Reflection on 26/8/2011
Today we had so many ?s in class on fractions and area. The questions were very hard for me to conceptualise as I am a visual learner. The ones that asked about how many tenths are there in 2/5 and how many 1/2s are there in 3/4 were questions that I cannot see and understand . It was only after Mr Yeap had started using the pictures was it a little easier. This confirms the statement that we need to give concrete experiences for children to understand Math without the experiences, it will be difficult to build firm foundations for math.If i already had difficulty doing it, what about the children. We need to explore how we can then simplify the fraction topic to teach young children in the Child Cae Centres? It is important to give the children a little headstart so that they can catch up with the rest incase they are not able to visualise the topics in focus. Morale of the story is explore about a topic first before learning about it. Activity 20 'The Dots" was another activity that captured my heart as it looked so easy but when asked to rotate, reflect, translate, stretch and sheer - I got to think again. I also started looing for tips on math to teach Primary school students to grasp concepts quickly. AN RESOURCEFUL DAY
Reflection on 25/8 2011
Todays lesson had problem sums in it.Problems sums had always been and is still a challenge for my daughter who is in P3. I always wondered how some children can just read a sum once, look at it for a while and can find the way to solve it. What are they looking at and how are they thinking of the solution is something I would want to find out. The lesson on this topic was very useful as Mr Yeap had put in the various types of story sums that are always used in the different levels-Eg: Change ?s , compare ?s and part/Whole ?s. This gave me an idea to guide my girl to learn to identify the type of question first and than look for the details. She had started drawing out the story faster after she had learnt to identify the type of sum and it has made a DIFFERENCE.
THANK YOU MR YEAP
Reflection on 24/8/2011
The day started with making a figure with 5 cubes. It was a mind boggling activity as it required you to stretch your creativity. We managed to do quite a number of figures that were not done by other groups.It was really fun. This activity showed me ways on how we can tell children about everyday maths. Making connections was the 2 key words in Math!(my thought)
Videos on the class recordings was very REAL!The session on role of the teachers and how we can manage the classroom and how we can better deliver a lesson was an eye opener. After watching the videos, it confirms the important role that a teacher plays in a classroom. It was an interesting activity to carry on in a centre to develop the teachers but ttime factor is really a true thing. Carrying out and giving this kind of support requires alot of time and effort from all parties.
Todays videos taught us the factors that encourage or hinder our lessons in class. It is indeeeeeeeed a great way to reflect-VIDEO YOUR LESSON TODAY AND WATCH YOURSELF!!!!!!!!
Reflection on 23/8/2011
The lesson on bad numbers and good numbers was a unique activity. I had played pick up sticks with the sticks that were used in class but it was so creative to come up with such a game using the same type of sticks.
Spinning Numbers was another great activity that gave me an idea on how to teach creating the largest and the smallest numbers using randomly given numbers. The children would be able to grasp this concept even faster when they play this game as it is a relaxed environment and it lasts long in their minds. GREAT ACTIVITIES!!!! Remember the DICE magic!!!!
Mr Yeap's advice on 'never teach machine skills was a great advice for teachers.
Reflection on 22/8/2011
Today was our first lesson on Math. I had always wanted to meet Mr Yeap as i had heard about him from my colleagues who were his students in BSC 04. A great opportunity. In class today, we learnt about the uses of numbers - cardinal/ordinal/nominal/rote counting and measurement units. We had a discussion session on how numbers are used in the above categories. It was very useful to leanr the names of the different uses as it would help us to explain to children the mathematical words to the children.
Though Math is not my cup of tea, i have to learn how to teach or rather how to find ways to explore the technicalities of Math. After hearing Mr Yeap's explanations on various topics, it shone some light on how the math concepts have great part to play in our daily life. Providing opportunities to discover these concepts is the challenge! Still it was a great Mathematical night.
