Math Games

Reflection 6

                In this week’s module in math class, I explored math and technology as a part of my online modules. I thought that this topic was very relevant because it is 21^st century and technology is all over the place! So, I thought to dedicate my blog today for math games.

Why Play Math Games?

                It does not matter what age you are at, you always want to play some sort of a game. Games are fun and motivating and it gives opportunities to explore and grow your minds. Math games can very accessible because you play them right from the comfort of your home. It can be affordable, might not cost too much, but it can also be expensive. Let us focus on math games in particular now, why play math games?

·         Playing games encourages strategic thinking

·         When you play a game repeatedly, you are supporting development of computational fluency

·         Games give ready-made practice and a teacher can assess while students working on the game

·         Students can build a deeper understanding of ideas

·         Games can also support a school-to-home connection

What is better than sending a student home who is very excited about learning math only because you introduced a game? Take prodigy for example, from personal experience, I have seen students spend a lot of time at home playing prodigy.

                                                                        

What is Next?

                You just sent some students home to play math games or they are playing in class; but now what? What would you do next? You definitely do not want to waste time. Yes it is awesome to get students excited because they are about to play a game and are having fun, but are they really learning? How can you find out? Reflections! Reflections are really important otherwise students would have just wasted an opportunity for learning.  

                I think it is really important that every students reflects on the mathematics involved in the game, the challenges that they faced, and the strategies that were used. So, as some strategic reflection questions, they can either be oral or written. Some good questions can include:

1.       What were the fun bits in your learning when you played the game?

2.       Write two things that were difficult in this game.

3.       What was the tricky part about the game?

4.       Can you connect the math you used in this game to something you already know?

Game Selection

                There are many math games out there, but how can you narrow down your list? Try to think about what you want the students to achieve. Do you want them to concentrate on big ideas? Or do you want them to focus on very specific operation/computation type games? Know your students and their level. It is very important you select a game that will actually benefit the student.

·         Make sure the game matches the mathematical objective

·         Use games for a purpose and not as a time filler

·         Choose a game that makes ideas concrete with interactive visuals

·         Make sure the games are engaging!

There is online YouTube video by Dr. Devlin. He offers parents and teachers important guidelines and four sources for locating high quality math learning games. 

References

Games for teaching and learning Mathematics | Engaging Maths. (n.d.). Retrieved October 23, 2016, from https://engagingmaths.co/2015/04/12/games-for-teaching-and-learning-mathematics/

Why Play Math Games? - National Council of Teachers of ... (n.d.). Retrieved October 23, 2016, from http://www.nctm.org/Publications/Teaching-Children-Mathematics/Blog/Why-Play-Math-Games_/

The Art in Math

  

Reflection 5

                I got inspired by the drawing and representing math module to write this blog for today. The word drawing simply stood out to me and I thought why not connect art and math together? This idea can give a way to even incorporate cross-curricular activities. After I had this idea, I searched up ways to teach math with arts, and I definitely found many interesting ways to do that.

                I think teaching math with art is an excellent strategy. It can include diverse types of learners. Using art can improve retention of key concepts and vocabulary as well. If you incorporate art with math lessons you are engaging the students and they can also have fun at the same time.

Benefits of Drawing

                Do you remember times when you would read a problem again and again but you weren’t able to grasp it? Sometimes just reading a problem out of a text book can make you lose focus, especially if you are not understanding it. So, if you draw the situation, it causes you to internalize what the problem really is asking for. It can also help us how to proceed. The process of drawing out a problem can help students out in other subject areas too; it can also help them later down the road.

For example: a student is taking science in high school and it is on physics concept. Drawing a picture of every single problem in physics is really important. Drawing helps you put all the ideas together to make it concise and easy to proceed to the next step in solving the problem.

                Drawing acts as an intermediate step between language-as-text and the symbolic language of mathematics. By representing visually, students can start to think about the problem mathematically. Hence, drawing is an important part of mathematical communication.

Math with Art Examples

1.       Math Stories Here is the fun part of math, so how can you include art in math? I found a really interesting idea from a website called Teacher Support Force that mentions math stories. Math stories are about drawing a story out of a given problem to help a student internalize the problem. It can also help with memory, so that students are able to recall the concepts!

