Teaching Math Using Technology

January 29, 2016 Sudha Mahesh 

Often people ask me, “How did you end up teaching English, despite being a graduate in Mathematics?” Well to share the truth, it was the choice made by me. Post my graduation,I equipped myself with the skills required to become a capable and efficient English teacher through training and workshops.

The fact is, though I like to teach any of the core subjects of primary school, I realized that many students in primary classes were struggling to learn, apply and solve math. You might think being passionate about teaching, I could have been a math teacher to help them directly!

But, I figured out through my experiences and classroom transaction, that students often lack comprehension skill. They are unable to read a word problem or a printed question at good pace so that they first enjoy reading and understanding it, then connecting the concept and applying it appropriately. They are unable read between lines in any given math problem.

I personally feel the need to gain mastery in English, in such a way that, they process it  and are able to communicate their understanding by speaking math with ease. Then, it becomes an enjoyable experience for students to involve in learning with more purpose.

Maintaining a democratic atmosphere in class and planning a question list before hand for a math class are two vital things to ensure that students will be engaged in the session.

As Math is abstract science involving numbers, shapes, quantities and their relationships, it becomes essential for a student to be given enough time for absorbing the logic and connecting every topic to the real world  for application.

I remember a good humoured person who was a math teacher, his presence and way of communication created an air of confidence and motivated every learner to consider mistakes done while solving, in a positive stride.

Can’t this be done( in a lighter note) …just to make them accountable for their learning.A teacher says,”Do 3/4 th of your homework today.”

As teachers are role models to children, besides parents, teachers can create a high impact on some of their values like perseverance, growth mindset, courage to face, ability to accept consequences and finally, arrive at a practical strategy to solve them as well.

In a math class there is scope for all of these values to be instilled in students. To my knowledge, if a teacher can successfully communicate to students in the first few sessions,  that she/he is a teacher who gives importance to the process and not the result,there are higher chances of maximizing the students’ potential.In Math the journey of learning should be emphasized.This will create a sense of achievement and enhance self esteem.

Digressing to the crux of this article, today’s world has started looking at math in a different way altogether.

Researchers feel that there is wide gap between classroom math and real life math. I would like to share this TED talk. Though it directly deals with math and use of computer technology to make it a more meaningful subject, as teachers we can advance our current methods,to minimize our efforts while maximizing students engagement in class.

http://www.ted.com/talks/conrad_wolfram_teaching_kids_real_math_with_computers?language=en

About the speaker:-Conrad Wolfram runs the worldwide arm of Wolfram Research, the mathematical lab behind the cutting-edge knowledge engine Wolfram Alpha.

If you want to make your country’s future citizens who are more practical people and  successful critical thinkers, then feel the urge for it now!

There is a need to modify the curriculum. When I say curriculum do not assume that we are expected to do away with all the math topics.To define a curriculum it is nothing but “All the learning which is planned and guided by the school”.

Courtesy: http://www.ted.com/speakers/conrad_wolfram

Student Engagement-How to achieve it?

As teachers we are aware that any group activity done in class room creates interest in learning and keeps the students engaged throughout.They need teachers as facilitators in that process.Where as, our challenge is to be keep them focused in learning in a normal classroom scenario.

Try these ten strategies that keep students engaged in class

• Be a good speaker. Keep a check on your audibility, posture and visibility to students.

• Do not do a slow paced teaching assuming it’s effective.

There is a lot of evidence that shows that when teaching is at a brisk instructional pace, students have more opportunities to engage, respond, and move on to the next concept (Carnine & Fink, 1978; Williams, 1993; Ernsbarger et al., 2001).

•  Write down what is the goal for today’s lesson (This has worked out brilliantly with my students). They get mentally prepared for the tasks. The student output is maximized.

• After 10 min of teaching give two minute break for students to ask you questions or process it in their mind.

• Give constructive feedback, acknowledge good thoughts or sharing. If need be, note that catalyzing thought on the board for others to hover on it.

• Ask them to quickly note down three things they remember,2 interesting things and one question from the content that was delivered this is called 3-2-1(courtesy: Reading horizons)

• Ensure student movement for some reason. Use pop-corn style for reading out lessons, or answering questions ( From my experiences pop corn style has always keeps students engaged in listening to others carefully)

• Try peer to peer reading activity for 5 to 10 minutes if it’s a lengthy session.

• Give choices in representing what they understood in that day’s session either in writing/verbally summarize or through illustration.

• “Use black board wisely”. Fill it up with important words, new spellings, new concept they have learnt or any thing you feel is the crux of that session. Try to represent the concepts in flowcharts for enhanced grasping. Teachers who do not use the black board are missing out on utilizing one of the most important teaching tools!

                                  Blackboards are communication tool for visual learners!

