Response to Readings- Week 1

1. Taking a problem-solving approach to teaching math allows students to form their own ideas and methods for how to solve a given problem, which might not always be the easiest or the more effective way, but at least gets them thinking about the problem and how they see it in their head.

2. I think my experiences regarding math have made me a little more jaded about the way math is taught in schools (especially high school), but also more driven to change the way I teach it, as well as the way my generation of teachers approach teaching it, especially in the higher grades.

3. I think there is a place for both arguments, because even though I feel that the constructivist-oriented approach is probably the best for getting kids to generalize their math skills, there is often not enough time in public school classrooms, and some students do need to at least supplement their learning with a more rote kind of method.

4. Saying that something is easy would probably be more frustrating to the student, although I've found myself saying it automatically at times. It would be better to relate to the student and say, "I had trouble with this the first time too, let me see if I can explain it better," or something like that.

5. The tasks helped the students become able to generalize their math skills to real life situations and be able to explain them to their peers.