2.       Geometry When you think of the word geometry you think of shapes right away as well. Does shape have anything to do with art? Of course it does! Students can learn geometry by drawing and/or creating shapes themselves. This way they have experience doing it and can visually see it.

3.       Patterns You can have an activity with the students where you ask them to draw patterns that they see in the real world, such as the spirals on snail, and connect them to math patterns. At the end, they will see the connection between math and patterns in the real world. They will be able to recognize that math is all about patterns and you can see it all around you.

4.       Vocabulary If students draw the new vocabulary words that they learn in math they can retain it better as well. Here is a really awesome example:

Image retrieved online from Teaching Math With Art - Teacher Support Force. (2011). Retrieved October 22, 2016, from http://www.teacher-support-force.com/teaching-math-with-art.html

There are many ideas out there that can help you combine math and art. It can be really helpful for students who want to understand math concepts. It can gear toward diverse types of learners as well. It is an excellent learning strategy to learn for other subjects as well, inlcuding language- when you want to draw story boards for example.

References

Teaching Math With Art - Teacher Support Force. (2011). Retrieved October 22, 2016, from http://www.teacher-support-force.com/teaching-math-with-art.html

Gibson, J. Top 10 Strategies for Improving Math Grades at Any Level. (1998-2015). Retrieved October 22, 2016, from http://www.mathgoodies.com/articles/improve_your_grades.html

Problem Solving: Draw a Picture - TeacherVision.com. (2000-2016). Retrieved October 22, 2016, from https://www.teachervision.com/math/problem-solving/48931.html

Jigsaw Puzzles

Reflection 4

            

            A friend of mine today inspired me to start my blog for this week. I was on a call with her and she mentioned how she hates math. I then took the opportunity to ask her for reasons. Simply, she mentioned to me that math should be creative and interesting.  She said you have to make it interesting to get her going on math. That triggered a thought inside of me, and I started to think that really why most people dislike math is just that they don’t find it interesting.

            Now of course when you are a teacher you don’t feel right when someone says that they don’t find a particular subject interesting. It adds some guilt to the plate. However, it also then makes me feel more motivated and responsible toward future generations. Previous mistakes should not be repeated again. If in the traditional classrooms math was not interesting, it should be now. If it is still not creative enough, then really there is no change; we want that change happening though. 

            I certainly don’t want to be that teacher who makes students miserable in a math classroom. Who am I to take away from them the numerous career opportunities that can come with math? Why would I want to create an obstacle for students in learning lifelong skills that could be used in various fields?  When my students grow to become adults, I want them to say I enjoyed math. For that to happen, there has to be space for creativity.

New Puzzles Daily. National Geographic. (2016). Retrieved online from http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/games-puzzles 

            I remember once teaching a grade 8-math class where I set up a separate station for jigsaw puzzle games. Every month there would be a new scene and a new set of puzzle pieces. The idea was  to observe all the different strategies that students can use when completing the puzzle game. Students got to work together and discuss ideas. They shared ideas and made mistakes. They also went back, learned, and corrected their mistakes to come to a final solution. These are all skills that you use/need when working on math problems!

When my students got exposed to that station for the first time, they were all very surprised. They all asked me questions/comments such as:

-What is this?

-Why are we playing?

-Do we really get to play? But then what about math?

-Are you serious?

-“Look! We have a game in the classroom, ssshhh we want to play later listen to the teacher.”

Comments such as the ones above really opened my eyes. Students were stripped away from fun and enjoyment in math classes. They had a thirst for something different. Their minds got sparked only because of a jigsaw puzzle game station. I was actually able to see excitement in the students’ eyes. That’s the energy that I want to see in every student’s attitude.

            Okay here are my final comments:

-       Jigsaw puzzle game is just a small idea that got students excited

-       There can be numerous other ideas to instill creativity in students

-       Math can be useful and fun at the same time

-       Know your students and try new things

-        Explain to them why they are doing math

-       Explain to the students about strategies, skills, and how they can connect it to the real world


  PS: I suggest this website if you want some fun jigsaw puzzle games that you could play with your students on your device. http://www.nationalgeographic.com/games/photo-puzzle-jigsaw/#home
        You could make it a cross-curricular with science by playing some of these games.