Last session for EDU 330

31st  August 2011

This was the  last day of  our  Mathematics  module.  I  felt  very satisfied  with my  lecturer and  I believe that not  only me  who  gave  an outstanding mark on the evaluation.  After  this  module, I  found myself very poor  in analyzing  some  problems  as  I  cannot  make a correct word  problem.  I  was  so  happy that in a  short  period of  time I was  able  to think for my  previous  Mathematics  class.  


On the  last day, we covered up mostly on the ways of  assessment ( assessing  procedure, assess conceptual knowledge, assess the method, practical test, paper and  pencil and  oral  test).  According  to Dr.  Yeap,  some  assessment  can be  individual and  some assessment  can  be in a group.


I  like  the activity on which  each  group  was  asked  to  make  a box  that can  fit  15 beans. It  was  really  enjoying  and  I learned  from it  that  eyes  are  really  deceiving as  we  thought the small box  that we made is  perfectly  fitted to  15 beans.  


We  had  fun measuring the height  and  counting  the  steps of the  staircase at Bras Basah MRT station.  


Here's what  we  get:


Steps of  the  MRT staircase


                     3 flights  of  16 steps
                     1 flight of 14 steps
                     each  step  is  15 cm.


Computation:


                     16x 3 =  48 
                     48+14=  62
                     62x15cm=      930 cm

Session Five of EDU 330 Elementary Mathematics

26th August  2011

         Thanks God it was the fifth day of our Mathematics class! On this session, we started  with  lesson  17.

      Grouping  Situation  :      6 / 2 = 3  

  1/ 1/4 =  4  ,   3/4 / 1/4 = 3

    Note:        a/b / x/y= a/x/b/y

   In lesson 18, Dr.Yeap introduced a word problem  

                

  Spiral  Approach :  Get  encounter  same  ideas  again  and  again......

  Bloom's Taxonomy:  Describe  the  cognitive  levels  

                                                  ( knowledge, comprehension,  application,  synthesis ,  evaluation)

  Knowledge  

     What  is  the  value of  5/7- 1/2

Comprehension 

      Is  the word problem

  Lesson  19  :  Making  squares  out of  the  dot

       

In  lesson 20,   is  a  continuation of the shapes  in connecting to the dot.  There  was  a  theory by  George  Pick other  known  as  "Pick  Theory"  which is  the  area  of  figure is related to the dots on the side  and inside.

Things  to  remember..... 

• There are five transformation movement of  shapes  ( translate, reflect, rotate, stretch,shear)
• Polygons  is  a close figure
• There are symbols in  comparing the are of square( units2, cm2,m2)
• The five  uses of number ( cardinal, nominal, measurement, ordinal, represent proportion)

In lesson 21,  we covered  on  the  data representation  which  is  making graphs.  There  are  different  types of  graphs ( picture graph, bar graph, line graph, circle graph, pie graph)

 

 The  last  lesson was on the  Model  Method

   Example:  3/7 of the apples in a box are red apples . The  rest  are green apples.

                      There  are  24 green  apples    

                      4 units = 24 apples

                      1 unit   = 6 apples

                      24/4 = 6

                        

   

Session Four of EDU 330 Elementary Mathematics

25th  August  2011

    This session had  a  good  start  for everyone  as  Dr. Yeap  began the  lesson  with  a  magic  tricks.  The  question is,  Is  it really  a magic........   Oh!  I  was  really  glad to know  this  number  trick that  all you  have to do is  to look for  the  pattern to be able to  guess the  correct  answer.    I  got  3 pegs  on his  first  lesson  as  I  am the  one  who  found  out  the  pattern  hooray!!!!!!

    In lesson  15, we  covered  a  problem  sum  that  taught  different  variation   and  a  join  situation. According  to  Zoltan  Dienes  
                       "Mathematics  is not  repetition they learn if  you give  them variation   or  the  variant  theory"


The  next  lesson  which  is  lesson  16 was  about  naming  the equal  parts.

•  I  found  out  that  the moment  you  have  equal parts  you can  name  the  part.
• Being  equal  does not  mean  identical
• Fraction is  a part of  a whole
• Quantity  is a part of a set.
• Same  number  can  be  named  in different ways.

The moment  you  have  equal part  you can  name it   and this  is  one fourth.

   

This shows  an  equal  fraction 

This  is  an  example of  abstract

Some  Acronyms I  encountered  which  is  helpful  for  me  in learning  the Primary  Singapore  System..

SRT  -  School Readiness  Test
LSM - Learning  Support in Mathematics
LSP -  Learning Support  Program

     Thank you  Dr. Yeap  for  a  wonderful  experience  I had  during  your  lessons.   How  I wish  all the  teachers in Philippines  will be  like  you to help the children be  more  confident, competent and energetic in answering  Mathematics and  I  hope  you  will  come to my country to train Mathematics  teachers.

Session Three of EDU 330 Elementary Mathematics

24th  August  2011

CASE  STUDY

Session  three  was discussed  by  Miss  Peggy  Foo.   We covered  two  case  study  in a pre-school  setting  that  talks  about  the  Factors  of  Good  Mathematics  Teaching  Principles.

The  content of  the  lesson  was  all about  more or  less  and  we  tried  to  critique the teacher based on the video  we  had  seen .  

We  came  up with 5  different  areas  to  see  the  effectiveness of  the  teacher.

