Reflection on the Simulated Teaching

Well, we are glad that our simulated teaching was conducted successfully. Getting to work as a big group was indeed a fruitful yet challenging experience for us.

We had chosen year 3 'multiplication within the times table of 6,7,8,9' as our topic. Therefore, in order to ensure full participation from the pupils, we had come out with a series of activities that we deemed were captivating and able to allure the pupils' interest.

The lesson kicked off when Asmah and Nurhayati introduced the topic of the day. We had hidden a few papers (with multiplication questions) under some pupils' chairs and those pupils had to answer the questions written on the papers. We considered it as a good way to begin a lesson as it will keep pupils attentive throughout the lesson. However, we were reminded by Mr Shahul that we should arrange the questions according to the level of difficulties (from easy to difficult). Therefore, our questions should be arranged like this:

1) 8+8 = 16 ---> 8x2=16

2) 7+7+7+7 = 28 ---> 7x4= 28

3) 6+6+6+6+6= 30 ---> 6x5=30

Our lesson then moved on with a singing session. We perceived it as a good way to draw pupils' attention. We had modified the 'old macdonald song' to 'multiplication song'. Overall, we felt that this session was quite effective as it helped pupils to memorize the times table in an easier and less stressful manner.

Next, we had also incorporated the element of cooperative learning in our lesson. Most of our activities centered around group work whereby pupils have to work in their own group and compete with other groups. We deemed that it was a good way to reinforce the spirit of team learning. When pupils work as group, they are able to help one another and this will definitely improve their learning. Overall, we noticed that pupils' responses were very encouraging. However, towards the end of the lesson, the class was rather chaotic as pupils went to the front to play the "Penguin Cone" game. We had instructed the pupils to queue up and answer the questions on the monitor. We could see that pupils were really excited and they were able to answer the questions within the allocated time. However, we had failed to notice that we had actually neglected the other groups while this group was answering the questions. Therefore, instead of letting the other pupils sit in their own places, we should have given them some tasks to do. These are certain aspects that we should take note.

Although it was merely a half-an-hour lesson, we had really learnt a lot from this session. Therefore, we hope that we can apply what we've learnt from this session in the future. We hope the same goes to the other groups as well! We should also keep this saying in our mind 'those who dare to teach must never cease to learn"!

All the best!

"Its Show Time!!" -Maths Simulated Teaching-

Hooray! This week was 'Maths Show Time'...Frankly admitting all of us (acting as pupils) had a GREAT time participating in the simulated teaching conducted by our friends. Thumbs up to all the 3 groups that have presented!

As for the first group, they taught about '2D Shapes'-square,triangle,circle, rectangle.Their activities were simply engaging and enthralling especially their shape song-This song indeed trigger a sense of exicetement and fun as well as to remember the names of the 2Dshapes easily.In fact, their creative idea of using plasticines to get the pupils to mould the shapes that they have learnt was indeed effective and practical in which pupils are offered an hands on learning practice to apply what they have learnt regarding 2D shapes through an appealing approach.

Next, the second group presented on the Math's topic of 'Time'.Their teaching of time to the kids were conducted in a simple yet effective manner.In fact it was also taught in a fun and amusing manner that indeed grab our attention.Their last activity on the "Time Game" was simply impressive and enthralling as it involved the pupils to work in groups to read the time and participate in guiding their leader to click on the correct time, thus earning bonus points.We truly had a great time and enjoyed supporting and cheering for our friends.The learning atmosphere was indeed very exciting and cool.Bet the kids will love it too!

Lastly, the third group's teaching topic was about 'Money'.This topic was presented in a very inspiring,practical and relevant manner related to the pupils' daily life situation,The real life examples that they gave was indeed applicable and functional as there was a smooth transition linking the pupils to their daily life occurrences and indirectly tapping on their previous experiences related to money.The activities that were conducted were appealing and enjoyable especially the "Treasure Hunt " game.The game was interesting and engaging as it created a sense of mystery as we hunt for the clues looking for the 'treasure' and working in our groups cooperatively.
Overall, all three simulated teaching were well conducted by each groups and unique in their own ways as well as effective and pertinent to their intended maths topics to be taught.Congrats to all 3 groups.We indeed learnt a lot and had a momentous experience!

