The Real World Presents: Math

As a student I never realized the true depth involved in teaching. We started with the fundamentals: identifying numbers and letters, using them in a sentence, and so on. However that part just sort of… happened. Then, we get into school. We learned simple math and the next year it was a bit more complicated and the next more complicated still but to students, these new concepts and new levels of difficulty are independent from one another. Boy, were we wrong….

Each year the curriculum builds on the required expectations of the year before. Therefore in order to continue our mathematical education we must have a concrete knowledge of the concepts being taught. As teachers, we must ensure we have done our best to cover every expectation and ensure that students have a deep understanding before sending them forward because the moment they miss something is the moment their grasp on any future concepts starts to unravel.

How many times have we all heard the sentence? ‘When will I ever use that in real life?’ or ‘who actually needs math anyway?’

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There are aspects of math that can be considered easy or self-explanatory and therefore can be given less attention than desired in the elementary grades. One of which is integers. Which is problematic because it really is an aspect of math that is used everyday (have you ever checked the temperature?!)

As teacher candidates, we have the ability to read a textbook and sort through information to make sense of a simple mathematical topic such as integers. But for elementary students, it is important that all of the expectations outlined in the curriculum are given the time and energy they require. It is also important that we demonstrate why integers are both important to our continued mathematical education as well as our general day-to-day life!

‘An integer is a whole valued, signed number. It can be positive or negative but can’t be between wholes.’

I myself said, ‘then isn’t an integer just a number?’ But no, there is so much more to know about integers that needs to be understood in order to grasp more difficult concepts taught later on in math. 

The first thing to note is for such a seemingly simple concept is how difficult it can be for students to grasp the addition and subtraction of positive and negative numbers. When I was a student, the word integers always came with a strict set of guidelines that were supposed to prevent the confusions associated with the addition and subtraction of integers. So naturally, I’ve forgotten every rule I’ve ever learned.

Today, a fellow teacher candidate’s presentation on integers was able to very simply clear up my lifelong struggle with understanding equations involving integers while simultaneously proving Pat’s point on the importance of using real life examples in our teaching.

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Adam explained integer addition and subtraction by describing the ups and downs of the average day. He demonstrated how the number of positive and negative experiences you have can be added together and how the number of each impacts your overall mood.

After being taught in this way, I found it significantly easier to sort through the activities related to integers found on CLIPS (Critical Learning Instructional Paths Support). CLIPS is an extremely helpful resource when teaching math because it not only provides instructional activities on the different math units but it also provides mini ‘lessons’ or explanations to help simplify the topics. CLIPS is definitely a resource I would share with my own class in the future! Of course I would only invite the use of this resource once I had used Adam’s technique and ensured students understanding by teaching using real life examples!