Day 6 (17 August 2013)

Today, we had a special guest speaker, Peggy Foo who came in to the class to share with us insights about learning Mathematics. Like what Dr.Yeap did (Bruner’s theory), Peggy used the Concrete materials to get us started then moved on to Pictorial and finally, the Abstract stage to solving a problem.

In the first problem, Peggy introduced us to the problem with an interesting opening. She was really good at it. Peggy pretended to be a magician and took out a set of play cards (large ones!) and got everyone involved by asking us to spell the number words. I thought that this lesson was somewhat unusual. It creates suspense and engaged the attention of the learners. Though the question (on how she could correctly arrange those cards in place) given was challenging, I was very motivated to find the answers. The challenges were just the right dose and we were eager to be the next ‘magicians’. The participation level was really high.

After experiencing the lesson myself, my top three take away from this lesson is that we should provide different approaches of learning (CPA) to help children of different ability / levels to learn. Secondly, we should give just the right dose of challenges for children. The problem should not be something that is too easy or difficult. The right dose of challenges will motivate and encourage them to want to work on the problem which leads to problem solving, cultivating thinkers. Lastly, teacher should try to make the lesson as interesting as possible. This would engage the learners and encourage them to learn.

This is another lesson we did today – visualization

My take away from this lesson:

1. Peggy introduced the ‘See’ , ‘Think’ and ‘Wonder’ table to the class. This thinking routine scaffold for one’s learning. It is a helpful tool as it breaks things down (step by step).