Action Research ?? Wondering what is it?

According to Wikipedia, action research is a reflective process of progressive problem solving who led by individuals working with others in teams or as part of a "community of practice" to improve the way they address issues and solve problems in certain aspects. Action research can also be carry out by larger organizations or institutions, assisted or guided by professional researchers, with the aim of improving their strategies, practices, and knowledge of the environments within which they practice. As designers and stakeholders, researchers work with others to propose a new option of action to help their community or country to improve its work practices as being said by Center for Collaborative Action Research.

Kurt Lewin who became a professor at MIT, first introduced the term “action research” in about 1944. Furthermore, in his 1946 paper “Action Research and Minority Problems” he portrayed action research as “a comparative research on the conditions and effects of various forms of social action and research leading to social action” that uses “a spiral of steps, each of which is composed of a circle of planning, action and fact-finding about the result of the action”.

Furthermore, according to (Reason & Bradbury, 2001) action research is an interactive investigation process that balances problem solving actions implemented in a collaborative context with data-driven collaborative analysis or research to understand the underlying causes enabling future predictions about personal and organizational change. After six decades of action research development, many methodologies have evolved that adjust the balance to focus more on the actions taken or more on the research that results from the reflective understanding of the actions.

Our group had been given a task to do an action research about Mathematical problems which we do not decide it yet. Still figured out what topic that our group want to discuss about that can make an interesting Mathematics action research. We hope that everyone will enjoy our topic when we will present it in front of the class and suited with the problems that faced by the teachers in the school. Good luck to my group...=)

Yahoo..another new input-"Lesson Plan!"

Today was a great day. We had learnt about lesson plan and the criteria that made up a good Mathematics Lesson Plan.

A lesson plan is truly an important asset for a teacher as it allows the teacher to gauge the lesson the teacher is planning for the targeted learners as well as is able to fine tune the lesson as the teacher plans on.

Therefore, it is crucial that every teacher MUST have a good lesson plan.
So, just like a Chef needs the best and apt ingredients for his or her own cooking,

a teacher also needs the necessary "ingredients".

Hence, to learn to be the BEST, one must learn from the BEST!

Thus, in the lesson of the day, we learnt a good model of Mathematics Lesson Plan, which is the "7 Step Lesson Plan" by Madeline Hunter.
This is a very good model lesson plan as it consists of 7 important elements for a good lesson plan!
Therefore, this is a very good guide for us to base upon when we write our Mathematics Lesson Plan.

The ironies to Madeline Hunter's "7 Step Lesson Plan" are that Madeline Hunter did not come out with 7 steps but more than 7 elements which she deemed important and crucial. However, these elements were misinterpreted and packaged into a "7 Step Lesson Plan". Besides that, Madeline did not mentioned that every lesson plan must contained all elements. Adding on, there is also misconception that the first few steps within the "7 step" is more important as compared to the rest. However, Madeline empasised that all elements are equally important.

Nevertheless, this Madeline Hunter's "7 Step Lesson Plan" is very vital and popular choice for writing a GOOD lesson plan.

The "7 Step Lesson Plan" consist of

For further readings you can refer to The Madeline Hunter Elements of Effective Instruction

Nevertheless, Madeline Hunter's "7 Step Lesson Plan" is definitely a GOOD MODEL of A GOOD LESSON PLAN.

We have learnt a lot and definitely today's lesson help us a lot in planning and writing out our own lesson plan!

Integration of technology in primary mathematics instruction

Hi everyone!

This is some comments with regard to the topic: integration of technology in primary Mathematics.

Technology has been widely used in the classroom currently to enhance the process of teaching and learning. Undeniably, technology can do wonders to teaching. It adds variety and fun to the classroom. However, how a teacher utilizes and applies technology in the classroom can influence the learning of pupils greatly. Therefore, it is crucial for Mathematics teacher to know how to use and manipulate technology to teach Mathematics effectively. So here are some ideas to guide everyone on how to maximize the use of technology to support Mathematics teaching and learning, hope this can make you and your students Winners in Maths!

