Promote Positive Math Relationships

"If people do not believe that mathematics is simple, it is only because they do not realize how complicated life is." ~John Louis von Neumann

Here’s an update to the progression of my research and the narrowing of my focus area:

Yesterday I met with an old professor of mine, Jenny Maguire, who was my Mathematics: Curriculum and Instruction in the credential program. She is one of my all-time favorite teachers who perfectly depicts Saint Mary’s constructivist approach to education. She is extremely intelligent and knowledgeable in the field of math, so I thought she could be a great resource for me as I narrow my focus for my research. I told her all of the areas I wanted to look into – math phobia, math-gender stereotypes, inequity in mathematics, representation of different cultures in the field of math, strategies to be an effective math teacher, etc. – and she helped me narrow my focus so that I could become an expert in a particular area and possibly make a REAL contribution to the field of mathematics and to teaching in general. I want to charter in untraveled waters, not just restate what has already been done.

I decided I am going to look into how to give access (both mental and physical) to underrepresented types of learners, cultures, and women in math. I want to look into “relatability” in math and how to promote positive math relationships, not just positive math attitudes. I want children to engage and have a relationship with the math, so my goal is to come up with a small handful of strategies that teachers can use to accomplish this. She also gave me a couple of ideas for experiential sources for my research that I am going to check out – namely, the Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley and the Exploratorium in SF. She said that both have fun, hands-on math activities to engage children.

I am a firm-believer in field trips and outside of the classroom experiences to enhance and expand children’s understanding of a topic, but for my project I think I am going to focus on what can be done in the classroom to give access to students.  Since many schools do not have the resources to take field trips or they are not allowed to, I want to provide those teachers with some specific strategies to use to make math engaging.

I have started reflecting on using games to teach mathematical principles.  I know a lot of educators (especially the “old-school” ones) have a hard time swallowing when children are playing games in the classroom and looking like they are having too much fun.  In the crazy world of standardized test preparation based curriculum, administrators want to see kids cramming and drilling math principles and problems, but who says that is the most productive way to get the information across?  In fact, many studies are starting to show that the extensive time spent on test preparation in the classroom is not only robbing kids of the opportunity to engage with the information and really understand it at a conceptual level, but is not even raising the test scores like it is supposed to. 

Being such a passionate and strong-willed person has its benefits, but I am worried that I will have to be a “yes man” the first few years of teaching before I get my tenure…  I want to make changes to some of the common strategies (or lack thereof) used in our education system.  I hope my passion continues and stays strong but in a manner that is acceptable to administrators because I can’t change much if I lose my job in the first few years of teaching :/  … Just something that’s been on my mind lately…

Response to MAIT 402- Session One

1)      My outside-school experiences have not expanded or deepened my subject area content knowledge.  This is one problem I have with the way I was taught math in school.  Math was never presented to me in a practical way or in any way relevant to my life, so what I learned about math content was only school-based and I never looked for it or connected it to my life outside of school.  This is something I still struggle with as it is so engrained in my mathematical foundation. 

2)      My initial thoughts about the Ball article “The Subject Matter Preparation of Teachers” have not changed based on our class discussion.  For the most part, I think that many of the teachers in the class agreed that knowledge of subject matter is important, but not the only component or main component of teaching.  A teacher that does not have classroom management skills or pedagogical skills will not be an effective teacher, no matter how much content knowledge they have about a certain subject.   As it is said, “with practice comes excellence.”  Well, a teacher with a lot of practice may not be excellent, but he/she should have gathered a vast amount of tools to be an effective teacher.   

In my opinion, the point of an educator (especially in elementary school) is to give children the opportunity to learn information, develop a love for learning, and foster a sense of community and support in the classroom; any teacher with pedagogical content knowledge, hands-on practice, and a passion to teach children should be able to be an effective teacher, no matter if they had extensive college and post-baccalaureate exposure to their subject or not.  I believe that passing the CSET coupled with the preparation in a credential program gives enough content knowledge for educators to start in their field. 

If a teacher has to teach something that they do not remember or do not have strong background knowledge in, he/she can brush up on the topic with the help of colleagues, books, or the internet.  NO teacher is going to know EVERYTHING about their subject matter.  As long as they have a solid foundation, the details and extension of content knowledge can be added in later – pedagogy is what needs to be stressed in teacher preparation programs.

3)      Yesterday I met with an old professor of mine, Jenny Maguire, who was my Mathematics: Curriculum and Instruction in the credential program.  She is one of my all-time favorite teachers – one who perfectly represents Shulman’s “pedagogical content knowledge” and Saint Mary’s constructivist approach.  She is extremely intelligent and knowledgeable in the field of math, so I thought she could be a great resource for me as I narrow my focus for my research.  I told her all of the areas I wanted to look into – math phobia, math-gender stereotypes, inequity in mathematics, representation of different cultures in the field of math, strategies to be an effective math teacher, etc. – and she helped me narrow my focus so that I could become an expert in a particular area and possibly make a REAL contribution to the field of mathematics and to teaching in general.  I want to charter in untraveled waters, not just restate what has already been done.  

I decided I am going to look into how to give access (both mental and physical) to underrepresented types of learners, cultures, and women in math.  I want to look into “relatability” in math and how to promote positive math relationships, not just positive math attitudes.  I want children to engage and have a relationship with the math, so my goal is to come up with a small handful of strategies that teachers can use to accomplish this.  She also gave me a couple of ideas for experiential sources for my research that I am going to check out – namely, the Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley and the Exploratorium in SF.  She said that both have fun, hands-on math activities to engage children.  I am very excited about the development of my research!


