Unit Plan Assignment

 Here is the link to my Unit Plan Assignment:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1anfJM17FNjYWhc1bJHoN9kI5fihK5fKf/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=100957161943925271254&rtpof=true&sd=true

Here are the links to the 3 lesson plans to accompany this unit plan:

Lesson Plan 1: Introduction to Rational Numbers

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QvRdqM0Oy5SclInQLI7mDd2YATQjlN30O9a4U8qYN8/edit?usp=sharing

Lesson Plan 2: Converting Fractions to Decimals

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NM9vlUKQJyQKky0Opq965Y7IHchiYT28TILWfNhdqXs/edit?usp=sharing

Lesson Plan 3: Converting Decimals to Fractions

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1g9HrMmhS1t8Gb8Q1bGdJLtAaqpZjGPr3_bxn5sILWiY/edit?usp=sharing

Nov 20 - Textbooks and How They Position Their Readers

 Math textbooks have always played a key role in education. They provide structure, practice problems, and a roadmap for learning. But I have never stopped think about the effectiveness of specific textbooks until I started teaching a few years back. I have also noticed that I read the textbooks in more details now as an educator than when I was a student. Reflecting on the why it is that students skip to the exercises on textbooks without reading the Introduction of the chapter or even the intro to the book itself is something I have thought about often. As a tutor (and an avid reader), I deliver my lessons to students, focusing on what the essence of the chapter is, wishing my students took the time to read the "extra" sections the textbook has to help them make more sense of what they are learning. 

Textbooks are one of my go-to tools for structuring lessons and ensuring my students meet learning goals. They’re reliable and standardized, which helps me stay on track. But after reading the article, I realize textbooks do more than just teach math—they influence how students relate to the subject, their peers, and even their teachers. For instance, the language in many textbooks can feel impersonal. Phrases like, “The equation shows you...” or “You must calculate...” make math seem rigid and detached from human involvement. This can unintentionally alienate students and reinforce the idea that math is about memorization rather than creativity or understanding. This can potentially be addressed by adding context to the problem because story telling is a powerful tool that helps students connect math to the real world. 

Considering my student bird, I can see how textbooks have shaped my academic career and life both positively and negatively. As a student who was naturally good at following instructions, textbooks were great for me as they provided me a clear path to follow and lots of practice problems to build my skills. That being said, textbooks did also feel dry and unrelatable at times.

These days, the role of textbook is not as rigid as it used to be. In class, we looked at some online open source textbooks developed by UBC professors and with the integration of technology in classrooms, there are more options for teachers to decide. I think this is a good thing because one textbook can only offer so many ways to approach and solve a math problem but when you have the entire world wide web at your disposal, the possibilities are endless. Teachers can modify their handouts to incorporate the different methods they want to teach depending on the collective and individual abilities of the class.

Nov 13 - Flow

 It was intriguing to delve into Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's TED talk on 'flow' and happiness, where he describes flow as a state of complete immersion and enjoyment in what one is doing. Reflecting on this concept, I realized that I've experienced flow at various moments, particularly when I'm solving geometry problems. I view geometry as precise, yet creative in nature. I find the process of visualizing shapes, figuring out properties, and solving geometrical problems quite immersive. This same deep engagement occurs when cleaning; it’s a process where I can see immediate results and feel a sense of order and accomplishment.

However, transferring this state of flow into a secondary math classroom is a challenge, especially with 30 students who each may find flow in different activities. This is not to say that it is impossible; it's just tricky. By setting up problem-solving tasks for those who thrive on challenges, integrating creative math projects for those who think more artistically, and applying math to real-life scenarios for those who benefit from practical applications. We could also give students the choice to work alone or collaboratively.

By tailoring tasks to match individual interests and skill levels, we aim to make learning experiences both enjoyable and engaging. This approach could help each student find their flow in math class, making the learning process as captivating as their favorite activities. I'm looking forward to testing out these strategies and hopefully seeing our classroom transform into a place where everyone can discover their best way to learn.

