Adriana's Math Blog

Differentiating Mathematics Instruction In this week's math class we were introduced to a few differentiation teaching strategies that can and should be implemented in the classroom.   But firstly, why differentiation?  Well, according to this weeks monograph, 'The Capacity Building Series', “differentiation is an organized yet flexible way of proactively adjusting teaching and learning to meet kids where they are and help them to achieve maximum growth as learners.” (Tomlinson, 1999)  The old school way of teaching math was one style fits all, but this rote style format, preached practice and had students listening to lectures.  Where was the understanding of math at a deeper, more conceptual level?  Each student is unique and learns differently.  In order for teachers to meet this need, they need to take their students' prior knowledge, their zone of proximal development, and data using assessment for learning strategies into account when designing tasks.   Re

Hi Everyone! This week's math class started out with a game of math jeopardy.  Beginning a class with an online game is a great way to get students engaged and a great assessment tool for the teacher to use.  I had experience using Kahoot with my grade 6 class in last year's placement.  I used it many times as an assessment for learning, or formative assessment, when reviewing a science unit.  I used it in the beginning of a unit just to get an idea about what the students already knew as well as at the end of a unit as review.   It allowed me to see which students were understanding the topics and which students needed a bit more help.  In this way, I could diversify my lesson for the next day. Retrieved from http://i0.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/021/547/kahoot.gif Understanding or Knowing/Doing Math? A great question came up in math class this week;  Is it more important to understand or know math?  In other words, is understanding math more important

September 10, 2017 Welcome back everyone! So here we are in year 2 of JI math.... last year was an interesting year with regards to math and it helped me understand that one of the best ways to teach the subject is to make it fun through playing math games.  In this way, students will become more engaged and won't even realize that they are learning! Our first math class this year continued with the theme of a growth mindset.  We were introduced to a game called "Game about Squares, found here ,  gameaboutsquares.com   : Retrieved from   www.informationvine.com/All+About+Squares This game is a fun and interactive online game.  It is played by moving the coloured blocks to their belonging dots.  It's not as easy as it sounds, however.  The player needs to use their problem solving and critical thinking skills to pass each level.  This is a great game to use in the classroom.  The teacher can see how each student attempts to solve problems.  It is a great way to