Reflection on chapter 7

After reading the chapter, it brought me back to the days where I had attended a mathematic module in Australia for 3 months. I was first introduced to the use of calculators in the classroom during the first lesson and I was amazed by how they had integrated and implemented the calculator as a tool and part of the curriculum. The textbook has clearly depicted the same effectiveness and how calculator act as a tool to aid in children's understanding of the concepts such as counting on, counting by twos or threes and improving their oral counting or pattern identification (Van De Walle, 2009, p. 113).

I remembered vividly that one of the example that I was shown  a video in which calculator was used as a tool to teach the concept of place value and counting on. Kindergarten children were asked to observe the patterns in the number as they add 1 number to a value continuously. Many children stopped at the value of a thousand. when the teacher asked what they had noticed, many of them replied that they notice that the place of tens would only change when the numeral in ones reaches 10. The same goes for the thousands and hunderds. Also, they were able to identify the number of numerals makes hundreds, tens and thousands. For instance, one children explained that if there are three numbers, it means that the place value is hundreds.

Thus, I definately agree that using calculator and technology should be integrated into mathematics for young children as we are in the 21st century and technology will always be part of our lives just like the use of a calculator.

one particular activities / tool that I found on the websites that I  like very much:

I like the video that showed place value centers:

 http://www.learner.org/vod/vod_window.html?pid=873

This is because I feel that the activities shown in the video is creative, fun and engaging at the same time. The concept of place value is constantly reinforce and the children were able to grasp the concept completely. I especially like the measurement of their friends and items in the classroom with an inventory sheet for them to write down the answer. This is because the children not only learn the concept, they also make use of team work and problem solving skills to complete their task on hand. This is something that I will like to have in my classroom whereby children foster independent learning.

The tool that I very much like is called concentration :

http://illuminations.nctm.org/ActivityDetail.aspx?ID=73

I like this game as it allows children to use their prior knowledge and concentration to play the game. Also, it reinforces concepts and allows children to play in pairs or alone. This game allow children to match numbers according to their spelling, or items representations or depending on the children. They may even select other concepts such as shapes and fraction to play with. Thus, I have chosen this game as I feel that it is engaging and encourages children to facilitate their thinking skills as they play.

Therefore, technology enhances the extent of content and concepts that student can learn and provides opportunities for children to attempt a variety of  challenging problems (Ball & Stacey, 2005; NCTM Position Statement, 2008; Van De Walle, 2009, p.111).