Nov 13 - Hornby Island Puzzle

 When I first saw the problem, I immediately thought about using proportions and I was able to link it to Math 9 BC curriculum. I knew that since the water tank was in the same proportion as the soup can, scaling up from the can’s dimensions would let me estimate the tank’s dimensions. Right away, I could recognize the problem as a blend of practical scaling and real-life math applications, which made it feel engaging and approachable.

I decided to start by determining the dimensions of the soup can. A quick google search revealed that it’s about 10 cm tall with a 6.5 cm diameter. Next. I needed the dimensions of the bike. Since, I'm not very well versed in the types of bikes, I went with the average 27 inches or 68 cm diameter of the wheel of the bike. Letting go of perfection was a little challenging for mw in this step as I have always focused on accuracy in math. Once I had dimensions for both the soup can and an estimated bike height, I found the scale factor by dividing the tank height by the soup can height. Applying the scale factor to the soup can’s radius and height gave the water tank’s dimensions. At this stage, I realized that I needed to be careful with the units to avoid simple but easy-to-make mistakes, like mixing up diameter and radius. Then, to calculate the volume of the tank, I used the formula V = πr2h. The calculations were straightforward since I already had both the radius and height for the tank.

Reflecting on this puzzle from Teacher's Perspective, I was immediately excited to see this problem because I could connect to the curriculum and I could see how it has the scope to engage students. To extend this problem, surface area could be introduced. Students could work on how many buckets of paint would be needed to paint the tank.

Another puzzle like this that would engage the students would be to use a picture of themselves next to an object of interest and use their own height and their height in the image to come up with a scale factor, then using that scale factor, students can figure out the height of the object of interest. Some students have pictures with athletes and other celebrities that they could use to find their true height.

November 6 - Arbitrary and Necessary

 In the article Arbitrary and Necessary Part 1: A Way of Viewing the Mathematics Curriculum, Dave Hewitt argues that a lot of the time in a mathematics classrooms is being dedicated to teaching conventions rather than doing actual mathematics. I have always been aware of this and my approach so far has been letting my students come to their conclusions where conventions are concerned and then I tell them the agreed upon conventions by society. This makes the students realize that their method was perfectly acceptable and a lot less time is spent on memorizing the arbitrary.

One thing in the article that caught my attention was when the author says that by simply telling the students that the sum of interior angles of a triangle is equal to a half turn, we communicate to them that this is arbitrary information. They may or may not remember this in the future. I have had students struggling to remember this piece of information, quite possibly because of this same reason that Hewitt mentions. When I plan my lessons, I focus a lot on the contents covered in that specific unit that sometimes I do not pay attention to  what arbitrary memory informations students are bringing with themselves and if it even belongs in the realm or arbitrary. In my future lessons, I am determined to let students work out on their own the concepts that belong in their realm of the necessary, so as to avoid accidentally letting students simply receive information and potentially forget it right after my class.

Oct 25 - Pro D Day Reflection

 For my Professional Development Day,  I went to the BCAMT Conference in Whistler. My experience as a new teacher was very positive. I attended Peter Liljedahl's session on the importance of closing a lesson effectively. I learned that a third of your class time should be dedicated to closing. I had never thought of how much time must be dedicated to closing prior to this, and I like this idea because Peter argues that when students learn something new, their thoughts are unorganized and chaotic and with effective closing practices, we can help organize those thoughts so the students understand and retain more information.

I attended another session in the math Lounge where I learned about the importance of organizing practice questions in the categories of mild, medium and spicy. In this session, the speaker got us to list the things in the Linear Equations chapter that we want our students to know and then organize them in a way that the next topic would build on the previous one. We then looked at some qualities that make these questions mild, medium or spicy. My understanding was that mild questions are supposed to be approachable for students, medium need to be the same as mild with one more tier of difficulty and spicy is supposed to be 2 or more tiers of difficulty.

I also learned that with the four categories in the Proficiency Scale, students tend to think of the fourth category as a secret garden where only the elite students are granted entry and so calling the questions "mild, medium or spicy" will get more engagement with students and encourage them to try more!

Oh, and I also got a lot of freebies and merch! I got a few math textbooks and some stickers and other things for free!