Patterns

Learning about patterns is a basic skill that all kindergarten and first grade students work on. There are so many activities which can help student grasp the concept of easy and then more complicated patterns. Last winter I found this free Skittles pattern students could practice on. It was helpful to guide my students in this process, then go around and assess their patterns.

Recently I learned that music and math go hand-in-hand, especially when teaching about patterns. I came across a very interesting article while taking a creative process course. In Patterns of Music (and article published in the Young Children January 2012 edition), I learned that infants recognize patterns—be it a heart beat, being rocked or patted, or a song. As they grow, toddlers become attached to songs that have patterns, such as Old McDonald Had a Farm.  By kindergarten, children are learning that patterns can be complex.

The Patterns of Music article gave an example of a line up song in which the students go through the colors in a repeated song. Those students wearing a shirt of that color would line up when their color was named.  The song was easy for the students to learn because it followed a very predictable pattern. Students didn't even realize they were doing math through the line up song!

Change in Perspective

I had not expected it. When I enrolled in the college class, “Math for Elementary Teachers I” I expected to learn how to teach elementary math. Yet the math in the text book, the math on the quizzes and the tests felt impossibly hard. Why? I would never be teaching these difficult questions to an elementary class. Emotions were on the rise—confusion, bitterness, low self-esteem, and frustration. Had I enrolled in the wrong class? (I actually checked). Was this a large neon sign blinking,

“YOU ARE NOT CUT OUT TO BE A TEACHER!”?

At about 1:30 in the morning, I found myself paging through that evil math text book. What had I missed? I wanted to know why. Why such difficult math questions? Then, that sweet, glorious light bulb moment. My answer was in the preface. You know, that part of the book that no one reads. There was actually a note meant just for me—“To the future teacher.” My frustration at difficult math problems is similar to the frustrations elementary students feel when they struggle at understanding math. This course will hone in on my creative problem solving skills and teach me to explain why math methods work or don't work for certain problems. In this video, a teacher is using questions to aid her students in developing problem solving skills. (The sound is a bit off in the video but it is still very interesting).

In his video, “Stop Teaching Calculations, Start Learning Maths!” Conrad Wolfram points out that there is a disconnect between the way math is taught and how math is used in the real world. There is a new movement in the way we teach math. It is exciting to be a part of that change! But are we ready as teachers to really help students figure out what works or doesn't work to solve problems, and why? It is our job to shape these little beings into future, expert problem solvers.

The level of difficult for that math course has not changed.  However, I'm learning problem solving skill I never mastered in school. By mastering it, I will create new generations of expert problem solvers. And that change in perspective has made all the difference!