Last Day/ Math Lessons Continued

My last day at W.A. Young Elementary was definitly a day to remember. Kathryn and I brought goodies and treats for all of Mr. Rader's classes, and a special gift for Mr. Rader as a way of appreciation. Since we had completed all of our assignments for block, we were able to simply enjoy the short time we had left with our students. The students of Mr. Rader's homeroom wrote us cards that were hillarious, but also very personal.

That day, Mr. Rader did a math lesson using succotash for all three of his math classes. The students were so motivated by this lesson because it was a real life problem that they could relate to. Through practicum, I have learned that manipulatives are key in all of your lessons. While doing my math lessons for practicum, I realized how much more beneficial a lesson can be for students when manipulatives are used. Students seem more engaged in the lesson, and understand the mathematical concepts as a whole.

For one of my math lessons, I taught a measurement and estimation lesson to a low math class. I chose to use this lesson for the low math class because it used a wide variety of manipulatives which can be very effective for students who have behavioral problems. I had students use different objects as forms of measurement. Prior to measuring each item, I had students estimate before finding their actual measurement. Estimation is highly motivating for students. Students love estimating because it is somewhat of a game for them. For one of the acticities, I had my students take a piece of yarn, and measure the length of their smile from one end to the other. I encouraged them to see how long they could make their smile. My students then took the length of their smile, and measured the yarn with a ruler. Rather than working out of their math book, students were able to move around the room, measuring different items, ie: the length of their desk using paperclips, the height of their desk using pencils, the length of the classroom using their own footsteps.

In my other math lesson, we passed out ice cream menus and gave them challenging problems to work out. We also passed out money manipulatives for them to use to represent the different items they were "buying" in the ice cream shop. Through using the money manipulatives and the ice cream menus, children were able to escape reality, and place themselves in their very own ice cream shop, where they had control of what they wanted to buy.

Through giving students power, they are more likely to be engaged in the lesson being taught. Students that are able to relate math to real life contextual problems will be able to appreciate math a lot more. When I become a teacher, I hope to continue to use hands on, interactive acitivies like these in my own classroom. All too often, I see teachers that get tired of creating lessons, and turn to math worksheets and books to teach mathematical concepts. I want my students to understand and experience learning in a positive and enlightening setting. I hope for my classroom to be filled with manipulatives that reinforce learning in my classroom. Whether that be math manipulatives to reinforce learning, or meaningful books that encourage readingin young learners. I hope for my classroom to be a positive, inviting, learning environment for my students.