“How Many Ways?”

This week’s lesson had a wealth of information to add to our teacher toolbox. While watching the online module, we were presented with a multiplication statement 18 x 5. The task required us to solve the problem using mental math and figure out a solution. At first glance I was intimidated to try it, as I felt I could not accomplish this math problem. I felt I was so dependent on the calculator, that I could not complete this task using mental math. However, I decided to take on the challenge and started with what I knew. Which was 20 x 5 = 100, and since I added 2 to the statement (18 + 2) x 5 = 100, I needed to subtract (2 x 5 ) from the answer to give me a product of 90. At first I thought this was probably one of the few ways to come up with a solution. When I continued to watch the video, it was very interesting to see all the different ways individuals used their knowledge to come up with a solution.  There were many “a-ha” moments for me, as I found some methods easier than mine. When I have to solve other problems that require mental math I have more strategies to choose from. It helps to collaborate and discuss with others about their strategies as it deepen our own thinking and helps make mathematical connections as well as build classroom community.

Screenshot retrieved from YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=LHtIBt3ootM 

Classroom Connection:

At my previous placement, students had a ‘Number Talk’ every Wednesday to help strengthen their skills in the Numbers Sense strand. During this time students were provided with opportunities to figure out not only strategies they used, but also share and learn other strategies from their peers. A great resource to use during this time is a book called. “Number Talks: Helping Children Build Mental Math and Computation Strategies, Grades K-5”. Number Talks always included the following criteria in this grade six classroom:

1. Sit away from their desks and face the front of the class
2. Focus their attention on the questions on the board and they individually solve addition, multiplication, subtraction or division statements
3. Respect other student’s strategies and staying quiet ( allow all the students to focus)
4.  Students would indicate with their thumbs to their chest (up, down or sideways) to show their confidence when answering the question
5. Adequate time was allotted to ensure all students had a chance to share the answer
6. Students share their strategies and how they reached their solutions 

Retrieved form Google: http://bit.ly/2w26wew

This week had many lessons learned, and one in particular discussed how to incorporate rich tasks when teaching math. Rich tasks allow students to think critically and creatively while keeping them engaged in the activity as it allows an entry point for all students to try the math problem. This encourages students, and builds positive attitudes towards math, while enabling students to think at a deeper level and make meaningful math connections.  These measures are essential (in building a rich task) and were used to dissect a few math problems to test them for their richness. If a math problem is not rich, it only requires surface level thinking that allowed students to recall memorized math facts. I found this very helpful as it will help me as a future in-service teacher to ensure that my students are engaged in math class!

Thanks for reading this week's blog post, and I look forward to reading your comments!              

- Nuha