6/21/10

My brain was a bit fried in math class so it took me quite some time to come up with a word problem for a PPW PU. I finally figured it out and was able to write a word problem for my partner. I do think that I will remember most of the information taught in this course, but I know I need to keep up with it and always try to implement the information learned. This does not necessarily mean that I will be able to teach using the CGI method all of the time, but I will always try to teach to what the students already know. I will also always try to keep in mind that a lot of students are going to think differently and I should be aware and ask them questions to see if I can modify my instruction to help as many students as possible truly be able to learn.

I was excited because earlier that day in my practicum class, the students were working on a measurement division problem in which they needed to figure out how many 2cm legs of a table could be made with a piece of wood that was 8cm. The boy I have in class that really struggles with everything started to write this problem as a subtraction problem like 8-2, but then he just sat there lost. I asked him what he was going to do next and he didn't know, nor did he know the answer. I verbally read the question to him and he still couldn't get it. Then I asked him verbally, "If you have 8 pieces of gum and you want to share the gum with your friend so the 2 of you both get the same amount, then how many pieces of gum would each of you get?" He thought for just a second and said, "4". I was excited that he got the answer. I then explained to him that the 8cm stick has to share itself equally to make legs that are each 2cm. I am not quite sure if I explained the stick/leg thing to him correctly, but at least he got further than he would have and maybe now he can think of division in terms of sharing. I think if I had more time to work with him then I could get him to understand math. Unfortunately my practicum will end next week. The good takeaway point from all of this for me is that I now have some tools to explain things in different ways to kids that might help them. I am also more cognisant of how the students are thinking!