Thoughts on Skemp article:

For me, the three things that made me stop and think were:

(1) The necessity to, more or less, get the right language across when teaching math, because even replacing the character 'x' (multiply) in exchange for 'of' can lead to a mountain of misunderstandings down the road.

(2) Facing the fact that math formulas can be extended in so many different directions, how can we get our students to see that if we give them a formula (like the area of a circle), then they conclude that diameter times 'pi' would work fine, too.

(3) At the end, Skemp digs up a valuable point - should the word "math" be used in schools for purely relational practice, or can we use it for instrumental too? Knowing already there's tons of maths out there, should we be teaching more the path of application, or speak more to theory?

I stand pretty firm with what Skemp writes, because he shows that we can all benefit from looking at something (whatever it is) mathematical from a different angle.

 My mathematical past: in-class exercise on Sept.20

(1) Something(s) that really reached me as a math learner at any age

(2) Frustrations with math learning

(3) A math "teacher" you want to emulate - a role model

(4) A math teacher whose ways you want to avoid


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(1) Well I'd have to say Math 12 was really the point in which I decided to pursue math (or maybe it was grade 11, but somewhere between those years anyways). 


(2) Oh there are many.  Many, many, many!  I think the hardest for me was math proofs, which require a high level of thoroughness for sure!  But that said, grade 11 was NO walk in the park for me, because that was where the curriculum introduced parabolas and the quadratic formula... which yes, does throw lots and lots of students off track :\


(3) My grade 12 math teacher at Lord Byng high school, hands down! Why?  Because he was just so dynamic and had a passion that ultimately made me choose math :)


(4) Probably (no definitely) my grade 9 math teacher.  She sort of just really didn't... know how to teach 14 to 15 year olds.