1. Power point is the easier tool to use in the classroom. We're sure that everyone of you are well-versed in this!

This is an example of how the teacher uses power point to teach addition. Power point is the easiest tool to use as it allows us to add pictures, sounds, movement and animation. By adding these elements to the slides, it will be easier for teachers to convey the ideas.

2. Internet is also a great technology tool that can be used by Mathematics teacher. We've found an article by Marilyn Western, in which she wrote about tips to use technology in the elementary classroom. One of the tips is the use of Glogster. We've tried it, and trust us, it is amazing!

Glogster at http://www.glogster.com/edu is an attention-grabbing (and FREE) way to get all

kinds of information to pupils.

You can use it as a mean to get pupils to websites, watch videos, and listen to any audio. You can also easily embed a glog in your classroon wiki, blog or website. Or pupils can build their own 'glog' to show what they know. We can even record important Mathematical tips/rules and let Gloster repeat it for us! Cool isn't it? But make sure you chose a cool player to really enhance your audio!

3. Another cool website that we can explore is Goole Earth at http://earth.google.com

We can use some of that excitement to pull in some interesting Maths concepts. For instance, we can use the ruler tool to measure things that pupils find. For example, locate a park, playground, even a shopping mall. Pupils can measure the sides and figure out the perimeter and area of that place. They can even measure the distance between 2 different places.

4. Here are other website which we can use in the classroom:

http://cemc2.math.uwaterloo.ca/mathfrog/main.shtml They provide resources for both kids and also teachers and parents. There are tonnes of interesting Mathematical games there, and it is filled with all the useful information about Mathematics. With this, it enables pupils to learn at their own pace:

5. Video is an effective tool to grab pupils' attention as well. Teachers can just play the video for set induction and we are sure it will be able to keep pupils attentive for the rest of the lesson.

This is one of the videos that we found quite interesting:
We are sure that you can find lots of interesting online Mathematical games for your pupils. We've provided some useful links in our previous posts as well! So, why not use them and bring some fun to the classroom? Chalk and talk is not sufficient and it can't grab all the attention of the pupils.

To sum up, it is indeed very true that technology can help pupils to learn and master Mathematics faster and easier, however, it is important to take note that technology cannot totally replace the role of teacher. Teachers need to be there to guide pupils, and supervise them to ensure that learning occurs. We play an important role in facilitating pupils to learn. Hence, teachers or teachers-to-be out there, be careful not to let technology replaces you!

" More About Problem Solving In Maths...!"

(We would just like to add on...)

Well, the topic 'Problem-Solving in Maths' is definitely a captivating subject matter to ponder upon as we deemed that there are salient underlying factors that constantly encourages our education system to embed the topic 'Problem-solving in Mathematic'...

"Hmm..Why is this so?Have you guys ever wondered?"
Ultimately, as we thoroughly browsed the net..we found the reason behind it! Yeah..
the rationale of having problem-solving in Mathematics are to:

1. Improve pupils' willingness to try problems and improve their perseverance when solving problems.

2. Improve pupils' self-concepts with respect to the abilities to solve problems.

3. Make pupils aware of the problem-solving strategies.

4. Make pupils aware of the value of approaching problems in a systematic manner.

5. Make pupils aware that many problems can be solved in more than one way.

6. Improve pupils' abilities to select appropriate solution strategies.

7. Improve pupils' abilities to implement solution strategies accurately.

8. Improve pupils' abilities to get more correct answers to problems.

(http://library.thinkquest.org/25459/learning/problem/#goals)

"Ahah..so now you know why 'Problem-Solving in Maths' is always there right?"

Oh ya..to the kids out there,do remember to practice, practice and practice problem solving in Maths because...PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT!..

(http://www.ixl.com)
This is a very practical and useful website for kids to practice problem-solving in Maths..Do feel free to visit them..They are indeed funnnn and coooooool....Enjoyyyy....

*Hopefully, we, as future teachers will be able to practice and apply Problem-Solving in Maths in our classroom as effectively as possible and at least achieve the intended aims as listed above...
Good Luck Friends!!