Week 9 Math Reflection

©Breakey, D. 2015. Non Standard Units: Area. 

This week in class it was my turn to present! The unit of the week was measurement and 3 of my classmates were also in line to present. I felt prepared when I went to class. Our text book Making Math Meaningful for Canadian Students really came in handy when getting my presentation ready. I chose the specific unit of area and focused on the expectations for grade 4 students based on the Ontario Curriculum. In grade 4, students are introduced to using standard units and the area formula in order to solve problems. 

The class textbook helped me to break down the fundamentals of teaching area. I wanted to make sure I focused very heavily on how my peers could apply my lesson in their classroom. The three important steps when introducing a new topic in measurement is define and compare, use non-standard units and then introduce standard units and the formula. I wanted to emphasize that it was important to work through the unit step by step and ensure that students are making the right connections at each level. Listening for key words or watching for certain connections can let you know that your students are progressing through the unit. 

Something I incorporated into my presentation was talking about common mistakes amongst students. I got the idea from prior presentations because I really found that information valuable as a developing teacher. One common mistake students make when measuring area is thinking the shape is changing size when their unit of measurement increases or decreases. It is very important they understand that as the size of their unit increases the size of their answer will decrease. 

The activity I chose to do was a simple but impactful task which built on all the steps I had introduced in my presentation and my peers put what they learned to the test. I was able to ask some prompt questions which got them thinking about the common mistakes students might make. Overall, I felt my presentation went well and what was even better was that the other presenters this week all had common themes flow between presentations. Each presenter built on the information of the one before and so I think we were able to cover all the topics we needed to. 

On the topic of area, there is a great online game on Math Playground where students can practice their perimeter and area skills. Students need other outlets to put their skills to practice and online games is something most students could do at home. There was a lot of nerves leading up to my presentation but I'm happy to have it done and done well! 

Update: I ended up getting a good grade which tells me I'm on the right track! Feels good to be learning and developing my teaching skills.