Friday 28 February 2020

What Happened to Math Class? Understanding the Shifts in Mathematical Teaching and How to Support Your Child's Learning

Mike Flynn, the director of Mathematics Leadership programs at Mount Holyoke College,  has shared an informative video about the changes in Math class over the years. The video is from an information session he facilitated for educators and parents to help all understand the shift in mathematics education. Check it out here.

Friday 15 February 2019

Why is it important to teach students a wide variety of computational strategies?

Children must be helped to learn mathematics in a better way than we were, so that mathematical limits do not shut them out of certain life choices and career options.1
-Marilyn Burns

Research has shown that teaching the standard U.S. algorithms fails with a large number of children, and that alternative algorithms are often easier for children to understand and learn.2

The rules we teach interfere with student's intuition.
-Graham Fletcher

If the standard algorithm (traditional stacking) is the only method we teach students, we are doing them a great disservice. Not only do they often not understand why they're doing what they're doing and make errors due to their lack of conceptual understanding -  they miss out on opportunities to explore numbers in ways that are creative and beautiful.






References:
1. “Strategies for Addition and Subtraction.” Utah Elementary Mathematics, 27 Mar. 2014, utahelementarymath.wordpress.com/2014/03/27/strategies-for-addition-and-subtraction/.
2. “Alternative Algorithms.” Everyday Mathematics, everydaymath.uchicago.edu/parents/understanding-em/alternative-algorithms/.
Dieker, Lisa. “Inthenavy 281.” YouTube, YouTube, 16 Aug. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HvGven4qJ0.
II, Sir Howard. “Proving 25 Divided by 5=14.” YouTube, YouTube, 9 Feb. 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=Kc08uS4wZhg.