Education in Math

The past week we went through teaching Grade 12 courses and the challenges that it may present. We went through a number of scenarios that could (and have happened) within in our courses, and discussed in small groups what we would do in each. They were all very interesting and challenging as each had multiple ways that you could deal with it. For example one scenario was that you heard one of your students was programming his graphing calculator to include his notes and formulas to use on an upcoming test. Some of the possible solutions included having everyone reset their calculators, providing students with a set of calculators instead of letting them use their own, or just keeping a close eye on the student in question. Another possibility would be to try to design the test so that a calculator is not necessary and then not allow the use of calculators. One of the other scenarios involved a student asking the teacher for an 85% as he needed it for his university applications, w...

During our past class we got to play various games related to topics in Advanced Functions and Data Management. It was fun the various activities that were brought out to bring out some competition in the class. The one was a simple game of war, using logarithms and having us practice how to do basic logarithm calculations. Another game was solving problems using logarithm laws and then if the we got the correct answer we got to attempt to score a basket using our crumpled up piece of paper. This was fun as not only did it involve math but also some skills outside of the math classroom, so those who may not excel in math may still be able to do well in the game. The final activity wasn't a game but still a hands on activity, involving various stations in which probabilities were determined. The station I was had a pair of dice and involved determining the probabilities to get a certain sum when rolling a pair of dice. Overall I think the addition of games and activities like th...

This past week we went over the Grade 11 Math college level course. What I found very helpful in the class was seeing some great hands on activities that would be great to do in the classroom to get the class engaged, and also applying their learning. The first was in the topic of mean, median and mode. The activity we had was playing a game based around a deck of cards. We randomly got dealt 7 cards (anywhere from Ace to 10) and out of these cards we had to determine the mean, median or mode, depending on which game we were playing. It was fun to turn it into a game since it will ensure that students are actually doing the calculations as opposed to just assuming they know what to do. Also, with the use of cards it is easier to visualize and sort the cards for determining something like the median. Overall, I think the activity is a good one to use for the class in order to reinforce what these important measures are. The next activity which is pictured above was investigating 3...