Base-Ten Blocks (1510)

Base-ten blocks are a great math manipulative that can be used to help students add, subtract, and understand place value. The blocks come in four different sizes as shown in the photo above. Common names for the four different sizes are blocks (1,000), flats (100), longs (10), and cubes (1).

Another use of base-ten blocks is seen during the act of trading blocks. It is important that students understand that one block is equivalent to ten flats, one flat is equivalent to ten longs, and one long is equivalent to ten cubes. Students will become familiar with trading base-ten blocks in order to have the appropriate blocks when representing a number.

I have whitnessed base-ten blocks being used in classrooms a few different times. I was surprised how effective they were in helping students understand place value, addition, and subtraction. The students also seemed to be much more interested in what they were doing, because they were actually working hands on with the blocks. However, I did observe one downside of the blocks with a few students; they were more interested in building with the blocks than using them for math.

Math 1510/1512

I am two weeks into the classes Math for Elementary Teachers 1 & 2. I am very excited to be taking these classes because I feel as though there is so much that I can learn from them. I have started to build a math knowledge base from the chapters in the textbook, while also taking part in class discussions regarding various topics.

Classes such as these are very important and beneficial for individuals such as myself, that are pursuing a career in education. Educators have to know and understand what they are teaching, as well as how to go about teaching it. There is much more than a single characteristic that makes for effective teaching, and I hope to learn about many and put them all together to use today and in my future.

One excellent learning tool that I have had the chance to work with in both of these classes already was emanipulatives. Seeing as this is an online learning class, many of us are unable to work with actual models, blocks, tiles, and other objects in order to explore and solve math problems. The emanipulatives is a sort of virtual manipulative, or the next best thing. It has really helped me to visualize a math problem when I am solving it. There are many great math manipulative websites out there for students of all ages to use at home or even in the classroom.
Here is a link to one of them: http://www.mathplayground.com/math_manipulatives.html