Weekly Report & Reflection Week #4

This week I have chosen to reflect on my Mathematics Learning Activity Presentation. My presentation was around fifteen minutes and focused on the subject of decimals. This was a novel experience for me.  Previously, I have presented to a class on numerous occasions, but not on the subject of mathematics. Since this was new territory, proper preparation and structured organization was an absolute necessity. To achieve these goals thorough research of the subject matter and careful choice of instructional method were a necessity.  The sources I used for my research were the Ontario Guide to Number Sense and Numeration: Grades 4-6 and Making Math Meaningful to Canadian Students, K-8. Both of these texts were very useful in supplying various formulas and methodologies for explaining how decimal numbers can be added, subtracted, divided, and multiplied. I also discovered a few useful tools in the Ontario Guide.  In particular, the 'hundredths wheel' and 'number grid' located inside it can act as a useful visual aid for students.  While the information and strategies found in both these books were more then sufficient for planning my presentation, I also decided to research about decimals on line so I could find out what is out there and brush up on my knowledge a bit further. In my search I discovered Math Antics on youtube. Math Antics' Fractions and Decimals Lesson was a useful refresher course on the basic decimals operations mentioned above.  Having achieved my research goals, I felt confident enough to begin planning my presentation.

From my personal experience with mathematics, some of the most engaging lessons are collaborative and interactive. However, I currently lack the technological know-how of instructors like Dan Meyer, therefore a simpler approach for my presentation was required. For this reason I decided that my presentation should involve a collaborative group project combined with a lecture. I wanted the group project to have relevance to the actual world, so I thought the typical monetary interactions of a cafe server worked nicely for incorporating the use of decimal numbers. I came up with various problems involving the adding, subtracting, dividing, and multiplying of decimal numbers, or, in this case, money. I also attempted to be careful to present the various problems and solutions in terms of equivalences between decimals, fractions, and percentages. Finally, I incorporate the hundredth wheel into one of the questions for the group assignment.

Overall I found my experience of presenting to be beneficial. It gave me some much needed practice, both in presenting and planning lessons on mathematics. However, there are some areas where I will aim to improve next time. My first area that I have marked for improvement is time management of the presentation itself. I exceeded the time allotted me, which forced me to rush through the end of my lecture. This was due primarily to the time spent on the collaborative group work taking place prior to my review of the solutions. Before my next lesson I will time my presentation beforehand, or perhaps engage the class in a teacher-student interactive model and thereby cover the questions collectively. It was also suggested to me to use the hundredths wheel more inclusively with entire group assignment, rather than just for one particular question.  This is a useful insight as that would have provided further engagement for students as well as to fully diversify the learning model to include visual aids. With all this in mind, I look forward to my next presentation where I can learn from these experiences and apply the knowledge I have gained.