The section on Name the Steps (#13) talks about the idea that those that are naturally talented athletes or actors rarely make the best coaches or teachers because they don't have to pay attention to the details of what they do. Unfortunately (fortunately?) I often am this way when it comes to math. Often, with time, I can find ways to articulate the hows and whys of the math we are doing in class in a step by step manner, but recently I have found my self completely confounded. Many of my senior Math and CTE (Career Technical Education) students cannot figure out when, during an application problem, it is time to add, when it is time to subtract, or to multiply or divide. For example:
Two fence posts are 94 1/4 " apart. Fence boards are 3.5" wide. How many boards can you fit between the two posts?
The area of a wall is 30 sqft. The area of a window is 6 sqft. How much paintable area is there on the wall?
I try to explain best I can, but I always feel that I am not speaking their language. These kids are about to graduate from high school. Its kind of our last chance here. How do you teach this skill in your class? Please help!
We've switched our elementary math program to a more manipulative support program because it gives kids the visual and hands-on approach to practice the skill they are mastering. There are some that never exit that stage of needing the manipulatives to problem solve. Perhaps providing manipulatives to actually visualize the process would help. We also teach them to identify key math words to help problem-solve in a story problem. Sometimes this provides a more real-world connection for them too. I think it's important to identify when kids need these supports but at the same time, remember that not all do. I was a child that never needed the manipulatives to understand the math. It just came to me and it was frustrating to have to use them when I didn't need them. Hope this helps.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Tonya, many of our kids need to physically hold the problem or see it. So it might seem ridiculous and very time consuming, but if you cut out paper strips at 3 inches long and then have kids measure a length of 94 and 1/4 inches. Then you can have them lay the pieces down in between the two spots. After seeing this they might begin to understand that if they would have divided it, it would be much simpler and more practical. I was the type of kid who could do any math problem until you put it in a story and I had to figure out what to do (reading wasn't my strong suit). Drawing the image or physically doing the problem helped me understand and made future problems make sense.
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