Friday, 9 September 2016

Week 1: September 8

Exploring the Local Sites.
Kelly, E. (Summer 2016). Emily Provincial Park.
Hello Fellow Readers and Bloggers!

I am so to be here! I have this amazing opportunity to complete my second year of Teacher's College! I am so fortunate that the program at Brock University - Hamilton Campus, is small, and have had many opportunities to collaborate with all of my colleagues, however for those of you who do not personally know me, I am going to include a short background of who I am before going into a discussion about the materials for this week's Junior/Intermediate Mathematics Course.

Enjoying Waterfall Jumping!
Kelly, E. (Summer 2016). Burleigh Falls.
Nothing Better Than Summer Sunrises
and Coffee.
Katic, K. (Summer 2016). Balsam Lake.
My name is Kathlene Katic and I am currently in my second year of Teacher's College at Brock University, Junior/Intermediate program. I am extremely passionate about teaching and ensuring that I reach every single student through engaging, relevant, and life-applicable material. Additionally, I am extremely passionate about yoga and weightlifting, as a healthy body goes hand-in-hand with a healthy mind and spirit. I love spending time outdoors in any way possible, and am constantly looking for ways to integrate my passion for fitness and the outdoors into my classroom. I was fortunate this past summer to spend every single day outside working and exploring the Great-Up-North, Kawartha Lakes region and beyond, and with this rejuvenation of mind, body and spirit, I am extremely excited to be back here at Brock!

Above: Stanford Myths and the Brain 2. YouTube Screenshot.
Below: Jo Boaler: The Brain Science on Growth Mindset. YouTube Screenshot.
Back to math, this week we were having a discussion over the importance of math in the classroom, and how stereotypes, fears and held beliefs affect our student's success in our classrooms. Personally, I fall under the category of people who dislike math, and as demonstrated this week through our resources, I can attribute this to many things stated: our students don't understand how many is applicable to real life situations, while some students may be good at it sometimes they really don't like to do it, and math making people feel unintelligent if they do not understand it immediately. In addition to feelings of discouragement comes stereotypes within math that are very clear. There is the perception that math is something that you have to have a genetic pre-disposition to be intelligent in, that some people are just math people and some aren't... these stereotypes are incorrect yet they are everywhere, whether that be in social media, written texts, social interactions and especially within our schools. Fundamentally, we are all born with the innate ability to do well in math, however, one's success within math is highly dependent on the beliefs that you have and your personal experiences. Experiences help to grow the brain, and the more that you revisit to ideas and concepts, the more deeply the synapses in your brain become and, therefore, you learn concepts deeply and holistically (see Stanford Myths and the Brain 2 and The Brain Science on Growth Mindset videos for more information).

This is where our roll as educators comes into play. Those stereotypes mentioned above, regarding students being fearful of math and some students not being "math people", are stereotypes that must be addressed within our classrooms appropriately. We must encourage all students that they can do math, with encouragement and by abolishing those negative stereotypes. Alarmingly, test results such as EQAO do discourage students in math as they realize that they are not meeting up to the Ontario Provincial standards, as discussed in this article. This puts an immense amount of pressure on students who are already fearful or uninterested in math as their government is now telling them that they must do better in this subject. Once again, this is where our roll as educators comes into play. Those types of results are opportunities for us to grow as educators in order to encourage our students to be successful! As a student, I wished that I had had math teachers who cared about my success and used relevant, applicable examples in the classroom. However, what I didn't have as a student is something that I will give my students, as my goal is to make a traditionally scary subject become enjoyable and eventually for them to have a more positive outlook on this subject. We must ensure that math class for all students is a safe place where mistakes are encouraged and accepted, and success celebrated. Additionally, furthering our professional careers through taking innovating math workshops is something that should be encouraged by our School Boards and Government to ensure our students success.

