Rosemary' s Math Autobiography

Math Autobiography Education 6630

Wow!! I have to go back quite a few years as I think about my early Math Education. What I do remember is that Math class was being a very rigid and very structured experience. All students, regardless of ability were on the same page, at the same time (one size fits all approach). Concepts were taught in the abstract without the use of any manipulatives.

It was also a school system where one didn’t ask questions but just listened quietly and tried one’s best to be successful. I had older brothers and sisters who helped me with my homework. My parents also sat with us children to do homework. I was very lucky in that any concepts I didn’t understand in school were taught to me at home. In primary and elementary school the very basics were taught and drilled. For some reason, I remember Geometry as first studied in Grade 7.

I would think one of the worst memories was being afraid in school to ask for help.
One of my best memories was having the ability to grasp all math facts quite easily.

There was never any group work and very limited individual assistance. While I never really struggled with Math, Language Arts was my strongest point.

The role of the teacher was to instruct – which they did indeed. Math was an everyday subject and an every night homework assignment. There was a huge amount of drill and practice and I really believe it never hurt me. As I got older, the reasoning came. All homework completed the night before was corrected the next day in school. There was no such thing as a calculator so it was all brain power!

Assessment in Math was 100% testing. I don’t remember ever having marks based on projects and the work completed over the year. At the end of each term there were tests and then at the end of the year there was one test based on the whole year’s work. High school back then was Grade 9, 10 and 11. In high school, I did CHE exams (Government exams) based on the whole year and these also were worth 100%. Every High school student in the province was writing the same test per grade level, at the same time, for one week after school closed in June. You either passed or failed the year, based on that one exam.

What I remember about the Math in High school was much like elementary school. Geometry was the worst concept for me and I really can’t remember why. Today, I really enjoy teaching Geometry. I’m not crazy about Transformational Geometry but I do tolerate it!! I cannot remember anything about high school Algebra. I know I really disliked it and that is probably why I can’t remember!!!!

I took one education Math course years ago at MUN. I have never taken any Math electives. In my teaching career, I have had a number of PD Days based on the Math programs that I have taught. I have a ½ PD session on this new program coming up on September 30.

In my early teaching years, I taught math much the same way as it was taught to me, BUT I always made sure I helped my students individually and made sure that if they didn’t understand what I was doing, they had to ask for help (that memory of always being afraid to ask for help still haunts me).

Right now I feel that we try to teach too many concepts in the Math Program in a short period of time. With my small class size, I do have time to individualize instruction. I have resources and many manipulatives available to accommodate the different ability levels in my classroom. The new Program does challenge children to reason logically about concepts that they are being taught. 10 minutes of Mental Math activity is part of my daily routine in school. Assessment is continuous throughout the program.

One of the drawbacks that I see with the program is for those students who have problems with written output in Language Arts. While I have had students who were good at computational Math and could verbalize their reasoning and solutions, being able to express their thinking in writing poses a problem. For me, as the classroom teacher, I can accommodate my students but when it comes to CRTs, many times, these accommodations cannot be made.

I do think parents today are confused with the new Math. Many admit they cannot help their children with any Math homework. One of my homework projects for this week is for students to scan the newspaper for the largest numbers they can find. If only homework had been so creative when I was in school! It should be interesting to hear parental comments about this homework activity.

I enjoy the new program and am, many times amazed at the ways children can arrive at solutions to problems. As educators, enabling our students to become critical thinkers is a major part of all curriculum areas in child development. When I began teaching the new Math program a few years ago, I did much critical self-reflection as I tried to better understand the experiences that informed my practice as a math teacher. I enjoy teaching the new program better as children can verbalize and show their logical reasoning much more. With this program, children are not afraid to take chances.