Weekly Intro
The big take away for me from the intro was the possibility of including math into sports. Having both a sports and a math background, I thought of how passing a hockey puck, while moving, towards a moving target, can be linked to math. In badminton I teach words such as diagonal, perpendicular, parallel, and arc among others. Golf uses many calculations, from wind to ball position, distance and percentages of effort on used on the club. You could know all there is to know about a certain sport, but the element of chance will always play a big factor. I imagine all of these up and coming sports betting websites are making mountains of profit, as the gambler may feel like they can predict the outcome of an event based solely on odds.
Videos
The videos this week each offered interesting concepts of using dance and rhythm in math class. The TEDx talk with Erik Stern and Karl Schaffer had many usable bits for potential lessons. Their simple act of embodied symmetry would be a useful activity for an intro to symmetry. I liked most when they talked about how we learn. How embodying the problem is memorable, social, creative, making the mathematical ideas accessible. This alone persuades me to rethink my lesson plans to include more embodied learning.
Activity
For the activity portion, I tried the rhythm game as a warmup to our math class. Any time that the students can push the desks and use the space in a non-traditional manner is an exciting time for them. They had fun with the activity, and came up with a variety of different movements that I had not anticipated. I would include a video, but I am not comfortable sharing their pictures and faces. Trying to tie it with the grade 6 math curriculum proves harder for me, unless I'm looking at the PE curriculum in incorporating dance. In my observations, students typically struggle with memory retention, and this seems to be getting worse as my career progresses. This could be because of tech, and the instant gratification games that many play, or it could be just me shaking my fist at the clouds. Either way, I feel that this activity would help strengthen the child's working memory, hopefully building synapses to help their ability with short term memory over time.
Weekly Reading
The article that I chose was "Mathematics That Dances" by Jim Henle. As the title suggests, the author gives detailed explanations of different ways to incorporate dance with mathematics. Suggestions include math through positions in dance, math through motion (juggling, change ringing, square dancing), and math through locomotion (boxtrot).
The first stop that I had wasn't necessarily about the material that I was reading, but more about the readability of the paper. The author uses a casual style of writing, incorporating humour throughout the text. At one point, he uses a footnote after saying "I learned much later". When searching for the footnote, at the bottom of the page it reads "don't ask" (Henle, 2021). This style of writing, to me, keeps the reader more engaged and perhaps eager to research more works from the author.
My second stop: The intricacies involved in trying to explain dance through the written word often contribute to difficulty in fully understanding the dance. Henle first describes a dance from the Philippines called the Binasuan. His explanations come with diagrams as well, illustrating each step of the dance. I tried the dance out, and nearly dislocated my shoulder. He does reference the YouTube videos, which is highly recommended if you were to try this one at home.
After the week of readings and activities, I was still left with a bit of a sense of disappointment. I was hoping to be able to take some of the activities to my classroom, and really tie in to the math curriculum, but I fell short in finding the right outcomes. This week especially, I am curious to look at students findings in my own group, but also as a class. Were you able to tie an activity into your math lessons?
References:
Henle, J. (2021). Mathematics that dances. The Mathematical Intelligencer, 43(3), 73-49. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00283-021-10091-9
Karl Shaffer Math Buffet: Squishahedron and Tetrahedron (2021, Julia Robinson Math Festival) (2:32)
Hi Pat,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the connection you made from the intro to sports. I had been thinking about how dance might not be an area of interest for all learners. However, incorporating teaching about the mathematics involved in a variety of sports has the opportunity to reach and interest more learners.
Hey Pat,
ReplyDelete“I was hoping to be able to take some of the activities to my classroom, and really tie in to the math curriculum, but I fell short in finding the right outcomes. This week especially, I am curious to look at students findings in my own group, but also as a class. Were you able to tie an activity into your math lessons?”
For my teaching style and preference, regardless of the resource, I rarely ever take it as is. I am not in the classroom right now, next year I plan to be back in for the grade 10 BC rollout. I often find the students need to be prepped for “newish” styles of learning, especially in math. Also, especially the case for the junior high and up age range. I try to give them the heads up and ask for some feedback and try it out again in a couple of weeks.
I do expect to use the ropes and knots at some point next year in high school. I think I’d use it with the following competencies. Visualize to explore and illustrate mathematical concepts and relationships. Represent mathematical ideas in concrete, pictorial, and symbolic forms. Use mathematical vocabulary and language to contribute to discussions in the classroom.
Perhaps in the basic trig ratios to move and compare sides and visualize the ratios as actual lengths. This visual approximation could allow students to estimate the ratios the calculator would give.
I can't enter a pic in the reply. Please see my image of the trig rope and knots on my page.