What have I learned?
I learned this week that kids are curious about where their math words come from. I do not believe in teaching math without giving background on the terms kids will be utilizing. For example, fraction comes from the Latin word Fractus which means "broken." I've learned that the less mysterious you make math, the friendlier it can be. How friendly can a word like circumference, diameter and radius be when you don't even know what they are, who came up with the terms and why are the terms so unfamiliar? I've also learned that tying in other subjects is easier than I realized. When talking about circumference, what about the equator? That is where you would measure the biggest circumference of all (at least in this world) - imperfect yet, close enough.
What do I have questions about? I have questions on how to get the kids who rarely contribute to contribute voluntarily and with curiosity rather than pressure. How do we get these kids to feel safe and unafraid to take a risk? I tell them that wrong answers are welcome as long as they are thoughtful wrong answers as opposed to random guesses yet, this is not enough. Maybe it takes time, maybe it takes familiarity with me, maybe I am too hurried on my own agenda (I try not to have one) but we all do.
I learned this week that kids are curious about where their math words come from. I do not believe in teaching math without giving background on the terms kids will be utilizing. For example, fraction comes from the Latin word Fractus which means "broken." I've learned that the less mysterious you make math, the friendlier it can be. How friendly can a word like circumference, diameter and radius be when you don't even know what they are, who came up with the terms and why are the terms so unfamiliar? I've also learned that tying in other subjects is easier than I realized. When talking about circumference, what about the equator? That is where you would measure the biggest circumference of all (at least in this world) - imperfect yet, close enough.
What do I have questions about? I have questions on how to get the kids who rarely contribute to contribute voluntarily and with curiosity rather than pressure. How do we get these kids to feel safe and unafraid to take a risk? I tell them that wrong answers are welcome as long as they are thoughtful wrong answers as opposed to random guesses yet, this is not enough. Maybe it takes time, maybe it takes familiarity with me, maybe I am too hurried on my own agenda (I try not to have one) but we all do.
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