Aly Monson Math Methods

I love the increase in technology available for teaching mathematics for all grade levels over the past decade. I found it very interesting to learn about all the different math apps and websites my classmates found for teaching a variety of mathematical concepts and grade levels. I have also experienced my CT showing students math videos and songs on Youtube throughout the past year that the students loved. We didn’t talk much about this in ETE 339 but I also think the use of online calculators and especially graphing calculators is huge because graphing calculators are so expensive and some of these online programs are free and can help students tremendously. One strength of many of these technologies is that they enhance student engagement and make students want to do math and participate in math games or videos and songs. One weakness is that teachers need to spend extra time to make sure these technologies are appropriate for the students. Even if the math app or website is approp...

I enjoyed creating my learning centers! I liked the format we used because it was easy to organize all my thoughts and made sure I thought out everything that I would need to do. I made my learning centers around games to make it fun for the students while they are also practicing addition skills. My learning centers are designed for students to practice addition after they have previously had more explicit instruction. This will also help the students master their math facts and be able to solve addition problems quickly. I liked that I got to be creative while doing this project and that it is something I can use in my classroom in the future. I also designed these learning centers to be able to be changed for different grade levels so students could practice subtraction or multiplication instead of addition without much extra work for the teacher. I liked that two of my learning centers were about adding numbers between 1 and 10 and my third learning center was about adding money so...

  From working on my own assessment topic, I learned how many different math video games there are. I was shocked at how many I found with just a simple google search. I was also surprised that some of the video games I played as a child were actually educational. I found an educational journal about how Club Penguin is very educational for children when learning about money and budgeting, which I never would have thought of. I also learned that there are many of these math video games that can report scores directly to the teacher to use for assessment. After learning about other forms of assessment from my peer’s presentations, I really saw how outdated paper and pencil math tests are for elementary school. There are so many different ways to assess students on every standard and skill that works for all different learning styles. I really liked the interview idea where students can show teachers their knowledge and teachers can assess right on the spot. This also allows teachers...

  https://www.nctm.org/Classroom-Resources/Illuminations/Interactives/Coin-Box/   The second app I decided to review is also from the Illuminations (NCTM) website and is called Coin Box. This game is designed for PreK through 5th grade and the objective is to learn how to count, collect, exchange, and make change for coins and works best on tablets and laptops. The easiest level of the game shows a small collection of coins and asks you to determine the total value. One unique feature of this app is that you can drag coins into a box on the side and then choose which larger value coin is equal to it. For example, I put two nickels into the box on the side and chose to exchange them for one dime. This is a great strategy to help students count if it is easier for them to count by 10s or 25s than 1s, 5s, 10s, and 25s. The second level of this game asks you to collect a certain amount of coins. It asked me to collect 73 cents so I added two quarters, two dimes, and three pennies ...

    I read the article “Word Sorts to Encourage Mathematics Discussions” written by Miranda L Sigmon, Kavin Ming, and Daniel Herring. This article brings to light the importance of speaking and listening in mathematics because these skills are often focused more on in ELA curriculum but are also important in mathematics. Disciplinary literacy is the idea that each content area should be teaching literacy skills specific to that area of study. This ties into academic vocabulary which is also incredibly important, but often overlooked, in math education. Using word sorts is one way to teach vocabulary and work it into mathematics education. The first step in developing a word sort activity is to identify keywords that are important for students to learn and understand. Next, the teacher will present the students with a few categories that the words fall into. The teacher will then write the vocabulary words on cards and assign students to work individually or in small group...

     This assignment was very eye-opening to me because it was the first time I ever had to compare similar standards for different grade levels. I realized very quickly how repetitive these standards are and how nicely they scaffold into each other. I was able to see the curriculum flowing from level to level through the measurement and data standards. Students begin measuring in basic units and comparing using bigger and small or shorter and longer then they progress through elementary school and eventually use English and Metric units of measurement to measure things and compare more specifically using the exact lengths.      The younger grades have a lot of overlap in measurement because they measure in basic units for a few years before they even learn to use measuring devices and are able to compare measurements more specifically. One standard that I don’t think is redundant is the standard for students telling time. In 1st grade, they learn to ...