Teaching Kids Real Math with Computers 

I am fascinated by Conrad Wolfram’s TED Talk entitled, Teaching Kids Real Math with Computers.  Watching the video, I felt wrapped up in a symposium of how I personally feel about Mathematics and validation for my strong pedagogical attachment towards emergent Mathematics practices. 

I completely agree with Wolfram’s description of real-world Math problem as hairy and ugly.  I’m sure most of us can agree that we don’t usually come across Math computations that are neatly wrapped in a bow.  Rather, we usually need to dig through information to find the right data to calculate etc. So, why to why gift wrap calculations for students which really only require procedural knowledge to solve?

Procedurally I was an excellent Math student; however, conceptually I had quite poor skills which didn’t seem to matter as there were usually only a couple of Math ‘word’ problems on an exam and I could always get part marks without really understanding the problem.   I don’t think this should be a description of an A math student, but I’m sure many people can relate to this description of succeeding in Math without really know why/what you are doing. 

Enter computers, even using Kahn Academy I completely enjoyed playing with graphs and moving variables along number lines.  It sounds silly, but I even had a few ‘Aha!’ reaffirming moments.  I would have loved being able to do this as a student.  I believe technology is a teaching partner for teachers and a learning partner for students which can engage student interest and further their conceptual Math knowledge through concrete learning experiences.

 https://www.ted.com/talks/conrad_wolfram_teaching_kids_real_math_with_computers

Recommended Apps for High School Math 

Bringing more tech into the classroom.  Here are a list of 21 High School Math Apps that address the Common Core (US language which mostly mirrors Ontario’s Math Learning Expectations).  I also love using Today’s Meet in the classroom.  It’s a great communication piece that can be used to quickly answer students’ questions.  It is also a great to tool to assess/clarify students’ conceptual thinking.

Today's Meet 

21 Recommended Apps for teaching High School Math

I HEART Emergent Math AKA Three-Part Math 

I love teaching Three-Part Math and even better the students I have taught also love it!  I find it is a great way to address many learning expectations at the same time.  It reminds me of the case study learning method used in Business Schools. 

One 3-Part Math lesson I completed with a Grade 7 class was for students to design a floor plan of an apartment.  They were given percentages, fractions and decimals to represent the area of different rooms and grid paper to layout their designs.  The consolidation piece (aka Bansho), the most integral to teaching three-part Math, is always eye-opening for students and teachers to see the different methods and reasonings behind group decisions.  By developing, 3-Part Math lessons I have found that students are more committed to solving real-life math problems within a learning group then when I teach ‘at’ them at the front of the classroom.

Here is an article on education.com which explains the theory behind emergent Mathematics literacy.

http://www.education.com/reference/article/what-emergent-mathematics/

I had to add this App- My Script Calculator 
SOOO COOL!
I had to add this App- My Script Calculator.  Check it out.  It's so cool!
https://edshelf.com/tool/myscript-calculator#myCarousel