Math is Everywhere!

Horray for being back in the schools! I was with my fourth grade class on Wednesday and today (Thursday), and it was wonderful! Today was a little rough with discipline being necessary and running around trying to collect intern information for university classes, but I suppose I’ll start with what I did on Wednesday.

Wednesday was great, the night before I had prepped for one of my biggest moments yet: leading “Developing a Mathematical Eye” with my fourth graders...well, at least it’s a huge deal for me! This activity is done with children to help them develop a more positive disposition towards math. I almost video recorded this activity, but the flip camera decided that it was going to sit that one out. And it got its way, since it wouldn’t turn on. That’s okay, next time!

Anyway, during this lesson, I showed them a picture of Lake Artemisia (see picture on left), a local lake that is very familiar to them, and asked the class “What do you notice?” Many of them blurted out, “That’s the lake!” or “I’ve been there!” Once I brought the class back to order, I called on one of my male students who, fumbling over his words because he was so excited to be able to connect with the picture, said, “That’s, that’s uh, where you go, when, when, with your family, when you’ve gotta talk…about something.” Beyond recognizing it as the local lake, some students also noticed that the sun was setting, that the picture was outside, and that there were benches in the photograph.

After some discussion, I guided them with the question “What do you wonder?” I expected them to sit back and ponder for a second or two, but multiple hands shot up right away. Students asked questions like, “How does the gazebo stand up?” Or, “How does the water reflect that gazebo and the trees so perfectly?” I was so encouraged about how many curious questions they brought up! Their wheels were really turning!

Perhaps the most critical and sensitive guiding question I asked them was, “Do you wonder anything about math when you look at this picture?” This is the moment I braced myself for. What if they said no? What if they really couldn’t see it? In fact, one of the more bold boys decidedly blurted out, “Nope.” But have no fear, I cam prepared! In that critical moment, I prompted them with a few questions that I had come up with the night before like, “I wonder why the sky gets that color when the sun in setting? How much longer do you think it is until it completely sets?” Or, “I wonder how tall the small trees are compared to the taller trees?” After that, hands shot up. I called on a few students who asked questions about how wide the lake was, how tall the gazebo was while other students pointed out that there were all sorts of shapes to be found in the gazebo (rectangles, triangles, etc.).

They got so excited so fast and for a good 5 minutes or so that I decided to take it a step further. At the end of the lesson I told them “See, math can be found everywhere!” I then encouraged them to look around their homes and yards to see what math they could find. While saying this, I accidentally used the word “homework”.  So, naturally, some of them panicked, despite my best efforts to calm  them down, telling them that it wasn’t “real” homework…it was just, “This is fun, I promise” homework...courtesy of Ms. Jasion. Some kids heard me, but I suppose the little boy who was sitting directly in front of me did not.

While doing the activity a second time this afternoon with a picture of a soccer field  (it was in hyper speed since it was time for dismissal), that same boy started whispering, “Ms. Jasion, Ms. Jasion, can I share?” I saw that he had printed out a picture of clouds. He stood up there proudly and stated that there was a face in the clouds-then I had to make him sit down and pack up. Although I’m not sure whether or not he actually looked for math, it was neat to see him really excited about his school work when he usually isn’t. In that moment other students blurted out that they saw trees that looked like triangles, circles while playing soccer, and much more that was drowned out by the shuffle of books and school materials being put away.

Even though I didn't have some time to truly gauge whether or not they explored for math at home, I like to hope that I made a positive impact on how they feel about math. And, wow, it was so much fun!

To close up this blog, let me just warn you. A phrase you will hear from me in (probably) every single blog is:

I’m so excited to get my students excited about XYZ.

So be aware. I just can’t help it.

So today, know that I am so excited to get my students excited about math.  First real teaching session down…the door to teaching has been thrown wide open!

Go team!

Thanks for reading!

Follow me on twitter @bjasion! It’ll be fun especially as I slowly but surely figure it out!