Math Class

Week 3

This week in math class, we participated in an activity where I really noticed the different types of learned and multiple intelligences. This lead to a discussion on how everyone views things different. We may not be right or wrong but everyone has their own point of view on tings and this is important to take into account as we are all unique and individual learners. The activity that generated these thoughts was an activity about frog races. We were given a problem that was to be solved in regards to the frogs jump length. There were two main ways that the class went about solving this problem. One was was with numbers and a formula, the

algebraic way. The other way, which I found myself using, was though a visual representation of drawing out the mathematical problem. This is the way my partner and I thought to solve this equation: 

This shows that we solved this problem though using a visual aid. Originally, we didn't not even think  to use number or a formula. Our first instinct was to simply draw out the "jumps" to better understand what the problem was asking and then apply numbers to. This brings up how important the idea of differentiating your math instruction is as not all students think the same way. We as teachers need to provide opportunity and problems for our students in which they can be creative with a use their own ways of thinking. We need to teach our students multiple different ways to solve math problems so that they can find which way works best for them. According to the post by Jessica Boschen, these are her reasons as to why she should teach multiple ways to solve math problems to our students: 

TEACHING STUDENTS MULTIPLE STRATEGIES HELPS STUDENTS CHOOSE THE MOST EFFICIENT STRATEGY FOR THEMSELVES

We want our students to be confident about their math and pick a way that resonates with them. 

 Teaching different strategies will help them see different ways to solve problems and students will gravitate to the way that best meets where they’re at, making them more efficient mathematical thinkers. 

TEACHING STUDENTS MULTIPLE STRATEGIES PROVIDES SCAFFOLDING SO THAT THEY CAN FIND A PLACE THAT MEETS THEIR NEEDS

We want our students to explore different strategies in order to be able to find what works best for them. 

TEACHING STUDENTS MULTIPLE STRATEGIES MOTIVATES STUDENTS TO WORK AT SOLVING PROBLEMS

There are many students who don't think they're good at math or simple just hate math. Multiple strategies allow students to solve it at their level and do it in a way that they enjoy, making them more motivated to do math.

This is why we need to provide out student with multiple ways to solve problems and allow them to be creative in solving their problems as all students view things differently and different strategies work for each student. We are all unique learners!