Reflection 2
Highlight of the Day
This week’s
class was very interesting. I got to play a card game on top of learning new
tricks in solving math problems! I really enjoy my ‘ah-ha’ moments. They just
click with me and then stay in my long-term memory storage where I never
forget. So let me start off with what stood out to me the most this class.
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| The Shepherd Problem. Retrieved online from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kibaFBgaPx4 |
The class started off with the
shepherd problem. This problem was really interesting because it really shows
that some students are not thinking when they are reading the problem. Students
might think math is all about getting an answer whether it makes sense or not.
They are not used to sitting back, relaxing, and thinking about the problem.
Does the wording even make sense? Do I even need to solve the problem? This
makes me think that for some students, having no answer to a problem means
failure, so maybe out of this fear they would write down whatever answer they
could get out of the numbers given in the problem.
This also makes me think, do
teachers make an environment where students are fearful of making mistakes? How
can I as a teacher take away their fear and let them stay stress-free? I really
think that it is time to change the environment of math classrooms. I am really
happy that I am becoming a teacher in this age. It is a great time to innovate,
experiment, and grow to succeed. This takes me to a whole new topic that I
really want to talk about: “Growth Mindset.”
Grow...
Notice how
earlier I mentioned: “Grow to succeed.” If you have a growth mindset you are
likely to succeed as compared to having a fixed mindset. This concept is
entirely new to me since I started teacher’s college. However, it is also
becoming a very familiar topic that I am very comfortable with now. Deep down
when I didn’t realize it, I also have a growth mindset.
It wasn’t until late high school
and university that I realized I can do well in math when I practice often. It
took me a while to understand that while facing ups and downs throughout the
process. I used to believe that if I see a problem I could solve it right away.
However, that was the case only with easy problems, but when it came to harder
problems I was usually taken off guard. When I finally felt confident enough to
start practicing problems after problems, I started to do quite well in math. All
it took was the realization that all I need to do is practice, and then I can
do well. It was not only about being smart, it was about practice and having
room for mistakes.
I learned a very perceptive
concept today as well, and that was not to tell students that they are smart.
It will hinder their abilities and they would start to have a fixed mindset
instead. Students will then just want to keep up with their smart image and
focus on solving easy problems instead. I found an interesting article to read
on ABC news that also mentions with hard work intelligence grows. The article
that I read was written by Joy Phenix and it was called: “Why You Shouldn’t
Tell Your Kids They are ‘Smart’.” Certainly, this idea is not an alien anymore,
but is being incorporated in other places.
I want to instill that in my
future students too. I want to make them feel that with hard work they can
accomplish a lot. Sometimes just being smart is not enough, if you think you
are smart, you will stop there; your growth will stop there. Then when you are
faced with bigger challenges, you won’t be ready.
References
Phenix, Joy. Why You Shouldn’t
Tell Your Kids They are ‘Smart’. ABC
News via Good Morning America. Retrieved online from http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/lifestyle/2012/02/why-you-shouldnt-tell-your-kids-theyre-smart/.
Sept 18, 2016.
Hi Samia,
ReplyDeleteI like how you, like me, are having “ah-ha” moments. As we are in class discussing different topics, I remember lessons and activities that I did back to when I was in elementary school. These topics and activities that we don’t forget were great and worked as we learned from them and had fun while learning mathematics!
The learning environment in which the student learns is crucial to their learning. Students need to be encouraged to take risks and use their prior knowledge to solve problems with what they know, and from there they will then realize that they are able to solve the problem. A big problem is the student’s self-confidence. If they think they are not capable or “not good at math”, they wont take risks in their learning or make mistakes, therefore, not grow in their learning.
If you relate to your students, understand where they are coming from and share some inspiration, whether it be a little personal story or how a famous person or someone they look up too, went through failures in order to succeed, it will inspire them to keep on trying!
Thank you for you post!
Nicole
Thanks for sharing your experiences as a math student and how that will impact your classroom and the way you will teach your students.
ReplyDeleteAs much as it is important to teach them about growth mindset and ensure a safe and welcoming environment, we also need to think about how the physical arrangement of the classroom impacts student learning?
How would you arrange/set up your classroom to ensure the physical environment is aligned with the social/emotional aspect of your classroom?