Today was one of my best days at Maths Lit

Teachers were engaged in Research Report Writing, and they had to then reflect on their professional development/growth. They are going to do some self/peer assessment on their Reports and also do Short Oral Presentations on Fridays.

Tomorrow it's only Teaching and Learning. They will be writing an open book test based on contexts that were given weeks ago. They were also asked to bring curriculum documents to refer to certain aspects of the test.

I wish all teachers should do some professional development! This is a great course indeed!

Comments welcome...

ACE Mathemarical Literacy

As a tutor for the in-service teacher training for math lit, I really do benefit a lot and would like to explore some of the ideas in my own math teaching as a professional. I have been explaining some critical aspects of a good action research report to student teachers. They really are getting it well.

The interesting part, was the ideas on mathematical proficiencies (strands) by Kilpatrick.

These proficiencies are really excellent!

Comments,...please

Power of Box and Whisker plots

I gave my grade 11 a short test, as a tradition for every Friday. I was a bit curious to show them the applicability of Box and Whisker in real data set, since we did Data handling some time ago, but the test was on trig formulas. I therefore quickly marked their scripts!

I came back to class to give them back their papers. They were so happy to get a quick feedback. However, they did not realize that there was motive behind giving them their papers.

I quickly wrote the scores on the board, most of them realized that, these were their marks. I then asked them to work with me in arranging the scores in ascending order. They were very enthusiastic! I asked them to give out the Five number summary, they did it with a lot of accuracy and attention. I then asked to watch me drawing the Box and Whisker plot on the board.

I became evident that the students who had their marks in the first quarter are the typical culprits, often called for discipline problems and usually abscond or absent themselves. They really appreciated the power of Box and Whisker plots and wanted to ask more questions about its validity and reliability.

I was so amazed with the participation and wish I could find more to do with the Data handling real application that makes sense to students.

Comments welcome....

Calculator difficult than a Cellphone

Today I tried to do a little bit of survey to find out how students of these days perceive calculators compared to cellphones.

It became evident that they struggle a lot with a calculator, while they quickly master the cellphone feautures quicker and better.

I therefore think that, the best way to teach the calculator skills is through giving students an opportunity to explore on their own with the capabilities of the calculator. I wish to try this out and see if they can master the calculator to best potential possible.

Comments welcome.....

Maths is really challenging without a background

I have been introducing my grade 11 to Sine Formula and its application in triangles. Some of the learners have forgotten the fact that the sum of angles of a triangle is 180 degrees, I quickly had to set up an activity on revising this for 10 minutes. It really was blocking me to continue. As if that was not enough, some students could not find the angle if given one angle and two sides, they have forgotten the use of second/inverse function/ratios in trig equations. I also had to prepare a quick revision of that on the board to remind them on how to solve such problems.

Really maths is demanding, especially with these forgetful students of today.

Comments welcome...

Perimeter of a Circle at grade 8

This is a complex concept in math at early stages like grade 8 (12-13 year-old), however I managed to introduce it so nicely with a cut paper. I took 40 mm as the radius and asked the learners to draw a circle using the pair of compasses. They managed to draw it without any problems. I then asked them to try and measure the length of the circumference. They really struggled and I came in to assist with a cut piece of paper.

They had to measure the arc of one side and then multiply by two. They were so happy to see that it is actually possible. But I said, you know with math we need some generalizations and formulas, hence I introduced them to the idea of C = pi multiply by diameter.

They were amazed! I think hands on experience in mathematics makes sense to the young minds. I would appreciate comments.