Overview on: Real and Relevant Mathematics: Is It Realistic In The Classroom

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Overview on Real and Relevant Mathematics Is It
Realistic In The Classroom

• By Angela Stoltenberg
• Math 111/ 12-11-08
• Project 4

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Real Mathematics

• All to many times we hear children and teachers
  complain that mathematics is useless and that
  they will never use it in the real world.
• It is hard for children to connect math to that
  world. Therefore they feel that is not needed .

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Real Mathematics

• As teachers we need to prepare students to meet
  the demands of mathematics and that is does have
  a connection to the world.
• The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
  States, The need to understand and be able to
  use mathematics in everyday life and in the
  workplace has never been greater ( page 4).

• Real mathematics is different from the
  mathematics that children obtain from school.
• Schools use textbooks and the chalkboard,
  although this technique is useful and it will
  help them deal with situations outside the
  classroom there are some issues that come up.
• An issue is area problems. Most problems are set
  to the scenario of carpeting or tiling a room,
  many children become disinterested with the
  problem because they really dont care about
  carpeting a room.
• Thus the article says that says that, While the
  task is placed in context, the context is not
  relevant or of immediate interest to children (
  page 5).

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Adding Relevance and Reality to the Mathematics
Diet.

• As teachers we should be bringing a sense of
  realism to relevance to the classroom,
• However it is not easy, every classroom is
  different and intertwined in that are the
  children who are interested in other things also.
  
• Some children find it hard to connect with math
  or find any meaning that would have relevance to
  them.
• This diagram to the right shows how the
  mathematical movement sees how math should be
  taught and looked upon.

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Adding Relevance and Reality to the Mathematics
Diet.

• Make sure that when planning a situation to
  explore it is going to be interesting and an
  open ended task. For example investigating
  patterns and shapes when names are written on a
  grid.
• Ask questions about every aspect of the task they
  were asked to do. Ask them to predict outcomes
  and describe stuff.

• Open task can be used to help children pose their
  own questions.
• It eventually helps them to investigate thus
  making it more real to them and then they can
  connect to it.

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Devising activities/ Children's Interests

• The teacher should devise a planning chart that
  he/she feels will be useful and purposeful in the
  classroom
• The article says to devise a chart of activities
  that have meaningful context and plan your
  lessons around that.

• Discover what your classroom is interested in.
• Ask questions , take surveys and hand out
  questionnaires.
• This data taken can be used for mathematical
  purposes in your classroom.
• For example graphing.

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Integrated Units of Work

• Use mathematics in other learning areas.
• For example when measuring growth and change in
  science or in art when you are learning about
  symmetry.

• When finding out about ourselves you can use math
  by taking down data.
• Even going to the grocery store can act as a math
  lesson.
• Finding teachable moments is very important to a
  child's education.

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Conclusion

• Taking down the wall that children and adults
  have perceived about math is difficult.
• Connecting it to real life has only been
  partially successful but if we continue to
  connect students to the realness of math we have
  a better chance of engaging them.
• And making sure they use the use the skills they
  have attained to explore and solve problems.