(Meg, I responded to Betsy Varellas getmovingintheclassroom.blogspot.com, Alex Iwaszewicz aiwaszewicz.blogspot.com, and Jocelyn Rohan Brodeur jocelynrohan.blogspot.com)

Why am I doing this MAT anyway?

My professor recently asked my class to write a reflection about why we are in the MAT program and what our goals and expectations are for the program.  Here's what I had to say...

One benefit of being the first cohort going through a program [by the way, for all of you who do not know - Saint Mary's has a plethora of highly acclaimed maters programs in its school of education, but this is the first year that they are having a Master of Arts in Teaching program and it is specifically designed for teachers who received their teaching credential from SMC] is that there is no one to tell me what his/her experience was like or what to expect in this program.  I believe that your attitude can affect your experience (positively or negatively), so I appreciated not being influenced by anyone’s past experiences.  I was able to start the program with an open mind and just “roll with the flow.”

There are many reasons why I decided to enroll in this program. 

1)      The first being that I only needed 8 more units of classes to get my masters!  I really appreciated how this particular masters program took into account all of the hard work I put in during my 11 month credential program and then allowed me the opportunity to get my masters during the summer; thereby not having to take another year off work or postpone the beginning of my teaching career. 

2)      I also liked that this Master of Arts in Teaching program was unlike the more common Masters in Education degree.  This program would allow me to extend my knowledge base as a classroom teacher and provide me the opportunity do more practical research – not as much theory of education and philosophical approach (or so I thought!) because I had learned so much of that during my credential program.  I wanted this degree to not just be “academic,” but also affect my day-to-day life in the classroom.

3)      Having the capstone project in place of a thesis paper was also a very attractive idea to me.  I could not only focus my research on the area of study or the question I was interested in, but I would end up with a culminating project based on my research that would be my contribution to the field of education (i.e. website, curriculum, video, manual, etc.)

4)      Lastly, I figured I might as well get my masters now while I am not married and do not have kids.  It is always harder to go back to school later in life and since I was already in the school mindset from the last year of my life, I decided I might as well just keep pushing through!  (And of course, the fact that my dad was willing to foot the bill was an added bonus.  If I decided to go back in a couple of years, I would be the one who would have to pay for it… And Saint Mary’s ISN’T CHEAP – but it’s worth it!) 

My goals for this program are to extend my knowledge and skills as a professional educator and to create a capstone project through research, interviews, and in-classroom work that will be a positive contribution to the field of education.  I want to help fellow teachers understand the struggle that many of their students have with learning math and what strategies they can implement to change the students’ feelings towards this particular subject area.  I think math is feared by so many because it was not taught in an effective manner; many have said that they felt “stupid” when attempting to understand different parts of it.  I also believe there is an overall acceptance of math phobia and math-gender stereotypes that has permeated our culture and continues to be promoted and passed down to each new generation.

I look forward to my upcoming classes as I believe they will make me a better educator and aid me in my great desire to put a stop to this negative stigma towards math!

The job search...

It's no surprise that it is hard for a CA public elementary school teacher to find a job, but I HATE WAITING!!! I have applied to 17 jobs already and there are many more apps that I have yet to fill out...

I always thought I would want to teach the older elementary kids (4th and 5th grade), but after teaching kindergarten last semester, I realized that I want to teach the babies!  It is so much fun to fill their heads with all kinds of knowledge and watch their little eyes brighten up with they figure out things on their own.  I love knowing that their experiences with me as their teacher is setting a foundation for their love of learning for years to come...

An added benefit of teaching kindergarten is the amount of love I get from the children... Both the boys and girls run up with big smiles on their faces every day to greet Miss Baronian.  Also, I got daily proposals and kisses from my boys!  Yes, they actually got down on one knee, pretended they had a ring box open and said, "Miss Baronian, will you marry me?!"  Too cute!  Who needs a husband when I get unconditional love from all of these kids on a daily basis?... It helps me quiet that biological clock that keeps ticking louder and louder as the days pass by! :)

Anyway, back to the job search... Most of the jobs I have applied for have been for K, 1st, and 2nd grade teaching positions and in the bay area, but some are for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade and back in LA closer to my family!

Luckily this masters program is keeping me VERY busy, so I don't have much time to be impatient and worry about when I will get my full-time teaching position... But as I have told many of you before, God ALWAYS hooks it up for me, so as long as I have faith in Him, I know I will have a full-time teaching position by the beginning of this coming school year!  I will keep you all posted about any developments or promising leads.  I am excited to officially have my teaching credential... I am so ready to have my very own class!

The beginning of MAT

Now that I have received my multiple subject teaching credential from Saint Mary's, I am ONCE AGAIN back at SMC for more school.  Obviously they are doing something right, since this is the beginning of my SIXTH year at SMC!

I just started the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program.  The first class (Introduction to Inquiry) was 7 hours long (ON A SATURDAY), but a lot of fun!  I narrowed down my area of study from elementary multiple subjects to elementary math and have come up with a specific area that I want to focus my research and capstone project on.

These are the content and pedagogical content knowledge guiding quesitons that I will use to guide my research:

What contributes to math phobia in children?
Why is there a negative outlook on math?
Why are many children reluctant to learn math?
What is it about fractions, decimals, division, geometry and algebra that scares kids? 
What is "algebra and functions"?  What algebra content is taught K-5?
How is math portrayed in pop culture? Movies? Word problems?
What professions place a heavy emphasis on math?  Are these professions dominated by males?
What can be done in elementary school to end math phobia and math-gender sterotypes in our culture?
Are math-gender stereotypes and math phobia prominant in other cultures?
What is the interplay between math-gender stereotypes, math self-concepts, and math performance?