“When are we ever going to use this”? Why do we need to know this”? “Is this right?” Those are just some of the inevitable questions teachers (especially math teachers!) hear almost daily. (We know what you are thinking....”Never! Not my kid!”) Of course, as teachers one of our tasks is helping students learn to be critical thinkers and to ask questions that helps deepen understanding. But how can students understand the concepts of compound and simple interest when savings accounts are antiquated? (“What???”, “The bank gives you money??”, “Wait, I have no idea what you are talking about”- Yes, those are direct quotes from some of our 7th graders).
On Tuesday, Ms. Bloom and Mrs. Sheinfeld attended a day long conference on making math relevant and contextual to students. Relevance and real life context provides a motivational push for students to think critically, solve problems and develop perseverance. Math experiences where children have to “stop and think” create opportunities to undo common misconceptions about numbers, connect math with real life situations, seek “reasonable” answers, and to transfer and apply the information learned to varied situations.
