My Math teachers and experiences

I had more fun in math classes when I was in elementary school. My favourite activity is the integer tournament. We used poker cards, the red as negative and black as positive, and each pair of students will flip a card at the same time and we have to figure out the sum of the numbers as quick as possible. Everyone was involved in the game and we had fun learning about negative numbers instead of drawing number lines all day. There were also more opportunities to build things in elementary school, for example building rectangular prisms and pyramids. I also had a few teachers made us do a multiplication/ division drill every day for the warm up activity. I liked this because it made us stay sharp and it is a great warm up activity. There is also a sense of accomplishment because you get better and quicker at it. As I moved into secondary, math classes became more structured and formatted. Most of my math teachers had very clear systems of notes, for example, specific hand-outs and templates. I liked that the notes are very organized but I think there is a lack of excitement in math classes. I hoped there would be more activities.

My least favourite math class was in my high school years. The teacher was using the same projector notes for years. We would come in, copy notes and do the assigned homework. He barely explained the concepts and there were barely any interactions in the classroom. I enjoyed classes with more interactions, and I hope in my future classes, I hope are there lots of discussions and interactions.  

Reflection on TPI

On the TPI, I scored highest on nurture and developmental, and lowest on social reform. I hope to become a teacher who encourages students to learn math. Determination and confidence is very important in learning. Many students dislike math or are afraid of math because they get stuck on problems. Math is a subject where everyone will get stuck sometime when they are learning it, the key is to no be afraid of failure. Math is challenging, but I hope to develop trust and positive attitude in the classroom, and help students improve self-efficacy in Math. I hope my classroom can be a safe environment for students to try new things and overcome challenges. Something I would like to implement in my classroom is unlimited retest. I think test results are not what is important, the important thing is for students to learn from their mistakes. If students want to try again and improve, I think they should be given the chance.

I scored a similar score on transmission and apprenticeship. I think these are important because I believe in mastery. Practice makes perfect. Even though people learn at different pace, hard work and determination is the key to success.  Although reasoning and critical thinking skills may be more important than the actual math contents, I think focus and determination should also be practiced in a classroom.  

        I scored the lowest on social reform, and I agree with that. I would like to improve and learn more in this area. I often have trouble giving real life example of math concepts, and I hope to gain more knowledge of where different concepts can be applied. Most students wonder why they need to learn math because some of the concepts are very abstract and they feel like it is useless in the future. I hope I can show students where math can be applied in different cohorts or careers. If it is possible, I would like to collaborate with teachers from other cohorts like physics or metal work, to work on projects together and do projects that are more hands on. I hope this can inspire students for what they want to do in the future, and maybe be able to change the lives of others.