Weeks 10 and 11

Week 10

In Class Activity Analysis

      In class we made spinners that would have a higher probability of losing than winning, like at a carnival. This kind of creation of a probability game that they can play, and relates to lived experience of carnival games, will be more engaging to students. This game helps students also understand financial literacy when an amount is included per play. Student can understand the relation of spending to winning and how probability is involved in how they lose money, even if they win. 

This site (http://www.superteachertools.us/spinner/) allows you to craete a spinner online. 

In class we also viewed a video that explained mode, median, and mean, using toads, songs, and animation to make the lesson fun and engaging for students. However, the video I believe is more suited to younger students, and I would not find it applicable to the age I am teaching. I also think that we have to be careful with showing YouTube videos due to automatic ads, comment sections, auto play and the school not allowing YouTube.  

             

Connections to Reading 

  Small (2013) describes using a spinner, and theoretical probability, which would apply to our first-class activity with a carnival wheel.  Small (2013) describes that “theoretical probability can also be used to determine the likelihood of an event that involves more than 1 outcome. For example, for the spinner shown below…” (635). In this case students were using a spinner with only four sections. In class we had the ability to make the spinner with as many sections as we liked and change the size of the sections so that it was more likely to land on a lose instead of a win. This would be an extension of the simpler activity in the textbook.  

For the mean, median and mode video, this would connect to collecting data and measures of central tendency. Small (2013) states that broadly, mean, median and mode are ways of describing data with a single number, (only when the measure is meaningful to the data collected), (p. 582). Data collection would use these measures to help understand data sets, and for explanation of meaning.

Connections to Personal Experience  

            I have used spinners and measures of central tendency in my own schooling. We learned probability and data management in formulaic ways however, and never applied them to real life examples or get to create our own spinners. If I had more of these hand on and fun math activities it would have motivated me to learn math. In my placement I have seen my associate teacher use math videos as a ‘minds on’ to get the class interested in a content area, but he does not rely on this. I think that videos are helpful for initiating interest, but not as ways to teach a lesson.

Impacts as a Teacher

·       Engagement/motivation

·       Connection to real life

·       Creativity

·       Problem solving

·       Use of technology

Week 11

            In week 11 we went to a makerspace, where we used a 3d pen, played with ozobots, and did woodworking. I found these centres very frustrating, as no one was there to explain or help, which made the 3d pen and robots almost impossible for me to use and no learning took place. The woodworking was just gluing blocks together with hot glue. These kinds of centres did not add to my mathematical knowledge or to my knowledge of how to teach math.

References

Small, M. (2013) 3^nd Edition. Making Math Meaningful to Canadian Students, K-8. 3rd Edition, Toronto, Nelson.

Ontario Ministry of Education. (2005). The Ontario curriculum grades 1‐8: Mathematics. Retrieved from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/math18curr.pdf