. The children were offered the opportunity to paint, to sculpt, build, sing, and dance – to be creative without limits. Compare this to a grade 12 classroom where drawing is labelled “doodling” and is considered punishable and singing is a distraction. Robinson says we educate students from the waist up and then gradually from the neck up. The body serves only as a means of transportation for the head. I think this is a brilliant insight – mainly, because it is true. We devalue all other forms of intelligence that aren’t associated with traditional literature – so what happens to the children who are so incredible talent in other areas? We force the talent out of them – and it gets repressed and it eventually gets so diminished that it ceases to excess. The example of the choreographer who was labelled with a learning disability until someone offered her an opportunity to show her strengths. I loved Robinson’s stance that this woman would have been diagnosed with ADHA, except the disorder had not yet been invented. She was not sick – she was a dancer. She had to move to think. These are beautiful words – truthful words. Today, as Robinson says, such a child would be put on medication and told to calm down. How can we possible risk taking such gifts away from the world – as the works of Cats or Phantom of the Opera? Can a child simply be a child – not a disorder? Child need to be offered every available opportunity to express who they are and the talents they possess. Educators have no right to limit the potential of a child. We need to embrace every child as an individual and allow for their strengths to grow – regardless whether this strength is math or drama.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Math Autobiography
To be honest, I don’t remember much of my math learning as a child. However, I do know that I had a strong dislike for math from a young age – so my learning experience must not have been positive. What I can remember though, was having to memorize and follow rules to come to one definitive answer – and anything outside that one answer was reason for being ‘wrong’. This perception is still with me, and that is why I am excited to be taking this course. I feel this course will be the most beneficial to me as I would love to learn how to make math more hands on and engaging for my future students. If I could take away from this course one method to help students appreciate the importance of math I will feel accomplished.
I was mediocre at math – I hard to work extremely hard at it. Math did not come easy to me and it still doesn’t. Problem solving was always the hardest aspect of school for me. I remember always receiving a ‘2’ on my report card in problem solving. It was the only ‘2’ I received in anything and it was very frustrating to me, even as a child. I tried so hard and still a ‘2’ – always a ‘2’. In higher grades and high school, math was still always my weakest mark – while I did okay, it was not my strongest mark and it was always the one class I did not look forward to.
My best math experience was in my grade 6 class. My teacher was incredible. She allowed us to sit in pairs or small groups and we were able to help and communicate with one another. I felt this was an effective way to learn – as our teacher was often distracted with other students and could not give me the time I needed. I also remember the same teacher applying math to the real world – she would relate the concepts to our life and pose questions we were interested in.
My worst math experience would have been the experience at home. My dad is a math teacher at College of the North Atlantic and I would ask him for help with my math homework. Although he would try his hardest to help me, he would get frustrated with me because I was not catching on as quickly as he wanted. He expected me to automatically understand concepts – because they were easy to him and he could not understand why I was having so much trouble. Eventually I stopped asking for help, as I associated doing my math homework with having a fight with my dad. I don’t want to give the wrong impression of my father – he tried his hardest, but I just remember the frustration and I think I bought these feelings with me up through my schooling. (Sorry Dad! Love You!)
To be an effective teacher, I feel a print rich classroom is of utmost importance. Thinking back upon my classrooms as a child, I remember beige walls (I guess the school board thought that white was too boring *Note sarcasm*) and single rows of desks – much like classrooms found at MUN. My lower grade classrooms were somewhat more decorated and colourful, but they are a far cry from the classroom I have envisioned for myself. I feel the more children are exposed to information and concepts, the better they will grasp them – so why deny children any extra help that you offer them?
I feel, the assessment you offer children also plays a big role in a child’s attitudes towards school. I remember the only assessment we were ever offered in math class were tests and assignments – all having only one right answer key. Things in math were right or wrong – we were not rewarded for trying (something I think is detrimental to a child’s self esteem). Looking back through my math assignments in elementary school, the covers and pages of all my work was coloured and neatly illustrated– showing my obvious passion for the arts and my creative abilities, not a love for math.
My math career at MUN consisted of the two math electives required to get into the education program. I worked the hardest at these two courses then I did at anything else I have ever done. Had anyone observed me during those semesters, they would be convinced math was the only course I was taking. I did math in the mornings, in between classes, and all night. I worked my butt off – and it paid off for me! My math marks are two of the highest marks I have received, and I am proud of that.
