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Powerful Problem Solvers
What are the characteristics of a mathematical classroom?
Provide sufficient time for tasks. It is important to give children enough time for each task, otherwise, they will not have time to deeply think. We want to create deep thinkers! Keep lessons ongoing. This is a powerful strategy that helps you learn.
Reflect on what you are doing. Communicate (share and listen to ideas
Surround children with a variety of tools.They should be able to use tools they gravitate towards. They should use tools they think they will need.
Manipulatives
Blocks
Magnatiles
Conncective cubes
Calculators
Computers
Paper and pencil
Let children take ownership of their learning. Let them use their own strategies. Let them use what makes sense to them.
The role of play in developing mathematical competence
Set the stage for play
Create an environment where children can experiment, conduct, observe, investigate, test, and practice
Be available during play
Pose questions and keep play alive! Help children pose their own questions and connect concepts from teachings to their play.
Carefully observe play
Use observations you notice during play in your teachings. By observing behaviors and problems children face during play, you can use this during instructional time to create meaningful lessons that children relate to.
Mathematical learning sites
Andrew tells us that kindergarteners should be viewed as "mathematical learning sites." kindergarteners and math can be brought together if 3 things are set in place:
Time
Different students need different amounts of time for certain activities. Giving students enough time for tasks allows problems to surface, and problems are good because problems must be solved. Children love to solve any problem.
Space and things
Create meaningful spaces in your classroom. Ensure there is good airflow. Make sure the room is not cluttered and can easily be maneuvered through.
Have special places in your classroom that your students know are open and available for use:
Rice table
Block area
Calm down corner
Library
Climate
This is one of my favorite quotes because it is true: "The learning climate that teachers establish depends on their own attitudes toward learning and children. These attitudes, conscious or otherwise, are picked up by the children and this, in turn, establishes the climate."
Encourage deep thinking, and children will become deep thinkers.
If teachers encourage risk taking in mathematics, children will learn to take risks, respect them, inspect mistakes, and expect errors, and learn how to solve them.
Kindergarten looks different now
Kindergarten is a lot more rigorous now than it used to be
A lot of emphasis on reading and writing and less emphasis on art. science, and play. This is a great article that talks about how kindergarten looks different now.
https://www.futurity.org/kindergarten-new-first-grade-better-worse/#:~:text=Today's%20kindergarten%20classroom%20is%20dramatically,and%20for%20socializing%20with%20classmates
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In the 1950's kindergarten was centered around music, creativity, and play. Now, we see that kindergarten is academically rigorous. Kindergarten has shifted from play base learning to academic learning.
I am a huge believer in the power of play. Play greatly aids in proper child development. Students have the ability to choose their interests and act on those interests with play. This article published by the National Education Association talks about how and why play is so important in ECE.
https://www.nea.org/advocating-for-change/new-from-nea/power-play-kindergarten
My future classroom will involve play based learning!
What was my favorite month in this book?
October - The Dilemma of Sharing Cooking
Summary: The teacher read the book The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins. Every time the doorbell rang, cookies would be delivered to the door. The kids in the book were supposed to somehow divide the cookies evenly to make it fair.
The teacher gave the children both vanilla cookies and chocolate cookies. It was their job to split the cookies up fairly. This lesson was amazing and I would love to do it in my own classroom someday. Once the children thought they split the cookies up between their groups evenly, they would be able to eat the cookies, however, they first had to talk to the teacher about their strategies.
How did the children go about this?
Counting them out 1, 1, 1, 2, 3, 2, 3, 3, 3 . . .
One child suggested that they could all take some cookies and see if the piles looked even
Estimating by choosing a reasonable number of cookies for each person
Creating a pattern: One person gets a vanilla cookie and the next person gets a chocolate cookie
Creating a point system with the cookies. Each person in the group gets 5 points. The vanilla cookie is worth 1 point and the chocolate cookie is worth 2 points
Splitting cookies in half that were left over
My favorite teaching strategy in this book
Stepping back and trusting the children to solve problems on their own. The cookie story was my favorite season in this book because I just loved how the teacher stepped back and let the students do what made sense to them. Problems surfaced and each group of students were focused on solving the problems in the way that made sense to them.
Encouraging students to be risk takers
Modeling the strategies themselves: being a risk taker yourself!
Teachers should create a safe space for children to take risks. It promotes individualism and self trust. This is a great article I found about what it means to be a risk-taker in the classroom and how a teacher can promote a risk taking learningenvironment
https://www.communityplaythings.com/resources/articles/2016/the-importance-of-risk
Revisiting activities: The teacher in this book started a lesson in the beginning of the year on measurement (the rice table). The teacher posed questions and let the students ponder them. The teacher did not give the answers away, instead, they came back to it in the end of the year. The children grew throughout the year and their knowledge about measurement expanded. Instead of the teacher simply telling them what is right and what is wrong, they discovered it on their own! The teacher is promoting deep thinking by revisiting activities.
Repetition is powerful, especially in learning. Learning take repetition! I think revisiting activities is brilliant because it brings in that repetition for learning. It gives a child to have a new mindset and a new outlook on something once it is revisited at the end of the year. I use repetition in my own teaching practices. Studies have proven how repetition rewires the brain. It helps immensely with learning something new. This is a quick short article that is a nice easy read. It talks about repetition and how parents can incorporate repetition for their child's learning at home!
https://earlychildhood.qld.gov.au/early-years/activities-and-resources/resources-parents/read-and-count/the-power-of-repetition
My own kindergarten experience
One of the main things I remember from my kindergarten experience was how excited I would get during free play time. I was fixated on the dramatic play center. I loved using the doctor kit and playing nurse with my friends.
I remember learning math using cubes and 10's sticks. I remember being so eager to solve every math problem that was put in front of me. I truly believe that every human is born with an immense curiosity to learn.
The teacher's job is to cultivate this curiosity and turn it into something meaningful. I want to encourage curiosity. I want to look at my student's interests and base lessons around those interests. I want to make it a goal of mine to help my students love learning.
Me in kindergarten:
A building my students created during free play
Another beautiful building during free play
