When you think of the word “geometry”, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Is it colorful shapes and fun pictures like the one above? Or is it a cold, stiff classroom and teacher lecturing about dreaded proofs? I have been a member of the “I hate geometry” club, because my relationship with the subject fell mostly into the second category. Ironically though, when asked what my favorite aspect of math is, my response involves the ways that math appears in our everyday lives- from the shapes that make up houses, to how the sun rises and sets each day. Although I wasn’t conscious of it, THIS is geometry. This week in my CEP 805 course, I looked at geometry from a new perspective, setting aside my dislike for the subject and focusing on what it actually is.
After spending time with the Common Core State Standards for geometry and looking at the standards for each grade, I realized that my Common Content Knowledge, as described by Hill & Ball (2009), of this subject actually spans more content than I initially thought it did. As stated above, my initial thoughts about what geometry content is jump to proofs, postulates, and theorems. But geometry content includes correctly identifying and naming shapes at the kindergarten level, describing the partitioning of shapes using the correct language at the first grade level, finding rows and columns at the second grade level, and so on (CCSSI, n.d.). These standards are the foundations of geometry that make mathematics so exciting for me and many other students, but somehow the excitement of the subject is lost between these young grades and later grades. The first part of my initial thoughts about geometry involved the setting in which it is taught. I thought of cold, stiff classrooms and teachers lecturing. When I imagine the standards of the younger grades as mentioned above though, I picture them being taught with bright colors, comforting settings, and involving lots of play. Hill & Ball (2009) describe this as Knowledge of Content and Teaching in relation to a teacher’s Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching (or MKT). In other words, how teachers teach what their students need to learn. Lee et al. (2020) argues that there is a need to “make room for play and enjoyment in math education” (Lee et al., 2020) and not just in younger grades. A large part of why geometry in older grades is so dreaded is because once content becomes more complicated and students grow older, play disappears in the classroom and teachers turn to less interactive/ creative pedagogies in order to deliver content. There are many reasons for why teachers use particular pedagogies with older students, but the pedagogies that are implemented tend to result in rote memorization. Oldridge (2019) states that “play moves math instruction beyond rote memorization to a more expansive understanding of mathematics” (Oldridge, 2019), which could be a key factor in bringing the excitement back into geometry education for older students and giving purpose to the content. I challenge you to bring the excitement and play back into geometry in your own life with this 2-minute game: How many shapes do you think you can find? Set a timer on your phone for 2 minutes. Start the timer and count how many shapes you see in your direct line of vision. Play with a friend and compare! References: Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI). (n.d.). Mathematics standards. Mathematics Standards | Common Core State Standards Initiative. http://www.corestandards.org/Math/ Hill, H., & Ball, D. L. (2009). The curious - and crucial - case of Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching. Phi Delta Kappan, 91(2), 68–71. Lee, C., Wongkamalasai, M., Thompson, N., & Jasin, L. (2020, January). Designing for playful math engagement across learning environments [Conference Paper]. International Society of Learning Sciences Conference, Nashville, TN, United States. Oldridge, M. (2019, July 24). The playful approach to math. Edutopia. Fdecomite. (April, 2011). Great dodecahemicosahedron [Photograph]. Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/fdecomite/5580577168
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Welcome!Sit back, relax, and enjoy (or don't, up to you)! Archives
August 2023
Categories |