Overall, I feel mathematics is too important for children to dislike and just get by. I think teachers (myself included) need to work to make math a bigger part of students lives – in positive ways and I hope this courses helps me with that.
I was mediocre at math – I hard to work extremely hard at it. Math did not come easy to me and it still doesn’t. Problem solving was always the hardest aspect of school for me. I remember always receiving a ‘2’ on my report card in problem solving. It was the only ‘2’ I received in anything and it was very frustrating to me, even as a child. I tried so hard and still a ‘2’ – always a ‘2’. In higher grades and high school, math was still always my weakest mark – while I did okay, it was not my strongest mark and it was always the one class I did not look forward to.
My best math experience was in my grade 6 class. My teacher was incredible. She allowed us to sit in pairs or small groups and we were able to help and communicate with one another. I felt this was an effective way to learn – as our teacher was often distracted with other students and could not give me the time I needed. I also remember the same teacher applying math to the real world – she would relate the concepts to our life and pose questions we were interested in.
My worst math experience would have been the experience at home. My dad is a math teacher at College of the North Atlantic and I would ask him for help with my math homework. Although he would try his hardest to help me, he would get frustrated with me because I was not catching on as quickly as he wanted. He expected me to automatically understand concepts – because they were easy to him and he could not understand why I was having so much trouble. Eventually I stopped asking for help, as I associated doing my math homework with having a fight with my dad. I don’t want to give the wrong impression of my father – he tried his hardest, but I just remember the frustration and I think I bought these feelings with me up through my schooling. (Sorry Dad! Love You!)
To be an effective teacher, I feel a print rich classroom is of utmost importance. Thinking back upon my classrooms as a child, I remember beige walls (I guess the school board thought that white was too boring *Note sarcasm*) and single rows of desks – much like classrooms found at MUN. My lower grade classrooms were somewhat more decorated and colourful, but they are a far cry from the classroom I have envisioned for myself. I feel the more children are exposed to information and concepts, the better they will grasp them – so why deny children any extra help that you offer them?
I feel, the assessment you offer children also plays a big role in a child’s attitudes towards school. I remember the only assessment we were ever offered in math class were tests and assignments – all having only one right answer key. Things in math were right or wrong – we were not rewarded for trying (something I think is detrimental to a child’s self esteem). Looking back through my math assignments in elementary school, the covers and pages of all my work was coloured and neatly illustrated– showing my obvious passion for the arts and my creative abilities, not a love for math.
My math career at MUN consisted of the two math electives required to get into the education program. I worked the hardest at these two courses then I did at anything else I have ever done. Had anyone observed me during those semesters, they would be convinced math was the only course I was taking. I did math in the mornings, in between classes, and all night. I worked my butt off – and it paid off for me! My math marks are two of the highest marks I have received, and I am proud of that.
Overall, I feel mathematics is too important for children to dislike and just get by. I think teachers (myself included) need to work to make math a bigger part of students lives – in positive ways and I hope this courses helps me with that.
Welcome to my Math Blog.
Hey Everyone!
So this is my first blog posting ever! So please have patience with me as I learn to adjust to the world of ‘blogging’.
My name is Maggie Donovan and I am currently attending Memorial University, where I am completing a B.Ed degree – primary/elementary.
I created this blog to meet the requirements of the course ED 3940 – but I hope, beyond that, it will document my growth and development as a pre-service teacher. When I realized we had to take a math course, I was a little hesitant. I did not like math growing up but reflecting back upon my dislike for the subject, I realized that it might not have been the course I did not like – but instead the way in which it was taught. So, through this course I hope to learn and practice ways to make math more likeable and fun for children so that they will not go through the school system disliking something that is so fundamental to their development.
- Maggie
So this is my first blog posting ever! So please have patience with me as I learn to adjust to the world of ‘blogging’.
My name is Maggie Donovan and I am currently attending Memorial University, where I am completing a B.Ed degree – primary/elementary.
I created this blog to meet the requirements of the course ED 3940 – but I hope, beyond that, it will document my growth and development as a pre-service teacher. When I realized we had to take a math course, I was a little hesitant. I did not like math growing up but reflecting back upon my dislike for the subject, I realized that it might not have been the course I did not like – but instead the way in which it was taught. So, through this course I hope to learn and practice ways to make math more likeable and fun for children so that they will not go through the school system disliking something that is so fundamental to their development.
- Maggie
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