Manipulatives in Math

In our class this week we went over various manipulatives that can be used within a classroom environment to further promote learning in different ways. I have had little experience with using the various manipulatives whether it was just simple blocks, or algebra tiles. As that was the case I was unsure of what to expect going into the activity as I wasn't too sure how effective it would be for students. Through the activity I was able to gain valuable experience in how I can use these tools within a classroom in the future. Some of the activities I found more insightful then others. For example, there was a question asking if you painted the outside of a 100x100 cube, how many of the cubes would be painted on two sides. In this case having a physical cube to work with made the question much more simple to answer as we could use smaller sized cubes such as a 3x3 cube in order to determine a pattern and then apply that to the 100x100 cube. If we weren't given the objects to help it would have taken much longer as I would have tried visualizing the problem using pen and paper. On the other hand an activity I found less useful was using the geometry boards. I found that they were too time consuming to use and that in the end they only helped a little.

Blocks used to help solve Math problem

In general though seeing these activities was a positive experience. I do not think I would use them for every class, as they take time to set up, and they are not applicable to all lessons. However, I can definitely see how they can keep students more engaged and interested in learning, as playing with blocks and learning math at the same time is much more interesting and fun then just copying notes from a board. As such, I could see them being much more helpful in an applied level class, in order to help engage the students and to help them learn concepts in a new way, as they may have more difficulty learning just through note taking. It also encourages greater creative and abstract thought which is important for students to develop, as that is largely one of the greatest takeaways for a students in a math class. It is also a good way to break up the regular routine of class for both the students and the teacher by incorporating new methods of learning.

I hope to be able to implement this type of activity into at least some areas in future lessons that I teach.