Week 3!

        This week we touched upon two different concepts that I found interesting, and worth sharing. These two concepts are instrumental understanding, and relational understanding. Instrumental understanding comprehends through steps, such as a formula in math focusing on how to solve a given problem. This is usually only short-term learning, because students are often memorizing formulas but do not understand the actual meaning behind it or how to do something. I can relate to this when I look back to my math classes in high school. Working as a group, or asking the teacher questions just so we could get the assignment done quick and hand it in. No one wanted to sit down and take hours to complete something that could be completed in just under an hour. Also with testing, the teachers usually never gave the formulas to us so I remember having to memorize each one before we had to write a test.
        Whereas, relational understanding is comprehending the concept itself, this includes the “why’s” and “how’s” of the concept. For example, the students know why they are using the specific formula, and how the formula is going to help them solve that problem. This is usually more long-term learning because students can process and understand the information that makes it easier to remember. I think it is extremely important to have a mix of both instrumental and relational understanding incorporated into teachings because students need to be introduced to new things such as a formula, but also need to be taught why they are learning it and how it is beneficial to them in the long run. When I look back I remember associating a formula to a question because it just worked, but never knew why or how it worked. As a future educator, I want to make sure I emphasize relational understanding so students don't look back and think to themselves "I have no idea why I learned that" as I have said previous times in the past.

Lauren. (March 11, 2005). Math Fail. (Online Image). Retrieved from http://bit.ly/2dlKmKB

      This week we also had some fellow teacher candidates present some math lessons focusing on number sense and numeration. One lesson that stuck out to me in particular taught common multiples. In this lesson the teacher candidate had us participate in an activity that allowed students to apply what they have learned in a new way, and what I liked about it the most is that you can use the question more than once by changing the item and cost of the item. The question addressed the prices of new books ($6.00) and used books ($4.00). It then stated that one individual bought all used books, and the other individual bought all new books, however they both spent less than $15.00, but the same amount of money. How many books did each individual buy and what was the total cost? Our teacher candidate presented the information sheet well with little books to represent the used and new ones, as well as a “What we know” box to organize the information that was given. I am a visual learner so I loved this presentation, and would love to use this activity if I ever had to teach common multiples in the future. I also think this is a great example of relational understanding as well because you are taking a math concept and then applying it to a real life scenario that students can relate to. This gives them the idea of how and why were teaching them to understand these concepts.

To start off my blog today I want to introduce to you an interesting article I found on why student travel is important. I strongly believe this article is a great introduction to my Genius Hour Question and I hope you enjoy the read!

Why Student Travel Is More Important Than Ever Before https://t.co/vM5FxRvNV7 via @HPLifestyle

— Nicolina S (@n_strkalj) September 22, 2016

After reading that article I hope to have caught your attention! My Genius Hour question is What is the most cost efficient way students can travel across Europe? I chose to create this as my question because I personally have always wanted to travel, and still do. I think it is extremely important to give time to yourself to have fun and relax, considering university and college is so stressful for most. Some individuals are so caught up with completing their degree, getting a job right away, starting a family and owning their very first house BUT...people don't realize there are limitations to these great accomplishments. Therefore, my Genius Hour Question will hopefully help students to travel and explore before they decide to commit to things that may not allow them to live as freely. I choose to measure my progress by creating an itinerary including flights, destinations, prices and creating a budget. I also hope to take all this information I have gathered and go on the vacation I have created.

To end my blog I am going to share an awesome site we used in class today, it is called Powtoon! It allows anyone to create awesome projects and it has grown on me since I've started using it. Check it out in the link below, Enjoy!

https://www.powtoon.com 

Week 2

Hello everyone and welcome to my second blog post!

Mathematics…don’t we all just cringe when we see an equation? Growing up having to suffer in a data management, calculus or functions course and at the end of the day complaining how much your brain hurt? Yeah I’ve been there too…I believe there is a negative opinion on math but it is slowly turning over to a positive one. While I grew up I only enjoyed math when I understood the questions, and felt overjoyed getting a question correct. However, when I couldn’t understand a question or kept getting the final answer wrong I just wanted to pull my hair out! I was one of those students that worked hard to figure things out to get it right and to feel that accomplishment because that’s what kept me motivated. I think what makes a good mathematics student is to be able to fail at times and be successful at other times. Failing is not a negative thing, people can learn a lot from their failures. Having to struggle and figure out questions will only help the student understand it and remember it longer.

Starting my next chapter as a teacher candidate I did consider potentially having mathematics as a second teachable, but then I thought to myself and laughed. I was never super strong at math, I did well but I was no human calculator. During my first week I learned that the best math teacher is sometimes someone who struggled with math themselves. Being able to break down the questions for the students and relate to the struggles their dealing with is HUGE! Sometimes people who understand it too well have a hard time breaking it down for the people who don’t. This is where I thought to myself and said you know what maybe I could do it! I actually volunteered in a grade 5 classroom and every time I came in they were focusing on math. Believe it or not I did enjoy it.

