Math Resources In the Classroom

          On Tuesday, we had the opportunity to go through the resources that are available to the teachers of Kindergarten through grade six in Newfoundland. I have to start by saying that I thought it was an excellent activity to allow us to partake in since it gave me exposure to the resources that I knew existed but had never actually looked through. I did see some textbooks and workbooks while on a few observation days but not in all grades. Therefore it was great to do this in a setting where you get the chance to look through all the resources from K-6 to draw some conclusions and make comparisons. 

What did I find surprising after the whole experience? I noticed things that I was surprised in a good manner and then ways in which I was confused as to why certain things or decisions took place.

I'll start with the good : I absolutely loved all the
resources that are available to teachers of Kindergarten and
Grade 1 teachers. These range from a variety of little colourful books, several lap books, teachers' guides, to workbooks (grade 1). As a pre-service teacher who is very interested in teaching these beginning grades, I look forward to the amount of resources that are available to these particular grades. For the older grades, I did like the variety of strategies that are found within the textbook. I can see through the book how many students with different learning styles can grasp a concept, say multiplication, after being exposed to many approaches to do so. I can remember when I was in elementary school, which was not all that long ago, that there was one (maybe two!) way that was taught by the teacher and if you did not get that way, you struggled. By offering a variety of techniques to the learning of a concept, you are opening the doors to more students understanding the concept, as opposing to memorizing the steps within just one single approach. 

Now a few things I was confused about: I did not understand the transition of coloured books from kindergarten and grade 1 to non-coloured books for students in grade 3. Students who are in grade 3 all of a sudden do not need the colourful images that bring pages to life the way they did in younger grades? I found this a little odd and as we learn about the declining attitudes towards mathematics as children become older, I feel like the workbook also matches this decline. Also, I struggled with the idea of no books relating to math once children got to grade three and onwards. There are many books that discuss math which I feel should be included in all grades for students to avail of. 


  In Chapter 4 in our textbook, it discusses how to plan problem-based lessons by following 10 important steps to consider, where it is important to plan a lesson around your students and their needs to ensure that you are planning for all the learners in your class. Therefore, I feel it is important to treat the textbooks (a part of the available resources) as part of a way to teach a big idea and "not to get them to do pages" as our textbook states. It is important not to have the textbook as your only resource but to incorporate many different types into your teaching of mathematics. I thought this approach was more evident in the kindergarten to grade two resources where there was more variety in material but not the case in grade three resources and upwards.