Now getting to the depth of one strategy that I personally consider is crucial for student engagement in the session…

“Sharing the goal of a session”

A usual instruction in some of the kindergarten classes, “You are going to color the house picture on the worksheet now. Use the crayons provided to you”.

Share as why are we coloring ?

• Where will they use this in future?
• Is the picture going to look colorful?
•  Will it match to the real world around them ?
• Don’t their houses have colors on wall?
• What skill is developed?

Add more value to the time they spend on coloring. Instead of just saying, “Color and complete it”.

• Why are we learning phonic sounds?
• How it is going to be used by them?
• Why are we reading this three lettered words every day?

In Upper primary classes during history lessons, why should you know about the invention of wheel?

Why are we learning grid on Globe?  

Go beyond what the definition says. The text will define the term, as teachers add more flavor to that aspect.

Instead of commencing a session saying, as we have already learnt LCM in previous grade let’s move on to HCF today ? A student might think why did I ever learn that LCM?

How many times a student would have wondered? “If only I knew the usage of number names in life!”

Do share a simple instance –It is going to be used in filling out a bank cheque while drawing money out of the bank. Don’t you think the learning will extend beyond the four walls of classroom?

Always share the purpose of learning things. It could be a nursery rhyme or the measure of angle in a building. Our ancient kings were so good at angle and measurement that they were able to build that beautiful structure, ‘Thanjavur Brihadeeshwara  temple’ or quote the importance of angles and beauty of construction in an Eiffel tower, Paris.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brihadeeswarar_Temple)

When a student knows its application we can expect student engagement, else it is going to a combination of alphabets and numerals as understanding!

Make students’ accountable for what they learn by sharing the objective to them.

Student engagement is 80% possible and successful if and only if a student gets to know at least 20 % of what he is going to learn in a session. There is a reason behind this 80-20 rule.

In 1906, the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto found that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population. When applied more broadly, others noticed that roughly 80% of the effects came from 20% of the causes. It has become a popular principle in management and business. Ask any dean of students, 80% of the discipline problems come from roughly 20% of the student body. The Pareto Principle suggests that a few things produce the majority of results. Find out what is vital, ignore what is trivial, and you can maximize results.

• Student engagement is an authentic process and it cannot be attained unless the student is aware of the goal behind every session.
• Student engagement should be a culture at school and I feel all educators working at the institution should follow the measures uniformly for best results. It shouldn’t be a stand alone practice followed by pockets of teachers here and there, but as a language unanimously spoken by the all the educators of that organisation.

Reading Habit- A Chore To Do?

Over these years as a teacher and as mother of two kids, I have observed that many children who do well in academics (may it be a  writing skills or oral participation) seldom read books!!!

It’s a point to ponder,How and from Where ……..they share those information to the whole class?

It’s true that reading books makes any one achieve more. Then why are some kids reluctant to choose and read it.And mostly, I find that children who are responsible enough and do well in school are the ones who think ‘Reading is Boring’.They just do it as a chore-to-do.

Well there could be many reasons behind it. I would like to share a few here that I learnt from my own personal experience and through few sources.

1.Firstly it could be gender specific. As it is proven that they have different style towards learning,possibly their reading habits are also different.Boys may not prefer doing any task that requires sitting for a longer duration.Boys may not be interested to read  short stories like Red Riding hood except for the part where wolf enters.Girls may find it easy to just pick a book looking at its cover and patiently go through it.Girls may not choose the book at sight if it has ‘screw and bolts’ on the cover page while a boy may like to pick that.Boys may like to read books in a bright garden/out doors as against the library room with four walls around. So next time, try out different options keeping in mind that they are wired differently according to Neurosciences.

2. Reading habit could be a herculean task if the level of the book is too high for them to read and understand .At the same time if its too low it could be a waste of time.

3.Vision play an important role which parents/ teachers some times fail to notice.Getting their eyes checked up may solve the problem once for all.

4.It’s not necessary that if parents or siblings are voracious readers then the child also needs to be a good reader.Yet he/she could be doing very well at school.Many times they pick information from different sources.It could from a discussion between parents,listening to their peers,from a video they watch,magazines/pamphlets and news papers too.It is very important that books and knowledge based material should not be kept confined to one spot at home or inside the class.It needs to be spread over such that it attracts their attention.

According to  The Rights of the Reader by Daniel Pennac. Some of those rights are the right of the reader not to read; the right not to finish; the right to skip; and the right to read anything. 

It is also suggested that if the child has enjoyed a film recently, she/he may be interested in reading a book about it.Forcing someone to read is completely counterproductive (courtesy-the guardian)

15 Reasons Why You Should Have The Habit of Reading Books from Printsasia

Well, this applies to teachers as well.If not a book try to choose some reading material which interests you ! Happy reading.

Do you have any personal experiences that made a child ‘pick a book to read’? then leave it in comments for others to read and benefit.

