I have difficulty remembering Mathematics in the primary grades. I remember playing with blocks and making patterns in the earlier years of my schooling. A typical lesson would have the teacher demonstrating the step by step process of solving a particular math problem on the chalk board, and then we were assigned many practice questions. I was usually the first one finished and the teacher would then assign more problems for me to complete. I recall one year when my classmates and I were given the option to take a pretest. If there were certain sections we had already mastered we did not have to do that unit and were given the opportunity to continue on with more advanced math. This opportunity was most likely given because I was in a combined classroom of grade 5’s and 6’s. I know I enjoyed this.
I cannot recall the best memory or the worst memory surrounding mathematics in primary and elementary. I have always enjoyed doing it. However, I did dislike the repetitive problems I would have to solve, and thought it was very time consuming and pointless. It was basically busy work. I hated having to wait for the class to catch up. I always enjoyed problem solving questions that required me to think. It appeared to me as a game. I contribute my love/ enjoyment of math to my mom. While growing up through primary and elementary my mom had access to problem solver questions to different grades and she would bring them home for my brothers and me to attempt. She would try to get us around the table for roughly an hour a day. As an adult, I think I was very lucky that I was good at math for my primary and elementary grades. But I feel I was only good at it because of my previous experiences in math.
The teacher’s role in math was to demonstrate a problem on the board. I feel that I was always ahead of my class in the primary and elementary years (thanks to my mom), but I wish that I would have been provided with more challenging work in the classroom.
Assessment consisted of paper and pencil and there was a test at the end of each unit. Provincial examinations in grade 3, grade 6 and grade 9.
In high school I also enjoyed math, but it was the first period in the morning, and I would usually have a sports practice at 7 before school started. It was clear that you can not learn if you are tired. Overall, I like the challenging problems in math, and I enjoy being forced to think, rather than forced to memorize and regurgitate.
The only Math courses I took in university were math 1050 and 1051. I would have continued on with more math courses, but I felt that it would have been too challenging. I feel that I have missed a lot and there is a gap in my knowledge because of my lack of effort or opportunities in my high school years. I wish I could go back and get the steps that I have missed. I really enjoy the logical and challenging part of math. I find math fun, and it is the one course I used to look forward to in school, (that and gym class!!).
Do I engage with mathematics in my life in major ways? I think my reasoning can be attributed to mathematics in particular, problem solving math. Computations, which most of my formal schooling consist of, I now use a calculator. I don’t think I engage in mathematics in a major way because I missed some steps in High School. I did what the teachers asked and I passed the grade but it wasn’t in a meaningful context. Math was removed from context. It was isolated formulas and I didn’t make the connections therefore limiting my understanding and the use of Mathematics.
I cannot recall the best memory or the worst memory surrounding mathematics in primary and elementary. I have always enjoyed doing it. However, I did dislike the repetitive problems I would have to solve, and thought it was very time consuming and pointless. It was basically busy work. I hated having to wait for the class to catch up. I always enjoyed problem solving questions that required me to think. It appeared to me as a game. I contribute my love/ enjoyment of math to my mom. While growing up through primary and elementary my mom had access to problem solver questions to different grades and she would bring them home for my brothers and me to attempt. She would try to get us around the table for roughly an hour a day. As an adult, I think I was very lucky that I was good at math for my primary and elementary grades. But I feel I was only good at it because of my previous experiences in math.
The teacher’s role in math was to demonstrate a problem on the board. I feel that I was always ahead of my class in the primary and elementary years (thanks to my mom), but I wish that I would have been provided with more challenging work in the classroom.
Assessment consisted of paper and pencil and there was a test at the end of each unit. Provincial examinations in grade 3, grade 6 and grade 9.
In high school I also enjoyed math, but it was the first period in the morning, and I would usually have a sports practice at 7 before school started. It was clear that you can not learn if you are tired. Overall, I like the challenging problems in math, and I enjoy being forced to think, rather than forced to memorize and regurgitate.
The only Math courses I took in university were math 1050 and 1051. I would have continued on with more math courses, but I felt that it would have been too challenging. I feel that I have missed a lot and there is a gap in my knowledge because of my lack of effort or opportunities in my high school years. I wish I could go back and get the steps that I have missed. I really enjoy the logical and challenging part of math. I find math fun, and it is the one course I used to look forward to in school, (that and gym class!!).
Do I engage with mathematics in my life in major ways? I think my reasoning can be attributed to mathematics in particular, problem solving math. Computations, which most of my formal schooling consist of, I now use a calculator. I don’t think I engage in mathematics in a major way because I missed some steps in High School. I did what the teachers asked and I passed the grade but it wasn’t in a meaningful context. Math was removed from context. It was isolated formulas and I didn’t make the connections therefore limiting my understanding and the use of Mathematics.
No comments:
Post a Comment