There is more than one way. As I was watching Survivor with mom last week, which is her favourite show, I made a connection with math in the way that the contestants were going about the challenge to win immunity. If you have the time to watch the challenge, you will see what I mean.
At about the 1:50 mark, the commentator notes how Spencer is "struggling" and Tony is off to a fast start. Tony it should be noted, uses more of a trial and error method using his athleticism and speed, while Spencer does everything more methodically, trying to think his way through each part of the challenge without making a mistake. And at 4:30, the commentator again notes just how far ahead Tony is. As much as I want to tell you about how it ends, I'm going to leave you in suspense hoping that you'll watch the video!
The point is that even though these two particular contestants used very different strategies, both strategies worked better than the other at different points. It should also be noted that if Spencer used Tony's method and vice versa, each might have struggled rather than have any success at all. What does this have to do with an executive superintendant and the mathematical processes?
In a May 16, 2014 CBC article, Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board executive superintendant Manny Figueiredo said, "We need to understand that there's more than one way to teach math. Some students might learn using concepts like borrowing and carrying over, while some might learn better using pictures and language."
If we take Figeiredo's quote and what we see in the Survivor video, and connect it to the mathematical processes, I think we should get a good idea about how we need to be teaching math. Here are some selected quotes from the curriculum:
"Teachers... help students to develop and extend a repertoire of strategies... when solving various kinds of problems."
"Good problem solvers... recognize when the technique they are using is not fruitful, and to make a conscious decision to switch to a different strategy, rethink the problem."
"Students need to develop the ability to select the appropriate electronic tools...and computational strategies to perform particular mathematical tasks."
"Developing the ability to perform mental computation and to estimate is consequently an important aspect of student learning in mathematics."
It really isn't enough to simply teach the equation of a line, how to find the middle of a line segment, or how to solve for a variable. According to Survivor, Figueiredo, and the curriculum, we should be taking a wholistic approach. We shouldn't just do this to reach more learners, but also to teach our students to think on their feet and adapt to the situation. That would be to create a critical thinker. Do you think that if Tony or Spencer had changed their approach at some point that the race might not have been as close as it was? It's food for thought.
Hi Sean!
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I love Survivor and your connection to mathematical processes is a good one! I think it is very important to remember that there are different ways to complete various questions. I definitely agree that we need to have a holistic approach to teaching. Like you have already stated, it reaches more learners, gives all learners more tools and strategies to help them think on their feet, but it also helps the learner to gain a deeper understanding of the concept as they begin to look at questions through different lenses.
It's great that you're thinking outside the box and seeing Math where most people wouldn't even think to look. It gave me an idea, why not have students try to find Math in their favourite TV shows, movies, games, etc.? It could be a really fun assignment that goes all semester. As students find something, they bring it in. If your school allows bonus points, it could count for that. If not, some other reward, or even make it a graded assignment. Students get to do something they enjoy all while learning just how widespread Math is in the world.
ReplyDelete