Unit 1 – First Impressions

[Amy Jevne]

I’m excited to hit the ground running on my first teaching position with these principles in mind. When hearing it all spelled out this way it just makes so much sense. I am not sure if I was ever taught linear relations in such a simple, yet incredibly effective, way. I can already tell that this course will help me teach math in a much better way than it was taught to me. I see no reason to not align our teaching methods with the most current learning psychology research. This was such an elegant way to teach this concept.

[Ashley Hoisington]

I feel really excited to use these principles and strategies to teach math going into my first year teaching. I never considered myself to be a “math person,” but I feel that my own personal feelings about math would have been drastically different if the teaching approach was done like this.
When the videos spoke about linear equations and graphing I instantly felt my anxiety rise with panic about math, but after going through the process I feel much more confident and I understand it in a way I didn’t before! I can’t wait to shift my math teaching to align with these principles so my students can feel this same relief and boost in confidence!

• This reply was modified 3 years, 1 month ago by Ashley Hoisington.

[Maria Bustos]

First Impressions

In what ways do the five Math Minds principles resonate with your current views about teaching and learning mathematics?
I agree, learning math is a process that required time and well structured lessons. In order to recognize patterns and be able to communicate what is going on, learners need time to interpret the information from each activity.

In ways do they challenge your current views? In what ways do they prompt you to think about things you may not have considered before?
Time is always a constraint. At school there is the requirement to cover content and teachers usually rush to cover the curriculum without ensuring that students actually learn. Providing students with lessons that consider the limits of their working memories, enough time to interpret and practice would allow students to grasp the important details of the concepts. This is a lesson learned from this framework.

[Lauren Hope]

The principles confirm my current views about teaching and learning math. This is how I have naturally tackled mathematical learning throughout university, and how I have broken things down for my own students.

In recent years I have felt that this method of “guided discovery” has been shunned by the education world in favour of “inquiry learning”, which I have found to be both cumbersome and difficult for many students.

As for a time constraint, my experience is that if we don’t carefully scaffold our lessons so that all learners can engage, we will “waste” time reteaching.

[Tanya O’Brien]

In what ways do the five Math Minds principles resonate with your current views about teaching and learning mathematics?
I can see the concept of juxtaposing to be incredibly powerful in math education. As teachers, we need to be pointing out the differences that small changes create in the numbers. I’m excited to bring this into my classroom on Monday.
In ways do they challenge your current views?
I teach Special Ed, and thus far my students have benefitted from my incredibly explicit teaching where I show them the relationships. I’m looking forward to changing the focus and requiring students to find these connections with my teaching.

[Anna Kmiec]

In what ways do the five Math Minds principles resonate with your current views about teaching and learning mathematics?
The five Math Minds principles resonate deeply with my current views about teaching and learning mathematics. If we view the brain as an ecosystem, then learning all kinds of things is possible for all students. By creating lessons that consider limits of human working memory, and guide students to notice certain elements and describe relationships, students will be empowered to think mathematically.

In ways do they challenge your current views? In what ways do they prompt you to think about things you may not have considered before?
Teaching mathematics this way is something I have been interested in for some time. One challenge is how to find resources to support this kind of teaching, and what to do if parents or administrators do not agree or question the process.

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