Blog Post #6: Welcome Back!!

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 Hey everyone!!

Now that the Winter break is over, we can get back into the groove of MATH, MATH, MATH!

So at the end of last semester, we created Digital Word Math Problems, and I created mine based on cost per product and figuring out which product would be a better deal if you were feeding a big group of people. I thought that this activity was super fun! At first, I thought it was going to be difficult to come up with a math problem, but once I read over the curriculum expectations in the grade 9 math curriculum, I found myself coming up with so many different problems, that I had to choose one that I thought would work best!

I truly believe that authentic assignments are extremely important in creating opportunities for your students to make connections between their education and their personal life. These types of tasks allow our students to think about the concepts used, and how they could apply them to other scenarios in their lives, which helps them develop a relational understanding of the material.

In high school, one project that I remember was when we had to figure out which materials we would use to create a cooler, but we had to consider the volume and the cost for materials in doing so. I thought that this was a cool idea, because, in high school, students are starting to socialize and go to gathering with their friends, so they may be using a cooler when they go out. Turning math into a real-life problem is great to make your students think about how they can apply their knowledge in their everyday lives. Math can be stressful and dreadful to some students because they don't see the use of many concepts. If we use problems that our students can relate to, they will enjoy the material better, as well as they may develop a deeper understanding.

Here is an article that explains the importance of authentic assignments and creating connections between math and the real-world!

Here is a link to some resources that can help you come up with some authentic problems and tasks!

I think another way that we can help our students find purpose in their math class is through reflection and journaling. A lot of the time when we hear the word "journaling", we think of English class or other literature classes. Yet, journaling can be used in every class and helps students develop their metacognition skills. Giving students time to process and explain their thoughts can help them develop a more relational understanding of the concepts. Giving prompts can help our students spark ideas about the lesson, and they can explain their learning so that we as teachers can have a better understanding of how our students are thinking. This type of activity can work as an "assessment as learning", as students can reflect and review their progress, and teachers can adapt their lessons based on their students' progress.

I hope you found some resources that may be useful in your classroom! Before you leave, take a look at this article that explains how math journaling can be beneficial in the classroom and different ways to include it in your practice! 

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See you next time! 😊

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