What’s also exciting is all these games people have come up with that involve math and this is where I see mathematics turning into a positive opinion! I strongly believe if you give a student a chance to play math games online they would enjoy it much more than the traditional “sit at your desk and finish this sheet of equations” approach.  This is exactly what I would be implementing into my teaching when I have the chance to because I think if its fun the students will stay engaged and once their engaged they will learn!
Regarding some areas of the mathematics curriculum that I will focus on learning over the next few weeks of this course would be the grade level I will be completing my placement in. However, this is still to be determined at this time. I also think it would be best to look over the areas that I need to refresh on to become a better educator.

            In the following link there is a Demolition Division game for students in Grade 3 or 4 that could be beneficial to use in the classroom! Enjoy!

Check out this awesome Demolition Division Mathematics game geared towards Grade 3 and 4 students. https://t.co/wzqX6MWEdF

— Nicolina S (@n_strkalj) September 22, 2016

Mulan. (July 14, 2011). Funny Math. (Flickr Image). Retrieved from http://bit.ly/2deMCIP 

Introduction post- Week 1!

Hello and welcome to my mathematics blog!

My name is Nicolina Strkalj, and I am currently a Teacher Candidate in the J/I division at Brock University, where I also graduated in 2016 with a Bachelor of Physical Education (Honours) Degree. I am excited to see what this year has in store for me and I look forward to becoming a future educator! 

During my spare time I enjoy playing soccer, volleyball and exercising either outside or at the gym. I also enjoy traveling and have been to Cuba three times, Croatia, Florida, New York, and Montreal. My plan is to go on one trip a year to pursue my love for travelling and explore new places. I am a very outgoing person that loves to try new things such as skydiving. Crazy right? My parents thought so too...but I would HIGHLY recommend going. However, I would never try bungee jumping...now that's crazy!

This blog section is here to provide helpful strategies and ideas to create a more positive atmosphere regarding mathematics in the classroom, as many people are known to be scared of this subject. Throughout this course I hope to learn how to create successful lesson plans that will be fun and engaging for my future students. I hope to become more confident in the material and become the best educator I can be. 

So, if you are an individual that struggles in math and hopes to become more confident with the material join my journey throughout this blog! 

Below is an avatar version of me!

Copyright can be a tricky topic that students may have difficulty with, whether it be not citing resources properly or not citing at all. Hopefully after reading this blog you will get a better understanding of what copyright is and your rights to use it.

Writing about your own ideas is perfectly fine, until you start to add in different individuals ideas to expand on your own. Once you have taken someone else's idea, it must be cited since it is not your own work. This does not just go for ideas, but videos, pictures and music as well.  What I've learned from this is when creating a blog, project or any type of work not only should you cite the images or videos you have used but you should always cite your own as well to protect your work.

There are four types of copyright establishments made by the creative common laws that students should be aware of:
1) Attribution: you allow others to use your copyright work as long as they give you credit the way you prefer.
2) Share alike: you allow others to use your copyright work only under the same terms. If they wish to use it under other terms they must seek permission first.
3) Non-Commercial you allow others to use your copyrighted work or modify your work but not for commercial purposes
4) No Derivative Works: you allow others to use your copyright work but only the original copies of it. They must get permission if they wish to modify your work.

It is important to not only be careful with how you use other individuals work, but also how you publish your own. Kids are encouraged to be more creative and make their own ideas, videos, and images instead of relying on what is already out there. So always remember to cite your own!!

Here below I have demonstrated how to cite images:

Silverberg, Miika. (May 16, 2006). On the edge. (Flickr image). Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/miikas/147698334/in/photolist-e3Zz1-nFobwz-6PaYZg-q3K1zE-e9VDki-bCEWnB-ef8FtQ-9ayqsd-81JzpW-a4uF92-7At8vF-e4u8ue-5jXeU6-BysaT-5tQeKc-9wCAyR-2RYxn-pR8ZbH-9es4mr-kVonob-8vBVVr-8RwYTY-dWYLan-8vEXcj-qnsUk8-dDZC7Y-ehBnRE-eaeQ5V-xqdVQ-5LDsTX-c13QH5-bnwDAF-qLLxuB-pa1tU5-oA2Vax-79Ku2b-e5TdEF-4KTTPL-eF6fEB-htg2aG-no917U-98DAGE-9uYa1k-e7k4RT-bv8gWK-9DFvj7-fdi1sv-bnt93F-aXBWJk-bDcCjx/

Sharma, Abhi. (August 27, 2006). Books HD. (Flickr Image). Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/abee5/8314929977

Hi Everyone! Welcome to my blog post.

This class has been a great start, its funny to see how parents and mentors see the problem with children these days spending too much time with technology, yet little do they know if it is used properly it can be very educational!

I think that's what makes this class so intriguing, and to think I was great with technology...I do have some things to brush up on. Not too mention this is my first ever blog post... so hopefully it isn't too boring.

Heres a video to what my favourite moment was on our first day in class.


Regarding this video, Genius Hour is a period for students to be able to be creative and choose what they want to work on during their own learning time. It is an effective way of teaching to allow students to stay engaged with their work. For example, Caine went above and beyond with his time and created an amazing arcade! This goes to show that students are so imaginative given the time.

Thanks for reading!