Week 9 Reflection

This week we discussed Measurement, which was covered in chapters 17 and 18 of the textbook. This was also the week that I got to present my Learning Activity Presentation.

First we talked about time, which I think is a fairly difficult topic to teach. The concept of time as a measurement is hard to understand, so it is a good thing that we reviewed strategies for teaching it. I think that the person who presented this topic did a great job. He made lots of jokes and really captured our attention, which in my opinion is a really good way to engage students. When I become more comfortable with math, I think I will try to incorporate this strategy into my own teaching. I think humour really shows students that you are comfortable being in front of the class and know the material well. It is also comforting for students to hear jokes because it eases the tension and reduces stress that students have with math.

I got to do my presentation, which was kind of nerve-wracking because I'm not the best at math. I think it went fairly well, I don't think I messed up at all. I went over perimeter, and using different manipulatives for measuring length. I think this was a really good experience, because it gave me the opportunity to practice teaching math in front of people. It really got me out of my comfort zone and ready to start teaching math, which I think was a great assignment. I talked about using nonstandard and standard units to measure length and perimeter. I had no idea that there was such thing as nonstandard units, but i think its a really neat concept to teach. It helps students understand the concept of measuring length without attaching it to a standard unit of measurement. Some of my favourite nonstandard and standard units of measurement are pictured below:

Woolley, E. © 2015
Straws, linking blocks, toothpicks, centimetre cubes/ten blocks, string, measuring tape, and a ruler.

 I think that I was well prepared and had an interesting activity planned. I didn't get it from the textbook, because there were no activities planned for teaching perimeter. I found it at this site which listed a few hands-on activities for students. Students had to write their name in block letters onto centimetre grid paper, and then measure the perimeter of each letter and full name using nonstandard and standard units. I liked this activity because students got to be creative and also to practice measuring with different manipulatives. Below is my example that I did with my name:

Woolley, E. © 2015

The other two presenters talked about area and volume respectively. They both had good activities that helped to highlight the concepts of area and volume. We went over some more good hands on activities that I hope to use in my classroom. The one I liked was a real-life activity for calculating volume. We got an empty Kraft Dinner box and centimetre blocks. We used these standard units to measure and calculate the volume of the box. I liked this activity because it was visual and hands-on, unlike the worksheets and questions I had to do when I learned volume. This is better because students can actually see how volume works.

Woolley, E. © 2015 

We did some more fun activities after the presentations. We read a short story about the Pythagorean Theorem, and did an estimating activity. We had to estimate how far we could jump, and then measure it. It was surprising how much fun we had jumping and competing, so I can only imagine that students would have just as much fun with this activity.

Finally, we watched a funny video featuring John Green, one of my favourite authors, explaining 36 unusual units of measure. It was funny, and educational. I would show this video to my class, have them take notes on their favourite obscure units of measurement, and then measure objects as a fun activity.