Questioning ,A Skill To Be Acquired

In my last blog I had discussed about the important skill a student needs to develop which is reading.Here I am going to share my thoughts on one of the effective strategy in teaching that is ‘Questioning’.

The art of questioning and powerful questioning methods dates back to Vedic ages, probably Mughal period and medieval periods too in the East, and to ages of Socrates in western culture. Socrates asked questions to his fellow Athenians in a dialectic method (the Socratic Method) which compelled the audience to think through a problem to a logical conclusion. Wherever used, questioning skills always leads a scholar to win over their opponents and to spread their ideologies and philosophies on a particular concept.

Their questioning patterns brought out the insight and deep knowledge they had. It also showcased the vast knowledge they had gained in their life time through education and experiences.

Questioning -Is it an art?  Does questioning involve a bit of science?

I think it has both in the process. I believe ‘Questioning’ has lead to clarity and wisdom. It has challenged assumptions, exposed contradictions, has paved path for new knowledge and theories.

As teachers,licensed person who gets the authority to spread knowledge and expel darkness from young minds, don’t they need to train themselves to use this powerful tool efficiently?

For instance if I were to ask you at the end of this article,

Did you understand what is questioning skill?(I may get these replies )

Yes I understood,

Some what I understood

 May be its important skill but still not clear.

There could be no response from few of you. You may not want to extend your replies more than the yes/no or just keep mum and wait for others to reply that.

Instead if I were to ask you…

Given that there are many ways to question students in class such as verbal/written/multiple choices or a subjective question, which questioning method would you prefer for your students and why?  

The moment you read the above question…

• You will start processing in your mind and try to answer this by considering the age group of your learners, recalling your experiences in class, connect it with your peers experiences if they had shared it with you and many others factors.
• You will also think of your recent classes where you had tried any of these and you will start justifying which worked better for you.
• Your brain makes connections spontaneously without any external motivation to answer.
• You are self motivated to answer this because you link it to yourself and your experience.

The way I inquire should make you recall/Identify/classify/justify your replies.It should make you speak few more words than a simple chorus yes/no

This was just an example for close ended and open ended questioning.

There has to be methodical approach in questioning too. This technique can be arrived based on Bloom’s taxonomy verbs. Renowned educational psychologist Benjamin Bloom’s had researched in 20th century on the classification of learning objectives and created purposeful verbs that a teacher can use while making her lesson plans. These verbs would guide her to be clear and specific about the objective of a particular session.

The complexity of questions should move from lower order questions to higher order questions.Here is why I consider ‘Questioning skill’ also involves scientific approach.

Of course there needs to be questions like…

What is the name of author? Who wrote this book? What book you read yesterday?

A good teacher should slowly shift this to divergent questions that will make them think and answer. Here we can make use of Bloom’s taxonomy verbs to make the shift from Lower order to Higher order thinking through questions.

It is imperative that a teacher must give importance to lower order questions and then move on to higher order.No where in studies and researches it is mentioned that teacher needs to rule out lower order questions.

Bloom’s Taxonomy provides a structure for developing questions that encourage students to think on different levels.  In order, from lower to higher the levels are:

• Knowledge (facts, recall, recognition)
• Comprehension (translation, interpretation, extrapolation)
• Application (to new or unfamiliar situations)
• Analysis (break into parts)
• Synthesis (combine elements into a new pattern)
• Evaluation (apply criteria to defend the conclusion)

Check out this link for more insights in to Bloom’s https://tlc.iitm.ac.in/PDF/Blooms%20Tax.pdf

It is essential that a teacher enters the classroom with planned questions and possible replies. At the same time, as she plans to ask open ended questions she also needs to have an in-depth knowledge on the topic to be discussed in the class. Many a times I have observed that if a teacher fails to sustain that interest of ‘probing by questioning’ method from a student’s end then the students slowly lose interest in the topic.

Here are few questions that can be asked to invite multiple replies and delve on discussions for enriched experience in a class room

1. Is the boy happy or sad? Instead you can ask…

What kind of expression do you see on the boy’s face?

2. Can you sort these objects in to big and small? Instead you can ask…

In what all ways you think these objects can be sorted?

3. What is the name of our national bird? Instead you can ask…

A bird that can sense rain seeing dark clouds and can dance beautifully is our national bird. Can you guess the name?

 Any indirect clues that will make students imagine, relate to their learning, make connections, in turn even ask you back a question to verify and answer…

Training students to ask value added questions in a class  empowers them and makes them accountable for their own learning.Reward a student and acknowledge them if their question provokes a thought process in class discussion.

 Isn’t questioning skill a must for a teacher?

This is a close ended question. From here I should move on to higher order thinking questions…

Create few questions for your next session and classify them as closed ones and open ended ones.

Frame questions in such a way that brings out the best from a child. Plan your questions! Do expect a surprise and an ‘Aaha’ moment in your class.

(courtesy-wikipedia About bloom’s and classification of bloom’s)

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