Why Math Education is Changing…

Why Math Education is Changing… …and how we as parents can help our children improve!

Math ≠ Magic Too often, we as adults are amazed by how numbers can be manipulated. Even when the answer is explained, we might see how each individual step is done, but we are at a loss how anyone saw the path from start to finish.

How did we learn math?

How much did we retain? post secondary K-12 The rest of our life…

How did we like math?

Have students changed?

A Shifting Focus To From Teacher – caring coach Teacher – absolute authority Application and problem based Knowledge/skill based Lecture centred Inquiry centred Two sources Multiple sources Exam heavy Variety of assessments Student responsibly Multiple stakeholders Audio-visual-spatial-kinesthetic Audio-visual

Example 1: Ratios 1:3 = 2:__ Old way…

Example 1: Ratios How many ears do you have? How many fingers do you have? How do they compare? Is that the same for everyone at the table? What is the ratio of ears to fingers for the whole table? the whole room? How does that compare to your personal ratio? New way…

Example 2:Buying a Ball Cap How much does a ball cap cost? Approximately $30 How can you pay for it? Allowance, job, gift money… Why does it cost that amount? Brainstorm: materials, labor, equipment, design, logo rights, profit to manufacturer, store upkeep… cost of each per cap?

Parent Support for Math Teachers all over the world are letting go of their tight fisted grasp over the “absolute authority” in education… and you will have to as well. Its hard, trust me! • Key strategies: • Positive responses • Asking questions • Games and Challenges

Strategy 1:Positive responses This is hard. I don’t know how to do it. Response: Let’s find out together! That isn’t how my teacher did it. Response: Cool – lets see if it works, then we can try to find out how the teacher did it.

Strategy 1:Positive responses Challenge This is stupid. I’ll never need this. Response: Sure you will… {come up with application} –OR- Maybe not, but…

Strategy 2:Why and When? When they are doing their homework, ask “Why?” and “How?” and “When?” ….even if they understand. Why did you pick that? Why does that work? How did you know to try that? How else could you get to the answer? When could you use this in real life? When does this work? When does it not work?

Strategy 3:Games and Challenges Who is closer? Parent and child each pick a number (ex. 18 and 24) Each gets to guess what the result would be if they are multiplied together (ex. 18x24) The child gets to check on a calculator and determine who is closer SKILLS: Estimation, mental math, number comparison

Strategy 3:Games and Challenges Get me from A to B Parent picks a point somewhere in the room The child gives precise directions for the parent to get to that point Ex. Take 4 steps forward, turn 90 degrees to the right, take 3 steps. As the child gets better, have them give 2 or 3 directions at a time SKILLS: Relational thinking, estimation, communication

Strategy 3:Games and Challenges Running total shopping game As you are doing your grocery shopping, the child keeps a running total of the cost In the beginning, you may round the costs to the nearest dollar. As they get better, have them decide whether/how to round If the child is within a certain range of the actual value, they get a treat SKILLS: Mental math, estimation, rounding

Strategy 3:Games and Challenges Which is better value? As you are doing your grocery shopping, whenever a choice between products and sizes comes up, ask your child to help with the decision Key factors to get them to consider is cost, amountand quality. For the amount, they should consider value as well as risk of spoiling! SKILLS: Mental math, estimation, rounding

Strategy 3:Games and Challenges How far and how long? When walking or driving, have your child estimate the time it will take to get to your destination based on the distance When driving, pick a far off object and have the child estimate the distance (check using odometer) and the time it will take to get there. SKILLS: Spatial and temporal awareness, estimation

Strategy 3:Games and Challenges Extend the pattern Create a pattern (shapes, colours, sounds, movements) Have your child extend the pattern, and then describe how the pattern works SKILLS: Pattern recognition, extension, communication

Strategy 3:Games and Challenges Coin challenge Have a number of different coins in a pouch Knowing the value and number of coins, the child brainstorms the possible combinations of coins The parent can give hints to help narrow the selection (ex. There are twice as many dimes as quarters) SKILLS: Money math, relations, problem solving

Strategy 3:Games and Challenges Powers of Observation The child is told to concentrate on observing everything that happens in a location (restaurant, grocery line, etc.) for a given amount of time, and then closes their eyes The parent asks questions about location and description of items in the room, what people were saying, when events happened SKILLS: Spatial and temporal awareness, memory, patterns

Strategy 3:Games and Challenges Broken calculator The student is given an arithmetic problem to solve with a calculator, with the stipulation that a button is “broken” (can’t be used). Difficulty can be tailored to student ability easily. Ex. 18 x 23 but the number 8 is broken. (student could do 20 – 2, get 18, then multiply by 23) SKILLS: Order of operations, calculation, problem solving

Selected Resources http://www.mathplayground.com http://www.math-play.com/ http://www.smarttutor.com/free-resources/ https://www.khanacademy.org/ http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/parentGuideNum2012.pdf http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/math/ http://cemc2.math.uwaterloo.ca/mathfrog/ http://www.arcademicskillbuilders.com/ http://www.mathstories.com/strategies.htm

Why Math Education is Changing…