Math
I've been negligent to this blog as of late. Who'd have thought my last semester at college would be so, so busy.
I am taking a math methods course this semester, (my last methods course). And it is scaring me beyond reason. I have come to the realization that I somehow made it through 13 years of school math having learned absolutely nothing. I don't know how that is so, but it is the only explanation I have for how little I seem to understand about basic mathematics concepts. When I add single digit numbers, I count up. Apparently, that's not how you're supposed to do it. You're supposed to use "doubles" and "near doubles" and "make ten" and who knows what else. And when we bring subtraction into the mix, there are literally some methods discussed in my textbook that I don't understand.
We haven't gotten to multiplication and division yet, but when we do, I'm sure to be floored by all the new things they tell me about it.
I feel like I should go through some math course. I haven't actually taken a non-statistics math class since my junior year of high school. I just don't remember anything about it and how it all works. Of course, the most recent math classes I have taken will be nothing like what I will teach, since I will be teaching elementary, not secondary.
But I am currently lacking confidence in my ability to teach math. And that can't lead to teaching success. I need to be more confident in my ability to teach math. I'm confident (but not overly so) in my ability to teach other subjects, but math is currently making me very, very nervous.
I am taking a math methods course this semester, (my last methods course). And it is scaring me beyond reason. I have come to the realization that I somehow made it through 13 years of school math having learned absolutely nothing. I don't know how that is so, but it is the only explanation I have for how little I seem to understand about basic mathematics concepts. When I add single digit numbers, I count up. Apparently, that's not how you're supposed to do it. You're supposed to use "doubles" and "near doubles" and "make ten" and who knows what else. And when we bring subtraction into the mix, there are literally some methods discussed in my textbook that I don't understand.
We haven't gotten to multiplication and division yet, but when we do, I'm sure to be floored by all the new things they tell me about it.
I feel like I should go through some math course. I haven't actually taken a non-statistics math class since my junior year of high school. I just don't remember anything about it and how it all works. Of course, the most recent math classes I have taken will be nothing like what I will teach, since I will be teaching elementary, not secondary.
But I am currently lacking confidence in my ability to teach math. And that can't lead to teaching success. I need to be more confident in my ability to teach math. I'm confident (but not overly so) in my ability to teach other subjects, but math is currently making me very, very nervous.
posted by Not Quite Grown Up... at 10:44 PM
1 Comments:
I hated my math methods classes, and here I am, teaching math.
I never use any of the things I learned in the program because we are being asked to teach to the text with fidelity, nevermind that there are dozens of other ways students may learn about a concept.
I make tens when I add, by the way, and so far I've only ever encountered ONE student who does it the same way. Everybody else just literally adds by columns and gets confused by "shortcuts."
*Shrug*
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