Let Them Eat Cake

 So we found out that we are going to be able to work with kids who are struggling in mathematics at one of the local elementary schools!  Today we worked on a lesson plan that we could better help them to understand how to reduce fractions to their simplest form.  What better way to get a kid to understand math...FOOD!

I made the word cake turn into an acronym for a tool that they can have help them remember working with reducing fractions.  So for a problem such as 8/16th, they would check the problem, (their ingredients), then aim for less (finding the least common factor to take out of both the numerator and the denominator), kick out the extra (take out the excess), and enjoy the rest---examine their work and continue to the next problem.!  It will be super rad when they can use manipulatives such as measuring cups and spoons and counters to help them understand.

We also took a field trip to the library to look for manipulatives to aid us in teaching the kids.

I can't say that we didn't play with the manipulatives because they are super fun.....

Or that we weren't obnoxiously loud in the library.....

But that just goes to show you that math can be fun.....

And the more fun and creative a lesson is, the easier it is to remember the information!  
This is what I am faced with for next week...an open canvas....

Hmmm, I wonder what I will come up with....Time to create!

finding your niche

There has been alot of strategies and manipulatives that we have covered in class---soooo many to choose from.  The top four that have been drilled into our heads are as follows:

1                                                                      opportunities to communicate and collaborate

                                                                                                                   concrete to abstract

3                                                     age appropriate activities

4                                                                                                  experiencial and beneficial

I  If I remember to use these strategies in my classroom it will be extremely beneficial not only to me, but to my students because making the curriculum personal and promoting active learning will make them want to learn and experience education the way it should be experienced.  When you are experiencing a classroom it can be a good experience or a bad one---if it turns negative it can change a child's outlook on school and even life to be one that is unhappy, struggling, and unwilling to learn.   If I choose to teach with activities that involve groups, sometimes the members don't want to participate because they don't like the spotlight on them:

Nikkita in the spotlight!

But, if the spotlight activity is just an assessment of learning and repeating the information that they already know (which sometimes helps the student to relax because they aren't nervous about saying a wrong answer).

I also really like the idea of using manipulatives with pairs or in smaller groups because it makes the activity and the learning more personal than it can be sometimes within the entire classroom.  This activity:

What Suits You!

   allows the students not only to practice mental math( using the top cards together to achieve the number of the card located on the bottom) but also to keep their mathematic and social skills developing.  When we participated in this activity it forced me to think, but it also didn't stress me out because my partner was having some of the same struggles as I was, and if they weren't struggling then we discovered we could work together to solve the problem and achieve our same goal.

     I think it is SO cool how each classroom has different students and everytime it will be an adventure as to how that set of students work together.  The strategies that may work for one group of students may not work with another group---it is a constant reminder that every child is different and that a teacher must always be on their toes and strive to reach each and every one of those separate needs.  

                                                     Every student is DIFFERENT!!!!!!!! :)

   

A little bit more...

  Today we did a lot of reflection dealing with our personal math journey/history.  In writing that paper I realized that a lot of my math experiences were very negative and I really want to go into this class rebuilding a positive attitude towards mathematics so that when I finally get a class of my own I will be able to teach them and make their math journeys positive.  We learned alot about how math works in relation to the state standards [spiral curriculum--there's a consistent building through the years] to teach math when dealing with different intelligences within the classroom.  You are able to do a lot of pair share activities, reflections, google docs that involve working on stuff together as a class that includes math but still keeps the kids occupied, but for me my favorite is still manipulatives.  For example today we worked with geoboards:

I really enjoyed working with this manipulative because it is hands on!  It allows me to be creative and play but also forces me to stay geometrical...it's like creativity within mathematical restrictions.  Plus I like geometric shapes so it's totally cool to me!