Feed me Pi!

Have you ever asked yourself “It’s no use asking questions when I can’t answer them"?  This is the negative attitude we need to change! Students need to be confident in their abilities to be able to answer any questions they are faced with. It doesn’t have to be the right answer, as long as you are trying, and as long it helps develop your thinking process. By being stuck, you are increasing your thinking process, as you are putting yourself in a challenging environment and experience new learning strategies. As educators, we should promote students to be the best they can be. To not put themselves down by labelling who they think they might be so quickly. One of the biggest obstacles to become a great questioner is attitude. We create our monster in our head, by feeding us information that is scaring us from even entering the Entry Phrase. For example, in Chapter 8, On Becoming your own Questioner, the majority of individuals have a temptation in saying, “I am not a questioning...

There are three important stages we have learned that promote thinking mathematically; Entry Phrase, Attack Phrase, and Review Phrase. They are very important and each phrase is vital to solve the solution successfully. The one stage that I felt that doesn’t get the most attention or isn’t focused on is the Review Phrase. The Review Phrase is a period where the students can check and reflect on their work. This allows students to improve and extend their thinking skills.             In today’s society, we are always in a rush; a rush to get to places, a rush to get things down and a rush to solve a question. This is reflected in the classroom, by students rushing through their work and tests. Once they finish a question, the majority of students do not go back to check it, and by this, they are losing an opportunity of learning. Checking and reflecting on your work allows you to understand where you can improve and discover new ways at looking at sol...

       When you think of making your classroom safe, what comes to mind? The majority of teacher thinks about the physical environment and ensuring that their students cannot get physically harm. Classroom safety is a systemic issue that must be examined from every angle, but so is emotional safety. It is important to monitor your students’ emotional state, especially in a subject that the majority of the students find difficult.           For most mathematical teachers, our goals are to grow the mindset and promote mathematical thinking. We have to step away from the old ways and incorporate new ways of learning that students today will understand and enjoy. I remember when I was younger, we were taught one way how to do everything; multiplication and division. As years went on, teachers have noticed that teaching one way doesn’t benefit everyone. With our knowledge and passion for math, we need to discover numerous ways to teach lesson...

            Chapter 1, Everyone can Start, I connected to numerous things, especially being stuck. A quote that stood out to me is, “Write down Stuck! Recognizing that you are stuck is the first step towards getting out of it,” on page 10. The TED talk with Jo Boaler, states the importance of being stuck and how your brain grows when you make a mistake in math as you produce new synapses. Students have a hard time confessing when they are stuck or wrong, as society portrays failing as a negative thing. In reality, being unsuccessful develops our learning by being in a state where we retain more information and knowledge. In one of my classes, we discussed how the brain is shaped by cognitive processing activities, and being unsuccessful at processing information develops new synapses. When we view failing negatively, some individuals have a hard time reaching out and asking for help, especially students. When working with students, their emotional stat...