As I near graduation, I think a lot about my future classroom and students. What do I want the climate of my classroom to be? How do I wish my future students will feel about the discipline I teach? What do I hope for my students? These are questions that I would love to answer for myself as well as my future students. I want to welcome them into a world of Mathematics and Family Consumer Sciences: A world that is filled with intrigue, design, creativity, expanding horizons, and many other domains. Now, some of my future students may think some things along the following lines:
Math is boring!
Family Consumer Science is for girls!
Why do I need to learn this?
When will this ever help me in my future?
What is the importance of this material?
In response, I would love to compare Math to reading, or being outdoors, or even learning a language. Now, how neat would it be to learn a different language? Seriously! I've always wanted to learn one, and I have! Mathematics. I have learned yet another form of communication that is used by everyone around the world! In regards to either reading or going on nature hikes, the end doesn't come all at once. Fiction novels open up a whole new world to the reader. However, you can't experience the grand ending until you've unraveled pages and pages of captivating events that lead up to the grand finale. Being outdoors . . . well, what can I say? Nature, for sure, has it's own way of communication. There's always more we can experience through nature. The same is with Math. It's so glorious and beautiful as you put forth the effort and take the time to unravel it's mysteries. As you do so, you will come to more so understand the important role that Math plays in everyday life. We use is as we budget money, bake, train for sports events, play musical instruments, and so on. Without the knowledge and application of Mathematics, we wouldn't have all the wonderful historical structures around the world. Vacationing would be boring! What do you think about that? For those of you who like Science, Math is utilized all the time to balance solutions, etc. Math is everywhere, and, of course, there are a lot of good laughs that come from Mathematics:
Now, Family Consumer Sciences, what does that entail? Many things such as: food and nutrition (who doesn't love food?), human development, finances, life management, etc. To me, it's pretty obvious to see that all of these are pretty important factors that guide and govern our lives. We need money to provide for ourselves, food is essential for health and living, etc. I could go on and on about the importance of this discipline. So what makes it so fun?! How many of you enjoy going on your first date, getting your first kiss, earning money, building long-lasting relationships, getting a new outfit, running a marathon, winning a sports game? I know I enjoy many of these things! How we grow and develop has multiple impacts on all of these things. As we learn how to keep ourselves physically healthy, build good relationships, work hard for what we earn, etc., we will be able to live a very productive life. And not only that, we will be able to enjoy all the little things we love to do everyday. You will also be prepared for this future day in your life:
If any of you may be struggling in these areas, here are some very helpful resources:
So, to all my future students out there: Take full advantage of all the opportunities you have to learn and apply the wonderful elements of these disciplines in your life. They are concepts that will carry on throughout your future, and will help you progress to your highest potential.
Kayla, I love how you described mathematics is such a different way. You made it seem much more appealing, even to me, a math major. I especially like that you focused on math being a different language and form of communication, because it really is! Did you know, that in some universities, math is part of the language department, not science?! (At least, this is what I was informed by a professor one time. I can believe it) I hope you are successful in getting your students to enjoy math and be more involved in it in their lives.
I, too, like how you frame learning in terms of design and creativity. In class, we talked about "oxygenating" a room. In other words, establishing a climate. I think the same principle applies in math: two math teachers can give the same math problem, but one math teacher presents it under a climate of design and creativity, while another math teacher presents it under a climate of "use the previously taught algorithm to get the right answer." In the first case, the problem will inspire more enjoyment, whereas in the second case it will not.
I also liked how you had so many fun analogies. I hope that your math classroom is as fun as your post makes it seem! That was a really funny video. I would have loved to hear your thoughts on why FACS class isn't just for girls!
Kayla, I love how you described mathematics is such a different way. You made it seem much more appealing, even to me, a math major. I especially like that you focused on math being a different language and form of communication, because it really is! Did you know, that in some universities, math is part of the language department, not science?! (At least, this is what I was informed by a professor one time. I can believe it) I hope you are successful in getting your students to enjoy math and be more involved in it in their lives.
ReplyDeleteI, too, like how you frame learning in terms of design and creativity. In class, we talked about "oxygenating" a room. In other words, establishing a climate. I think the same principle applies in math: two math teachers can give the same math problem, but one math teacher presents it under a climate of design and creativity, while another math teacher presents it under a climate of "use the previously taught algorithm to get the right answer." In the first case, the problem will inspire more enjoyment, whereas in the second case it will not.
ReplyDeleteThanks for a great posting!
I also liked how you had so many fun analogies. I hope that your math classroom is as fun as your post makes it seem! That was a really funny video. I would have loved to hear your thoughts on why FACS class isn't just for girls!
ReplyDelete