1 post, 2 questions and 3 things I've learned

1 post: This post is to summarize my learning for the module we have with Dr Yeap. Amazing Math journey that squeezes my brain juice every night. Honestly, I had headaches every night and the minute I lay my head on the pillow, I dozed off to my lala land. It really dragged me to critical thinking and sometimes it caught me off guard. There are so many misconception about this subject which I wish I am able to change back then. I am always a struggle learner in Mathematics. Learning the theories and secrets to solving problems leave me in angst because we were told otherwise by our former teachers. I really hate Math but after realizing the mistakes our former teacher had made, I guess we better make changes like NOW!

2 questions:

• How do we convince our employers/principals/staff/colleagues on these misconceptions and encourage them to change in order to provide children with holistic education?
• The 3 levels to assess children's level of understanding; ermerging, established and extending. Can these terms be use only in the subject Math? Or can we use it for other learning areas like Language and Literacy or Motor Development?

3 things that I've learned:

• I have learned about the misconception of Mathematics and it has gradually lift up my hatred for the subject. There are so many errors and changes educators need to take note and improvise. We do not want to teach children the wrong things because eventually they are going to grow up with all these experiences either loving or loathing them. We do not want our future generations to have the same misconception as us and we want them to grow up enjoying their learning moments.

• The 4 questions that teachers need to take note when planning a lesson. Mathematics is a vehicle, not a destination (Dr Yeap, 2012). Therefore, Math lesson should be planned purposefully as it will give them the opportunities to present their big ideas. As teachers, it is a good chance to assess children by planning and creating room to either enhance or extend the child's learning. It is so important for us to ensure they learn what they need to learn and not miss out any. The 4 questions I aforementioned:

                      - What is it that I want the child to learn?
                      - How do I know they've learned it?
                      - What if I have a struggle learner?
                      - What is I have an advance learner?

• Lastly, it's about differentiated instructions. I understood that teachers provide children with differentiated instructions based on their level of understanding and abilities. Differentiated instructions need not only focus on mathematical objectives but it can narrowed to various developmental areas. One of the videos Dr Yeap showed us with the primary school kids have gave me great insights about differentiated instructions. I can clearly observed and make remarks on his actions and words as we discussed it as a class. He was sure about the instructions each child needs and the implemented it accordingly without having to struggle with classroom managements or materials. He sure knows what he was doing. He's one person that has inspired me to slowly embraced Mathematics with an open mind.