Mathematical Practice #2

Eight Mathematical Practices

This is the second one

Reason abstractly and quantitatively

We need to be able to break down the problem and be able to represent the problem in what makes sense be it pictures, words, symbols, etc. I wasn’t as concerned about the answer as I was about the process. I wanted to see their work, how they came to the answer that they had. I got more the line that “I did the work in my head” more than what I can count.

Drawing representations of problems in whatever manner made sense and then label the sketches. Manipulatives often help in understanding of problems. I tried to let students figure out what to do with data themselves instead of giving them an algorithm that solved the problem but didn’t give them an understanding of the relationship of the numbers.

Mistakes matter

I have been thinking about the new year that is fast approaching. I am excited to be heading into a new year, but I will miss my summer vacation. I want to have conversations with my students and help them through their mistakes. I have recently discovered the benefits of making mistakes and have found how much I have learned from my own mistakes.

Far too often I hear from students that they just want the answer. They look up answers on #photomath and think that is all that they need to pass the class. I do not want to concentrate on the answers but rather to concentrate on the process. It is one thing to get a correct answer but does having the correct answer mean that they have the understanding of the process. I think not. I want them to understand the relationship of numbers and patterns.

I liked the idea last year of having an Algebra Boot Camp. We need to practice math if we are going to learn math. We need to exercise our math brains to develop and strengthen them. I have a big job in front of me, but math is too important to let it slide. This is the keys to all other subjects.

1 of 8 mathematical practices

There are Eight Mathematical Practices

This is a brief explanation of the first one. I will be talking about all of them.

Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them

We need to first, understand the problem. This means to read and try to figure out what the problem is asking. I started playing this toy blaster game on my phone recently because one of my kids suggested it. One thing I noticed was I can go through and match all the colors and not meet the objective. I had to look at what my objective was and go for those items. If I just matched colors, I would not necessarily meet the objective.