Maya's Math Blog

  Hey everyone, welcome back to the blog! Today, we had our eighteenth class for EDBE 8F83. In this post, I will reflect upon this lesson by using different prompts and supplementing them with images and resources.  What struck you during this session? Something that struck me during this session was how impactful a gallery walk can be as a viewer. When we were completing the problem, we were in a fixed mindset that the long sides of the rectangular prism would always be equal. This was because in a 1x84 cube, they would be the same. Our solution was incorrect, but walking around the room allowed me to see how we went wrong and how I should have approached it. I think it was very beneficial to partake in this when my solution was incorrect. It allowed me to consider different mindsets, critically think about my work and reflect on what I can do differently next time.  What were the dominant emotions evoked (affect)? One emotion that was evoked this week was reflection...

  Hey everyone, welcome back to the blog! A few days ago, we had our seventeenth class for EDBE 8F83. In this post, I will reflect upon this lesson by using different prompts and supplementing them with images and resources.  What struck you during this session? Something that struck me during this session was how conjectures can come up while doing a problem. Before this session and during the reading, I felt that I would never use conjectures in my math class. However, after tackling our problem this week I realized that conjectures can simply just be ideas that come up while solving a problem. For example, if you look at the attempt of my solution below, my conjectures were just the ideas I thought the next term of the pattern might be 5n+10. This has made me realize that I do not have to necessarily use the word conjecture, but it is important to teach my students to do this. This could be done by encouraging them to write down their inquiries and theories on their paper...

Hey everyone, welcome back to the blog! A few days ago, we had our sixteenth class for EDBE 8F83. In this post, I will reflect upon this lesson by using different prompts and supplementing them with images and resources.  What struck you during this session? Something that struck me during this session was that I solved a math problem with virtually no math. When tackling our problem of the week, I solved the problem by counting and using checks and crosses. It was a very visual solution that did give me the correct answer. When observing my peers, I saw that they were using more typical strategies such as a table of values or first and second differences. I found it interesting that this problem was more pattern-based rather than a problem that can be solved using a tool such as a table of values or an equation. I think that this problem shows how students can tackle it in many different ways, but still have the same answer. Everyone has ways that make the most sense to them and...

Hey everyone, welcome back to the blog! A few days ago, we had our first class back for EDBE 8F83. In this post, I will reflect upon this lesson by using different prompts and supplementing them with images and resources.   What struck you during this session? Something that struck me during the session was that we can all view the same solution in very different ways. In the Jo Boaler Ted Talk, she showed a problem where you were given squares and had to describe how you saw the pattern growing. The way I saw the solution was that there is one block being added on top of every block present as well as one on the end. This is similar to a method that she described in her podcast as the raining method. She gave seven different solutions to this problem that she had encountered and I have put the raining method as well as two other examples below for your viewing.  I found it interesting how we can all approach the same problem in different ways but get the same solution. As a f...

Hey everyone, welcome back to the blog! A few days ago, we had our ninth class for EDBE 8F83. In this post, I will reflect upon this lesson by using different prompts and supplementing them with images and resources.  What struck you during this session?  Something that struck me during this session was how beneficial OAME is for mathematics educators. When I did my lesson activity about a month ago, my partner and I quickly browsed OAME and did not feel that it had much use for us. However, upon further investigation, I have seen that it is full of beneficial resources and tools for educators. For example, it provides both lesson planning resources as well as professional learning and development. I think I was caught off guard by how much was included in this website and in the future, I am going to take the time to look through it and familiarize myself with its content.  What were the dominant emotions evoked (affect)? One dominant emotion that was evoked in me during...

Hey everyone, welcome back to the blog! A few days ago, we had our eighth class for EDBE 8F83. In this post, I will reflect upon this lesson by using different prompts and supplementing them with images and resources.  What stuck you during this session? Something that struck me during this session was how important feedback is. I feel that often in math, students are marked as either correct or incorrect potentially with a few part marks given. However, this does not show the stude nts where and how they need to improve which is crucial for their development as a math student. One quote from our class comes from Hattie et al (2016), and it states that “Thoughtful, appropriate, and targeted feedback is one of the most high-effect teaching practices you can implement in your classroom” . I feel that this perfectly encapsulates what the goals and motivations of a teacher should be as it focuses on putting the time in to help your students.  What were the dominant emotions evok...