January 27, 2009

In today’s class we had the opportunity to discuss with our fellow classmates our experiences during our observation days that had taken place on January 26th. I enjoyed this because for the most part we really only discuss with people we talk to how our day went; it was nice to hear other peoples experiences. I also enjoyed hearing about the math lessons. Since starting our observation days I have only witnessed a couple of math lessons but it has become clear to me that math has changed quite a bit since I went to school. For the most part when I went to school we never did group work in math, however throughout a couple of my observation days I have witnessed two classes who did and they seem to work quite well.

I have also realized there are many new ways and techniques on how to teach a math lesson. In class we have discussed things like 10-frames, Mad Minutes and group work; things I had not heard of until my observation days and class. I hope to learn more about my classmates’ observation days and the new techniques that are being taught in the schools.

We also discussed how many math problems could be interpreted in different ways. There isn’t necessarily one right answer and that became apparent when we were asked the question “The answer is 5, what could the question be?” We were all coming up with different ideas on what the question could be. It made things very clear on how kids might feel when they are told an answer is wrong even though it could very well be right!