Category Archives: EDUC 389

I enjoyed watching Sir Ken Robinson’s Ted Talk, and I think he makes some excellent points in the way the education system functions. In a world with standardized tests, we create people who function on memorization rather than problem-solving and genuine thought. I think this is related to mathematics. In my personal experience, Mathematics instructionContinue reading “Paradigm Shift”

Covid-19 has brought many changes to my life this past year; I have done online teaching with my toddler class, been a substitute, and an in-person teacher for toddlers. Teaching zoom toddler class is almost like a comedy routine; I can’t count the number of times I have been carried around on a computer byContinue reading “Education and Covid-19”

I watched a Math lesson for kindergarten from the Massachusetts DESE. This video showcases a kindergarten class learning about decomposition. It was a fascinating lesson, where the teacher used many different teaching and classroom management strategies. Decomposition in math is the number of ways to make up a number or break down numbers into sub-parts.Continue reading “Kindergarten Decomposition Lesson”

The phrases teaching “all students” and “every child” seem like different sides of the same coin. As teachers, we want all students to learn and feel confident with many subjects, but to have this philosophy; you have to teach every child. Not every student will learn the same way; even if you look at theContinue reading “Teaching Equitably”

Assessments are something that all teachers must use to evaluate what students are learning. Summative assessments assess the cumulation of students learning; usually, these are completed after the instruction is finished. These assessments are great for evaluating students’ understanding of the learning contents and, subsequently, the standards. Still, this type of assessment doesn’t give insightContinue reading “Assessments”

“Abstraction is only a sort of trickery and deflection of the mind if it doesn’t constitute the crowning stage of a series of previously concrete actions. The real cause of failure in formal education is therefore essentially the fact that one begins with language instead of beginning with real and material action.” -Jean Piaget, 1976Continue reading “Abstraction vs. Concrete Actions”

Throughout my elementary and junior/high school learning, math has never been my strong subject, it always took me a little longer to get math concepts, but once I got it and practiced, I did well. Math games, physical and visual strategies helped me to learn math concepts more than lecturing. So, my attitude to mathContinue reading “Introduction to Math in the 21st Century”