Sunday, April 20, 2014

Blog Post 13


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Math seems to have become an area of weakness for many students. Give specifics examples of ways that technology can help to improve or at least make students more interested in mathematics.

This topic is very personal to me because I am an A student but I have always suffered in math. Some time around 6th grade I begin to lose interest in math and as a result my grades begin to slip. Although students are already at more of an advantage because of the shift to student centered leaning, the lack of mathematics skills is still an issue. With the add of technology we as educators can really assist students with improving their math skills and keeping their interest in a subject that can offer them endless employment opportunities.

The first thing I would do is incorporate the SMART board into as many math lessons as possible. When students can apply concepts directly they retain the information longer and become more interested. Instead of giving worksheets or individual bell ringers I would have students demonstrate the problem on the SMART board so that those who may not be able to complete the problem alone but are too afraid to ask for additional help can have the opportunity to grasp certain concepts. The next thing I would do is register my students for websites where they can practice mathematics problems during free time in class. Many of these websites help students to better understand concepts they may not have had enough time to grasp during class. This would also ensure that students who don't have internet access at home can get the extra help they may so desperately need.

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I don't think one particular thing can fix the issue that we are having as it relates to mathematics. As a country, we are afforded so many luxuries so it puzzles me as to why we score significantly lower than other countries when tested in the area of mathematics. Although there is no quick fix we must start with gaining and keeping the interest of our students. Interested teachers grow up to be involved and interested teachers and that is where the solution lies.

2 comments:

  1. Wow! This is an incredible post! You said, "As a country, we are afforded so many luxuries so it puzzles me as to why we score significantly lower than other countries when tested in the area of mathematics." I completely agree. I did not know about this until your post, and it truly amazes me. Math has always been a problem for me; not all math, but certain concepts are easier for me than others. The Smart board is definitely a barrier breaker in some ways. You get visual aids, hands-on involvement, and creative ways to use numbers in teaching mathematics. One thing that I have noticed helps me a lot is the math labs website. I never used it until college, and it has sharpened my math skills tremendously. Thanks for your post! I can see why you are an A student.

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  2. Hi Tywondra. I think what you said in this post is spot on. The importance of math doesn't seem to be brought to student's attention enough. My biggest regret from high school is that I did not take more math classes and learn as much as I could have about it. If I had, I would be in a much better place now. Great post!

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