Real World & Kinaesthetic Learning

Real World Learning
In class this week, my instructor brought in donuts and muffins from Tim Hortons and told us to come up with all the ways that we can use these to teach math. I thought this was a really good way to connect everyday objects to math because really, when you think about it, math is everywhere! After reflecting on this activity, I realized how important it is to connect math in the classroom to students everyday lives so that they have an understanding of the importance of the math we are doing, as well as start thinking about math even when they are not in the classroom. Using real world experiences gets students excited and engaged about the math they are going to do because they are able to connect it with something that is familiar to them. Another way to connect real world situations to student's learning in regards to math could be to take them to a grocery store and have them compare different prices of products compared to how much they weight.  Afterwards, you could take it a step further by having the students design their own grocery store using area and perimeter. 

Kinaesthetic Learning

During the same class, we also learned about teaching the metric system using kinaesthetic learning by teaching students acronyms to know the order of the metric system as well as a song and dance to teach students where the decimal place goes. I really liked this idea as this is how I always learned as a child and I think that allowing students to use kinaesthetic learning is a helpful tool to keep information in their brain. Often, students learn best when they can connect movement to knowledge in order to remember something. It also is a fun way of learning math which will make students less resistance or anxious to think that they must have the information memorized. In my placement this semester, I am teaching my grade 4's and 5's about measurement of units and this will be a great tool to have as they are at an age where dancing, singing and being silly is how they like to learn. It is always important when teaching using this style that the sillier you are the more likely they will remember. Giving students the opportunity to be silly with their learning allows them to have fun with it and is something they will likely never forget.