Reflection on Readings

My main goal is for students to enjoy my math course through hands on

activities, technology and problems that focus on the world around us. I hope that
my practice promotes authentic learning and relational understanding as I think that
these two things are crucial for student success.
When teaching math it is important that students are shown that there is a
purpose for learning and doing math. This can be done by providing them with
applied or real world problems which often have more than one solution and are
open-ended. These problems are usually engaging and get the students interested
in the math behind the problem versus pure mathematical problems
(Moshchkovich ,2002). In the article of Moshchkovich (2002), it is purposed that in
order to have authentic learning students should solve real-world problems that
combine mathematics with its applications. I think that I have done this throughout
my MRP. I have Real World Math activities throughout the semester that focus on
issues such as: population growth, water quality, and invasive species. A lot of these
problems have a bit of a fantasy twist i.e. I talk about zombies for population
growth, and involve Batman when talking about water quality. However, I have done
this in order to engage my students even more, this way they are seeing how math
relates to real-life and their interests. Therefore, I feel like I have included an
authentic math practice in my course, which I hope will allow my students to grow
and develop as learners.
One thing that I struggled with as a learner in high school was truly
understanding the material taught in my class. When I got to my trigonometry unit I
knew all the sine laws, SOH CAH TOA, identities and how to use and manipulate
them. However, I didnt really know why any of these rules worked, and when it
came to relating sine and cosine to a circle I felt like my head was going to explode.
Instead of helping me, my teacher encouraged the way that I studied since I was
getting such good marks. However, when I was given thinking and inquiry problems
I could never complete them as I did not truly understand the math. As I teacher I
hope to promote relational understanding in my classroom in which students know
how to use the math in my classroom and understand why/how it works. I will do
this by constantly challenging them, such as getting them to solve a problem in two
different ways. This will discourage them from essentially memorizing ways to solve
problems like I did in high school. In their daily journals students will constantly be
reflecting on what they have learned in class, which I hope will increase their
relational understanding. As a student, I rarely got time to reflect on the math that I
had learned and how it related to different aspects of the course. I hope that this
reflection period will allow students to delve deeper into the math lessons allowing
their understanding to grow (Skemp, 1976).

References
Moschkovich,J (2002). An Introduction to Examining Everyday and Academic
Mathematical Practices. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education 11, 1-11.
Skemp, R. R. (1976). Relational understanding and instrumental understanding.
Mathematics teaching, 77, 20-26.

References that have aided me in creating my MRP:

Bouillion, L. M., & Gomez, L. M. (2001). Connecting school and community

with science learning: real world problems and schoolcommunity
partnerships as contextual scaffolds*. Journal of research in science
teaching, 38(8), 878-898.
Jackson, A., & Rossi, H. (1996). Views on high school mathematics education.
NOTICES OF THE AMS, 44(2).
Meyer,D. (2007, August 31). The Comprehensive Math Assessment Resource.
Retrieved February.22, 2015, from
http://blog.mrmeyer.com/2007/the-comprehensive-math-assessmentresource/
Muschla, J. A., & Muschla, G. R. (2011). Hands-On Math Projects With Real-Life
Applications: Grades 6-12 (Vol. 27). John Wiley & Sons
Sladkey, D.(2015, March 3). DOC and the Magic Straw: A Story about the
Benefits
of
Collaboration.
Retrieved
March.5,
2015
from
http://teachhighschoolmath.blogspot.ca/
Waite-Stupiansky, S., & Stupiansky, N. G. (1998). Math in Action. Hands-On,
Minds-On Math. Instructor, 108(3), 8