I hope that this discussion about math for this week has been helpful! Throughout this course I will be posting reflexive blogs about different topics within math, and how we can further this discussion in the future. However, the most important piece of advice that I can offer from this post is that when life gets stressful, always remember the simple quiet pleasures to regroup, refocus and resume. Below I have included one of my favourite happy places that helps my mind, body and spirit, and as this year progresses, I encourage each and every one of you to find those quiet, small things that breathe life into your passions and endeavours. Happy exploring, and feel free to post a comment below!

Finally Reached the Top!
Kelly, E. (Summer 2016). Eagle's Nest, Bancroft. 


References 
genConnect U. (2015, August 6). Jo Boaler: The Brain Science on Growth Mindset. YouTube Video. Retrieved From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4xqzgBy-lM 
Toronto Star. (2016, September 5). Falling Math Scores Send Out a Loud Warning Signal: Editorial. The Toronto Star. Retrieved From https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2016/09/05/falling-math-scores-send-out-a-loud-warning-signal-editorial.html  
Williams, Tracy. (2014, August 10). Stanford Math Myths and the Brain 2. YouTube Video Retrieved From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDhu53IrmnM&feature=youtu.be 

 Photos
Katic, Kathlene. (2016). Nothing Better Than Summer Sunrises and Coffee©. Balsam Lake. 
Katic, Kathlene. (2016, August 2). Sunrise on Balsam Lake©. Background Photo.
Kelly, Ethan. (2016). Enjoying Waterfall Jumping!© Burleigh Falls. 
Kelly, Ethan. (2016). Exploring the Local Sites.© Emily Provincial Park. 
Kelly, Ethan. (2016). Finally Reached the Top!© Eagle's Nest, Bancroft. 
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4 comments:

  1. Mrs. L Teaches Art9 September 2016 at 16:49

    I agree with you very much Kathlene! I love hearing educators, both current and future, talk about encouraging their students. At the school that I did my placement in last term, There was a sign that read: "Every Student, Every Chance, Every Day". I've done my best to do that sign justice in my teaching block, as well as outside of school. I've also applied it to myself on several occasions, reminding myself that mistakes are all right, and that tomorrow will bring a new day and a new chance. It puts things into perspective a lot of the time, and I think it correlates with our discussion on math. I think as teachers, it will be important to remind students that success does not mean an easy and eventless journey, but a learning journey that includes mistakes.
    Anna Laman

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  2. Unknown10 September 2016 at 12:14

    Hi Kathlene,

    I enjoyed your post and empathize with the experience of disliking/being scared in math, more so in elementary school than high school, but by high school the damage is done and the biases are well developed. I found your point on taking time to enjoy quiet moments interesting. Do you think that your love of mind-body connection and stress management through fitness might find a way into your math classroom?

    Practicing mindfulness or relaxation techniques before starting tests might make them less stressful for students, what do you think?

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  3. Jessica Scozzari10 September 2016 at 13:06

    Hi Kathlene,
    I love your blog post! It's great to see how excited you are to not only teach Math, but to be at Brock completing your second year! I agree with how you said that often students are fearful of math. I was that student! I was always afraid to ask questions if I didn't understand. I also think that the negative connotations and myths that are within society cause this fear too! It definitely will be important to encourage students in the classroom and ensure that they each receive a positive attitude from their teacher. Great post!
    -Jessica Scozzari

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  4. Unknown11 September 2016 at 10:15

    Hey Kathlene!

    Great post! Very detailed, well written and applicable! I really liked how you started with a background of who you are and where you are coming from! That really helps to know when it comes to math. Each student's math experiences are greatly shaped by their own life experiences and I found it really interesting how you tied your own life experiences into how you relate to this upcoming math course. I too disliked math and felt I was not a math person. Thank you for sharing your views on the stereotypes of math and how it has effected the populations confidence when it comes to math. We don't want to look student or unintelligent, we do not want to make a mistake, but making mistakes is a part of the process for learning. We need to cultivate a safe space where students feel comfortable enough to make mistakes, not embarrassed or afraid. Don't single out students or make them go to the board when they are not ready, this creates panic, frustration and fear. Taking the learning from our mistakes mindset, lets try to put all our bad math experiences in the past, and learn from them what not to do! We can improve our students math experiences, we can improve our students math futures!

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