Wednesday 24 August 2011

Reflection on Session 1

Before class today, I saw Dr Yeap going through some papers and working on them at Kopitiam near SEED Institute.  Seemingly, he was working on some problem sums which he had prepared for class use.  That frightened me quite a bit as I could anticipate the amount of problems we had to solve in class.

However, I had a pleasant surprise that the first math lesson was actually enjoyable.  The lesson started with Dr Yeap inviting us to use his name to count to and fro, and guess the 99th letter.  I am not strategetically inclined so I simply counted on.  Before long, I realized that I could not go on like this; there must be a simpler way.  After Dr Yeap's prompting, the class shared their ideas, and I started to see patterns and relationships among the numbers. As I applied the strategies to find the letter on the 99th position of my name, it became easier.  I could see that the numbers in the first row are different by 12, and the digits in the 'ones' place are different by 2.  In no time, I was able to tell that the answer was 'u'.  My classmates' sharing also helped me to see that the alternate numbers in second row are multiples of 12.  Hey, math has suddenly become more interesting! :)

The task on the cookies owned by 3 kids explained which level a child is at while he or she is doing counting and addition.  The levels of counting are: counting all, counting on, and counting on the application of commutative property of addition (5+7=7+5). Knowing all these levels enable teachers to know whether children have known, for example, how to use the '10' strategy, conservation of numbers, or whether they have already attained the level of communtative property of addition.  Also, as teachers assess children's counting, we need to know that there are 4 pre-requisites:
- ability to classify
-ability to do rote counting
-ability to do one-to-one correspondence
- ability to appreciate that the last number uttered represents the number of things in the group.

 In the Spelling Card Trick (poker cards), Dr Yeap showed us an interesting way to get into number spelling, and the using of  logical thinking to arrange the cards in the correct order so that we will be able to call them out in sequence.  It was fun, and I see that as we tried to problem solve, we were actually actively constructing our knowledge at the same time.  I dropped down my ideas on a piece of paper and experimented with the cards.  I find that visual aids and manipulatives are excellent tools to help me explore, experiment, and think better. 

Today, I realise that math is not solely about numbers, formulas, and procedures; we need thinking skills,  discussion and communuication.  With these, we share ideas and we can understand better. How I wish my previous math teachers were like Dr Yeap, to teach in such a way that it inspires and probes me to think further.  Often, teachers simply focus on students' inablility to solve a math task and forget to reflect  the way we present the tasks to the students.  For instance, in the event of patterning, teachers have to bear in mind the elements of patterns and remember to state the terms clearly to the students before they get started.

After today's lesson, I begin to see that math can be fun and interesting, and that math concepts can be taught in a way that is easily understood.  Teachers have to remember  to provide well-facilitated expereiences and classroom environment that  encourage students' engagement in higher level thinking.  Of course, we do not want to forget to be open and be appreciative of different possibilities to approach a problem.


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