A Reflection on my Learning

A Reflection on my Learning

Throughout this mathematics course so far, I have learned a variety of tools and activities that I can use in my future classroom. I have really enjoyed the collaborative aspect that has been seen in the majority of our mathematics problem solving activities. Working with peers has helped me tremendously with my mathematics skills as sharing problem solving ideas with peers really helps my thinking process. One activity that I really found useful in class was the gallery walk activity.

What is 'The Gallery Walk'?

A Gallery walk is when smaller groups of students work together to solve problems collaboratively. When applied to math, students are given a problem to solve and must do so by showing their whole thinking process and all of their work. When finished, students are given the opportunity to walk around and view how other groups solved the problems and presented their work. After some critical observation of other groups work, the students can then return back to their own work. They are encouraged to have a second look at their work and reflect on what they would do differently when solving the question again.

When I reflect on doing the Gallery Walk activity in class, I consider how wrong my groups process was when solving the question. However, at the time we were confident that we were on the right track. Walking around and looking at what other groups made me realize our mistakes and how to properly solve the problem. We went back and corrected our solution immediately! Although, we were very incorrect in our solution, I reflect on how I don't think I would have learned as much if we got the question correct. I believe that the most effective way to learn is acknowledging your mistakes, seeing where you went wrong, and then learning how to fix them.

George Bernard Shaw. Brainy Quote. Retrieved from: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/george_bernard_shaw_102967

Mistakes are VALUABLE!

It is important for us as future educators to encourage students to not be afraid to make mistakes! Students must come to understand how valuable mistakes truly are and that when people make mistakes their brains are growing (Boaler, 2015). 

Some suggestions for encouraging students to have a positive outlook on making mistakes include: 

1. Having students present their mistakes to the class so that everyone can learn from them. Odds are that someone made the exact same mistake! (Boaler, 2015).
2. When students get something incorrect, respond with: "your brain just grew! Synapses are firing, thats really good!" (Boaler, 2015).

Thanks for reading!

Until next time...

Nicole 

References
Boaler, J. (2015). Setting up Positive Norms in Math Class. Youcubed at Stanford University. retrieved from: http://www.youcubed.org/wp-content/uploads/Positive-Classroom-Norms2.pdf