Thinking back to some of my years in grade school, I remember how overwhelmed I became during math class when I saw how many different approaches there were to a math problem. It seemed as though the class was shown how to solve a multiplication problem one way, and then the next day we were introduced to a whole new method. Learning numerous methods to solving a math problem had its ups and downs.
Everyone likes options. If you can't seem to grasp the first method, there will always be another method to fall back on. Every student is an individual and unique learner. It is great to provide students with options to choose from.
Providing too many options for students can also have it's downfall as well though. If we were to show students all of the methods to solving a multiplication problem, I am not too sure that they would be able to distinguish between them all after awhile. Maybe there is a happy medium, where teachers can provide their students with options to choose from, but not all of the options. I found one great website that shows videos and describes a few different approaches for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Everyday Mathematics Methods
No comments:
Post a Comment