Synthesis
I have learned so much in this literacy class...I will admit, I was one of those who came into the class thinking that it was just one of those classes required for any education major...but it really wasn't going to apply to me all that much since I'll be teaching math. We use numbers rather than words, right?
How wrong I was. I have loved the changing that I have had to do about my ideas of teaching in math. I now feel quite passionate about the integral role literacy plays in mathematics. Math is not merely numbers, but math is ideas about how to solve problems. Math is about understanding the world around us.
If I were to sum this class up what this class has done for me into two main points, they would be that I have grown a passion for literacy and that I have learned scaffold (and the importance of doing so).
I had no idea how much of a difference scaffolding could make in teaching, but in teaching lessons during my clinicals, I tried to do this, and even though I didn't do it perfectly, I it still made a difference.
I think that making sure to never forget the importance of literacy in my class will help me to better teach my students to do "authentic math" rather than "schoolmath," as Jim Cangelosi calls it. In class we talked about product versus process. This is basically the difference between school and authentic mathematics. In schoolmath students are taught that the answer is the important thing. But really, mathematicians try and experimenting, and doing it some more, only sometimes succeeding at what they were going for. In their process of trying things they have learned and discovered so many things. This is like how in response to someone asking about his failing so many times in trying to make a light bulb, Thomas Edison said that he did not fail even once but rather found 1000 ways NOT to make a light bulb. ---This is the kind of thing we want to be teaching students. We want them to be willing to try and to not just make mistakes, but learn from those mistakes.
I have also quite loved learning about the different theories, such as behaviorism, constructivism, socioculturalism, critical theory, etc. I never would have really thought theories on education were that important, but in learning them it helps me to mentally organize where I think my teaching should. Because of my understanding of these I have clearer ideas on what I want my teaching to look like. Previously my experiences in math classes have been mostly lecture and then practicing problems and while I may need to do some of that, I hope that my classes will be much more focused on discovery, communication, application, and creativity.