Course Reflection

    The readings of this course blended very well with the content in EDCP 342 as they complemented the ideas well. As mentioned in my EDCP 342, I had done many reflections on my views on what it means to be a mathematics educator, and some of the readings in this class also complemented my reflections well. The Frank McCourt reading was the most influential reading in this class, which helped me reflect better. "If you are teaching and you are not learning, then you are not teaching" is still a powerful quote that reminds me that a teacher should always be learning and improving oneself.

    The projects from my classmates have provided me with many different topics that I want to explore more, and I appreciate the presentation on the inquiry project as it brought up a lot of different views that I should consider as a teacher. I have made notes on some of the presentations, and I would love to see what my classmates would do for their inquiry two projects.

    I enjoyed this course, and the inquiry presentations were the most impactful for me as I learned the most and got me engaged with various topics in the teaching profession.

Inquiry Question Refelction

This inquiry project has led me to explore a new teaching style vastly different from the traditional lecturing style I grew up with. I have read the primary book, which popularizes the Thinking Classroom with math teachers all across the globe and learned about all the intricacies of the teaching styles. By visiting Takuya at Eric Hamber, I could see the thinking classroom in action, and it fits my imagination of how a thinking classroom should look based on my reading from the book. This question has led me to replicate it in my extended practicum, play around with this teaching style, and see if it fits me. There are currently no formal studies critically exploring the practicality of the thinking classroom, unlike the flipped classroom. From hearing the issues current teachers implementing the thinking classrooms face, the benefits I have listened to and believe to be the case outweigh the negatives. While I am unsure what the inquiry two project is, my passion for this teaching style is enough to carry on and explore more of it in the next project.

Powerpoint: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1jMKfFH_GoQjIpIKr8kuNGBwh6Cn-iaTyWnAz1friAdY/edit?usp=sharing

Activity: https://mathforlove.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Beat-the-Tax-Collector.pdf

Annotated Bibliography

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AIqcpbQFypMXOFZ9UTqpOalR-2Db8lM1EkXA-3Q74kA/edit?usp=sharing

Nov 9 Exit Slip... Inquiry Progress

For our inquiry project, we have found many resources that we can use to help research more about the Thinking Classroom from Peter Liljedhal. So far, we have about 18 different resources. About 9 are non-academic, and 9 are academic resources. We changed some of our concepts as we were doing our research. We realized that some of the initial concepts needed more substantial academic resources. We also emailed Peter asking if we could meet with him in person to discuss issues with a thinking classroom. 

Oct 19 Exit Slip... Proficientcy scale and extreme views

Today's discussion was fascinating as the proficiency scale has been a contentious issue with many teachers across the province. Given that I was not taking the assessment class with Kevin, some of the points brought up with classmates gave me much insight regarding the proficiency scale. Some include how the scale paints broad strokes of a percentage so students know how well they are doing without showing them a percentage. The proficiency scale prevents students from stressing over percentages and allows them to focus better on the learning rather than the exams. Another interesting view on the proficiency scale is how we assess students. We favour early assessments less at the beginning of the year, and students will be able to bounce back and not let a bad mark drag them down. Once again, this helps with learning as students will feel more motivated instead of seeing a bad mark from the beginning of the year ruin everything.

The other exciting idea introduced was Alfie Kohn and his strong view against competition. With the discussion in class, I have also concluded that he is very extreme on this point of view, making it difficult to agree with his point as it is very radical. Kohn's view ties into how I think the extreme political left and extreme political right are similar. Both sides agree to their ideals so much that they prevent dialogue from happening to anyone. Kohn makes me feel that he is so extreme that he will refuse to dialogue with anyone with a different idea. While he makes good points, the extremeness pushes me away.

Inquiry Question

 

Section 1 and 2 of the template

Lisa and I decided to have our inquiry question on the "Thinking Classroom" as we find it quite an exciting concept to bring into our classrooms. I want to explore alternative options to traditional classrooms, and the "Thinking Classroom" is one such alternative. My main goal here is to explore the "Thinking Classroom" to its extent, including how students perceive this shift, what classroom changes are needed, and the issues of the thinking classroom. It would also be nice to see how the thinking classroom can be used in other subject areas, as it can be applied and extended easily. Depending on the results we get from the inquiry, it will move me in a different direction than the expected traditional classroom.

Oct 19 Entance Slip... Braiding Sweetgrass

In a classroom, scientific/mathematical terminology is jargon to a lot of the students, more specifically, jibberish. Unless I can provide meaning and reason to my students, these terminologies will not apply to them as they are hollow words that a teacher mentioned in class. Depending on the class context, there would also be less emphasis on scientific/mathematical terminology. For example, workplace math would contain few uses of mathematical terminology as students in that class would not find much use of those terms. However, in classes like Pre-Calculus 12, mathematical terminology would be more critical as these terms will show up in post-secondary, and professors will not likely explain what each terminology means. I still remember the time in Calculus 1 when my professor showed a lot of new notation that I had never seen before, but many students understood it immediately. I spent much time learning things outside my Calculus 1 class, which was time-consuming.

Dr. Kimmerer's introduction of indigenous terms in their classroom is brilliant but more limited to things in the natural world. I have minimal resources to try and indigenize my classroom, but one is Tluuwaay' Waadluxan Mathematical Adventures by Dr.Cynthia Nicol, published by School District #50 Haida Gwaii. This book gives ideas that allow me to include a place-based approach to implementing curricular content and competency. Otherwise, I need help finding exciting resources that will enable me to indigenize my classroom and curriculum.

Edit: Oct 18...

After reading a bit of Tluuwaay' Waadluxan Mathematical Adventures and having a brief discussion with Susan regarding indigenizing my classroom and curriculum, I have realized that I cannot adapt resources like Tluuwaay' Waadluxan Mathematical Adventures directly into the classroom. Many of the ideas present are connected deeply to the Haida nation, so many students in the lower mainland will need help to connect deeply with these topics. Instead, the best way to indigenize the classroom would be to research the land and the places around the school I am teaching and find local indigenous things so students have a better connection to them. Otherwise, if I force it into the classroom for the sake of doing it, I will help build disdain with the students regarding indigenous issues. I have had students tell me they do not like it when teachers do it to be relevant. Thus, there is a need to slowly integrate these topics into the classroom naturally so students have a better connection to them.