Melanie

Melanie's journey...

The basis of all math skills requires the basic levels of thinking, but as they learn to use the skill and then apply it to new situations and evaluate the reasonableness of the results, the level of thinking increases. The end goal of course is that students will be able to evaluate, analyse, and synthesize the meaning of their answers and how accurately they solve the real life problems. I want my students to use the habits of mind in their thinking process--persisting, striving for accuracy, applying past knowledge to new situations, and thinking and communicating with clarity and precision.

We will soon be working with fractions. My goal in the end is that they can understand the meaning of the size of fractions and how they can be used accurately in real life situations such as cooking and carpentry for example.

Using technology and questioning. My goal is to use questioning and technology to help students discover for themselves how equations can make problem solving easier. I will begin by asking questions about the best company to choose for consumer products and services such as movies/cellphones/etc. The internet would be a valuable tool for the students to research costs/fees and comparison shop. From that point I will have them choose two companies and find the point at which they cost the same and which would be best for them based on their use. In the end they will discover using equations with variables on both sides make the task easier to find that point, then they can interpret how that applies to their use and which company to choose.

Authentic Learning:

Learning is effected by authentic tasks because the students are more engaged in learning when it it more meaningful to them. They will be more interested when they can see a purpose that is relevant to their life. When students are more engaged, they will be more willing to discuss topics more in depth, thus reaching higher levels of thinking.