Lesson 1 Interesting and Inspirational

I have never enjoyed Mathematics as I did yesterday. Numbers always scare and confuse me. Yesterday’s lesson got me all excited! For once I saw numbers as something I could understand and relate to.

I was indeed intrigued by the first problem – which letter is the number 99? What was more interesting was the various methods that were used solve this problem. I saw patterns everywhere in this name game. Children are naturally drawn to patterns. I thought to myself, hey this is not so bad! I can do this!

I was inspired by the use of cards to teach children number words. Wait till I show this trick in class! I bet you they are going to be all in awe. They must be sure to think what an awesome teacher they have! Huh, little do they know that there is a trick to all this.

A few things struck me. One was to always use a noun behind every cardinal number. I never really gave it much thought until yesterday when I saw the reason behind it and why children so often misinterpret these concepts. Something else that struck me was the Concrete to Pictorial to Abstract (CPA) approach. I now have a clearer understanding of why the use of concrete materials is necessary when introducing various mathematics concepts to younger children. Yet another thing was the use of the word ‘mass’ more than ‘weight.’ It never donned on me that I had been using the wrong word all this while. I must remember to ask children questions such as ‘How much does this weight?’ or “How heavy is this bottle?’ when I teach the children the topic on measurement.

I must keep in mind to choose activities that promote the thinking and learning of mathematics in my classroom. I must develop an environment where children can ask questions, explore and investigate.