1. By Angela Stoltenberg Math 111/ 12-11-08 Project 4

2. Real Mathematics  All to many times we hear children and teachers complain that mathematics is useless and that they will never use it in the real world.  It is hard for children to connect math to that world. Therefore they feel that is not needed.

3. Real Mathematics  As teachers we need to prepare students to meet the demands of mathematics and that is does have a connection to the world.  The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics States, “ The need to understand and be able to use mathematics in everyday life and in the workplace has never been greater” ( page 4).  Real mathematics is different from the mathematics that children obtain from school.  Schools use textbooks and the chalkboard, although this technique is useful and it will help them deal with situations outside the classroom there are some issues that come up.  An issue is area problems. Most problems are set to the scenario of carpeting or tiling a room, many children become disinterested with the problem because they really don’t care about carpeting a room.  Thus the article says that says that, “ While the task is placed in context, the context is not relevant or of immediate interest to children” ( page 5).

4. Adding Relevance and Reality to the Mathematics Diet.  As teachers we should be bringing a sense of realism to relevance to the classroom,  However it is not easy, every classroom is different and intertwined in that are the children who are interested in other things also.  Some children find it hard to connect with math or find any meaning that would have relevance to them.  This diagram to the right shows how the mathematical movement sees how math should be taught and looked upon. EXPLORING :Children actively explore and investigate a situation together Explaining: Children describe and explain their methods and findings. Reflecting: Children and teachers consider what has happened, what has been found out and where it connects to knowledge. Recording: Children write, draw, model, etc, their findings and experiences.

5. Adding Relevance and Reality to the Mathematics Diet.  Make sure that when planning a situation to explore it is going to be interesting and an open ended task. For example investigating patterns and shapes when names are written on a grid.  Ask questions about every aspect of the task they were asked to do. Ask them to predict outcomes and describe stuff.  Open task can be used to help children pose their own questions.  It eventually helps them to investigate thus making it more real to them and then they can connect to it.

6. Devising activities/ Children's Interests  The teacher should devise a planning chart that he/she feels will be useful and purposeful in the classroom  The article says to devise a chart of activities that have meaningful context and plan your lessons around that.  Discover what your classroom is interested in.  Ask questions, take surveys and hand out questionnaires.  This data taken can be used for mathematical purposes in your classroom.  For example graphing.

7. Integrated Units of Work  Use mathematics in other learning areas.  For example when measuring growth and change in science or in art when you are learning about symmetry.  When finding out about ourselves you can use math by taking down data.  Even going to the grocery store can act as a math lesson.  Finding teachable moments is very important to a child's education.

8. Conclusion  Taking down the wall that children and adults have perceived about math is difficult.  Connecting it to real life has only been partially successful but if we continue to connect students to the realness of math we have a better chance of engaging them.  And making sure they use the use the skills they have attained to explore and solve problems.