These  are the  five  areas
Seating Arrangement
Participation/Engagement
Manipulative
Classroom Management
Flow /Sequence

In  Lesson Study, good teacher in  Mathematics  must check the  following :

1.  Seating  Arrangement

2. Level of  Engagement

3. Uses of  materials

4. Flow/Sequence of  Lesson

5.  Classroom Management

6.  Communication

7.  Questioning skills

8.  Attitudes /Disposition

9.  Differentiation

In  case  study  two,  it  was a good  video showing  an  energetic  teacher who helps the  pupils to  explore different  options. Allowing  children to think and apply  what they  have  learnt in new  situation  by  constructing  different structures using a models with 3, 4 and  5  cubes.

We enjoyed  playing  this  game  using  5  cubes  and  we  came  up  with 21  different  structures.

Just  to  share  with  you.......

             Lesson  study is  a  professional  development process or  tool  that  teachers  engage in systematically examining their  practices  and  follow  a  lesson  study cycle.

Lesson Study  Cycle

Plan  a lesson,  Research lesson, Post-lesson  discussion , lesson plan and goes back to plan a lesson.

 I would  like to thank  Miss  Peggy  Foo for  the  wonderful  experience we  had during  her  lectures.....

Second Session of EDU 330 Elementary Mathematics

23rd  August  2011


         Another  fruitful  lessons  we  had  on session  two.  We  covered  the  lesson on the  five  key  components  ( generalization, communication, visualisation, number  sense and  metagcognition).  


           We  also  come  up  with  a  problem sum  about  John  who  spent  1/4 of  his  money on a gift  and  then  he  spent  1/3 of  the remainder  on  a  book .  In  this  problem sum,  it  helps me to develop  thinking  skills as  I  was  able to  understand  the  idea  of  the  problem and find  the answer. It  was  really  true  that  liking  mathematics  depends  on  the effective lecturer.


           I  have  learnt   a  new  mathematics term  "  subitize "  which  means  something  we  just  describe  or  unusual. 


           Another learning  from session two  was  about  the  theory of  Jerome  Bruner.


C-   oncrete
P-   ictorial
A-  abstract

This  is  what  we  called  the CPA approach  in  learning .  When  we  provide things  like  concrete  materials ,  the  children  will be able to  learn  better  by  trial and  error  and  has  a  deeper  understanding how  a certain  things  being arranged.


These  are some of the  interesting  activities  we  did  during  session  two.

This is a  game  of  picking  the  largest  even  numbers.

This  is  a  good  game  for  a  two  players which  they  have  to  realize  the bad and good number for  them.

First Lesson on EDU 330 Elementary Mathematics

Monday 22nd of  August 2011

I  was  so  amazed  on the first  day of my  Elementary Mathematics  class  which  I  thought  will be a  boring    night....  It  was  amazing  that the lecturer  did  the  lesson creatively,  engaging  and  lot's of  fun!

WHAT IS  MATHEMATICS????????????

For  me  mathematics deals  with  number , shapes, problem  solving , and  equation.

According to  MOE  Syllabus ...............................

•  Mathematics is an excellent vehicle for the development and improvement of a ,  person’s intellectual competence in logical reasoning, spatial visualisation, analysis and abstract thought. 
• Students develop numeracy, reasoning, thinking skills, and problem solving skills through the learning and application of mathematics.
• Mathematics is also a subject of enjoyment and excitement, which offers 
  students opportunities for creative work and moments of enlightenment and joy. 
• When ideas are discovered and insights gained, students are spurred to pursue 
  mathematics beyond the classroom wall.

Just  to  share  with you ....

How  numbers are  used  differently

1.  Cardinal  number-  represent  the number  of  objects  ex:  flower,  cookies etc...

2.  Ordinal  number-  refers to the position of an object

ex:  1st,  2nd ,  3rd, 4th and  so  on....

3. Nominal  number-  It  used to  label  example :  bus  14

4.  Measurement-   it  is  used  to measure  numbers  that  can be  standard or non-standard  

    unit of  measurement.

What is a meaningful  counting?

one to  one  correspondence

ability to  classify and  sort

ability to  rote  count

the  last  number that is  uttered represent the number.

  I am very eager  to come  for the  next  session  as it was fun and  exciting  class!!!!!!!

Reflection on pre-course readings

I've been  a  teacher for more than  a decade but have not  experience teaching mathematics  to young learners. As  I  was  reading  this  book, it  gives me  the  courage to  teach  mathematics.  I found  out  that  knowledge of mathematics and how students learn mathematics are the most  important tools  that  I can acquire to be  an  effective mathematics educator.  Honestly,  I am a person who really hates  mathematics during primary school , but this  attitude change when I met my algebra teacher.  She was  really compassionate and  willing to teach me until  I grasped the concept of it.  In this experience,  I can relate myself to other  students who also  hated  mathematics.  If  the teacher  is  able to find ways  and  strategies to help them learn I think most of the students  will love mathematics.

There are  principles and standards that  has  been  designed for  teachers as guide and direction in teaching this subject released by  the (NCTM) or  National Council of  Teachers of  Mathematics. These  principles and standards  will help me and  other beginners in teaching mathematics.

There are many ways to develop children's understanding on the different  concepts like using  models and manipulative to  support  their  learning.

 I  was looking  forward  that  at the end of this  module,  I will be able  to teach  mathematics  and use the  knowledge and strategies  I will learn.  Teaching mathematics  will be a new  great experience for  me  as  an  educator but  I have  to do something to become  an  effective  mathematics teacher. Attending training, reading mathematics articles,  continuous learning and perseverance will be  my  keys to be a mathematics educator.

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