Monday, January 30, 2012

25. "The Bad-Apple"?

You get your class list and you go right down the first names and BAM!!!!!!!! You have Calvin, what to do now?

Reflection
  • Math and class lists go hand and hand. You are never going to understand all of math's properties; and you are never going to get the perfect class list.
Reflection on Reflection
  • Math leaves the door wide open on how to teach.
  • You can use manipulates, computer programs, handouts, worksheet, group work and countless other things to teach math. You just have to be open as a teacher and try and reach those Calvins out there. As hard as it maybe.



24. Cheating


What happens when you come across a student and they are cheating?

Reflection
I would want to find out why this/these students are cheating. Automatically we think as teachers that the child didn't study and is now trying to cheat their way into a higher mark but what if that is not the case? What if it is your fault that the student is cheating?


Reflection on Reflection
Often students do cheat because they didn't study or they 'forgot about the test' but what if they cheated because you as the teacher didn't teach the material fluently enough? Then you Failed the student, You cheated them!

23. Different Levels

           Students of all ages are going to be at different levels within the classroom. A simple idea to one student might be profound to another. So as a teacher, one has to make sure all the students are being challanged and tested within their learning zone.

Reflection

Teaching to different learning abilities is going to be a challange and expecally in Math. Some students feel comfortable expressing themselves in the classroom and other are very quite. In my opinion Math is a subject that has the ability to reach students at different levels. Once the mind can grasp a concept it is there for life.


Reflection on Reflection
  • Weather it is skipping stones or solving quadratic equations in the sand, I want to create life long learners in my classroom.

22. Know The Material

Entering the teaching profession is a lot of work, Yes, and falling behind to become a lazy teacher (is easy) but this is not the path that I plan on going down. When a student writes his/her answer on the board I want to know right away if they are right or wrong. I don't want to rely on the teacher manual or technology to get me out of a bind.

Reflection
  • With all my power I will not become the: "I think that's right, but let me check teacher".
  • I will do my research before entering the classroom.
Reflection on Reflection
  • If the students start to see a lazy teacher then they will become lazy themselves.
  • A Great teacher pushes their students to achieve Greatness.

21. Visual Representation


21. Visual Representation


Dog vs. Cat vs. Both Lovers is represented in this photo.  Math Class University of Windsor.
    

  The power of a picture can truly be amazing! But when you can create a picture using bodies from your classroom it can very powerful.
      Reflection
      Using measuring tapes and students opinions we were able to create a pie graph of how many people in the classroom likes Dogs or Cats or Both.

    Reflection on Reflection
      An active classroom is a learning classroom. Although students were out of their desks and talking there was a lot of learning that was taking place. By using measuring tapes only as material this lesson on pie graphs became very cheap and very effective for learning. Seeing a pie graph on paper becomes easier over time to decipher but for a grade school student it can be very challenging.


Jan 6th/2012

20. Data Management


20. Data Management

      Data management can be a very overwhelming unit in math. There is a lot of information coming into the thought process all at once.
Reflection
      To view data as pictures, not numbers becomes an easier transition for the brain. Also viewing data in subject matters that relate to the viewer and the material becomes easier to translate into mathematical terms.
Reflection on Reflection
      Fantasy football was the example in class and is very relatable for me. Viewing stats on the leading passer or rusher on a page becomes more fluent then viewing profit margins and number of books sold by Amazon in a year.
      For grade school students, pictures of popular video games compared to other games could be a valid picture example to learn data management.

Black hole’s Birth= collecting data about something really cool!

Jan 3rd/2012

19. Merry Christmas- Fantasy Football


19. Merry Christmas- Fantasy Football

      





Fantasy football is a lot of fun to play and can bring some rich rewards if the league you are playing in has an entry fee. Luckily for me, my league does have an entry fee among other payouts. The problem for my league although is the fact that all the players no longer live in Windsor. The league was founded out of former co-workers of mine and several have moved on and away from Windsor. So this possesses two mathematical reflections.
Reflection
1. How does the payout system work?
2. How do you receive your winnings if you are lucky enough to win?
Reflection on Reflection
      My yahoo league is not as complex as other leagues so I’ll visit what we do in this league.
1. The payout system works for the players that finished in the top 3.
2. These are the only players that receive money for their winnings. The player to finish last has to pay an additional 20 dollars and that grants them the 1st overall pick the following year.
      To receive the winnings (if you are lucky enough) from the league at the end of the season is done through E-Transfer. The E- Transfer is a very new concept to me but very easy to complete. The commissioner holds all the money and lives in Hamilton. Once the year ends he send an email to the winner and it has a link to the bank account of the commissioner, which in turn has an option to connect to your bank account.
      Technology is the future of all banking, the teller’s days are numbered!
Jan 1st/2012

18. Uncle Visa and Aunt MasterCard


18. Uncle Visa and Aunt MasterCard

      Christmas is around the corner and money seems to always be tighter than usual. When money is tight the credit card comes into play (Risky Business). Reading an article in Men’s Health made me think of my cards and how they are stilling in balance.
Reflection
·       If you have a 5000 dollar credit card with an annual rate of 20+ percent and it is maxed out. If you only make the 100 dollar a month payment I would take you 25 years to pay it off.
·       But if you pay 110 it would only take half that time.
·       Shocking what an extra ten bucks can do.
Reflection on Reflection
·       #1- Credit cards are the devil!
·       #2- We live in a society that constantly lives out of their means. We buy more material then what we have money for.
·       #3- Introducing the idea of interest to students earlier than later would be a valuable lesson in my opinion.


Dec 15th/2011

17. 12 Days Continued


17. 12 Days Continued

# of Gifts
How Many Days
Receiving
Total # of Received
Gifts
Item Received
1
12
12
Partridge in a Pear Tree
2
11
22
Turtle Doves
3
10
30
French Hens
4
9
36
Calling Birds
5
8
40
Golden Rings
6
7
42
Geese a Laying
7
6
42
Swans a Swimming
8
5
40
Maids a Milking
9
4
36
Ladies Dancing
10
3
30
Lords a Leaping
11
2
22
Pipers Piping
12
1
12
Drummers Drumming

Reflection
      With the help of the PNC website, we are able to see how much value all these items would hold if bought on the open market. The 12 days of Christmas would cost an astounding $102,620.02!

Reflection on Reflection
      Students would go crazy for this assignment around Christmas because they get to use a computer for Math and the website is very interactive. This would be a great lesson to explore for a class or maybe even two.


Dec 9th/2011