Category Archives: edushare

Mathematics and creativity?

Type 1 diabetes, maths and me

Maths is my life. And no, this isn’t me saying that I love maths, sitting myself down to do Pythagoras equations or algebra every day. What I really mean by this is: Type 1 diabetes.

Rewind back exactly three years. After weeks of a vigorous cycle of drinking>peeing> constant sleeping and in the end, fainting, I finally went to see my GP to get blood taken to find out what was wrong with me (this might be a good time to add how much I despise blood and needles!). Also, I had been in complete denial and actually quite proud that I was drinking more fluids. Three days later, I received a phone call telling me to go immediately back to the GP to find out my results. At this point, I was still unsure of what it could even be. It’s not like it would be anything too bad, right? Wrong! The doctor did a few extra tests and when the result came back she sat in silence for ages (well, what seemed like ages) and then told my mum to take me straight to A&E.

Little did I know when I walked myself into hospital on Thursday 23rd of October 2014 that I would never walk out ‘recovered’. My first night could be considered to be the worst night of my life. I cried so much I was literally unrecognisable due to how swollen my face was. I had two drips inserted in the inner joint of both my elbows which meant that I could barely move, let alone sleep. On top of this, every hour I had someone prick my finger to find out my blood sugar (I was surprised I had fingers left to prick), I was also hooked up to a heart monitor and blood pressure monitor that squeezed my arm constantly making it feel like it would fall off! Oh, and don’t forget to add into the equation all my previous symptoms, a few drunk people in A&E and a terrified 17-year-old in hospital for the first time and… voila! As I said, the worst night of my life.

After my very long night, the diabetes consultant came to pay me a visit and gave me the ‘present’ of officially diagnosing me with Type1 diabetes. Now, remember that fear I had of blood and needles? Well, I had to conquer that fear ASAP. The doctor informed me that I would have to check my blood sugar at least 7 times a day and inject myself insulin on average 4 times a day. So, what was the first thing I did? That’s right, I cried even more. I even made the doctor cry for the first time when diagnosing someone… quite impressed with that one, to be honest!

I spent the rest of the weekend trying to get my head around my diagnosis and being taught the ins and outs of controlling my blood sugar. I was amazed watching the nurses and doctors calculating how much insulin was needed in order to bring my blood sugar back down to a normal range. I was discharged on the Monday and, although the original symptoms were no longer there, I was still walking out of that hospital with a condition I would never live without. Something I still struggle to come to terms with.

You are possibly wondering what I was thinking when I was diagnosed. Firstly, what is diabetes? Let’s get something straight. I didn’t cause it by eating too many sweets! There are many forms of diabetes and I am sure you have heard of at least one. Type 1 and Type 2 are most common. Here are the basics: Type 1 is an auto-immune disease, where the body’s own immune system destroys the insulin producing beta cells in the pancreas and is normally diagnosed in children or adolescents. People with Type 1 have to inject themselves with insulin to compensate for the ‘death’ of their pancreas. Type 2 can be caused by many things including lifestyle and is characterised by the body losing the ability to respond to insulin, often medication is enough to help. Both types of diabetes can cause serious complications if not treated properly.

Secondly, what exactly is insulin? Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas which converts carbohydrates into energy, when the pancreas stops making insulin it causes the blood sugar to rise dramatically. As the body is no longer getting energy from carbs, it starts to convert fat into energy. This is extremely dangerous as it develops ketones, which is a breakdown of fatty acids in the blood. Most Type 1’s are diagnosed when they are in ketoacidosis, myself included. Ketoacidosis can be fatal and can end with the person in a coma. I am so lucky to have been diagnosed just before it got that far.

So, where is the maths?

As I mentioned earlier, my life with diabetes is surrounded in numbers, ratios and equations. Let’s start with numbers. As a ‘T1D’, I have to inject insulin in order to keep my blood sugar between the ideal range of 4-7mmol… but it’s not as easy as it sounds. I must take insulin whenever I have a meal with carbs (normally 3 times a day) but depending on how many carbs I have in each meal, I have to adjust the number of units of insulin I give myself.

So, many foods (and drinks) have different amounts of carbohydrates and it also depends on how much of that food you are eating! For my injection’s I have a ratio which is 1 unit of insulin to every 10 carbs I eat (1:10). Basically, if I had a meal with 50 grams of carbs I would inject 5 units. Having to measure the amount of carbs is the tricky part as it means using the nutritional information which is normally given in carbohydrates per 100 grams of food or sometimes per serving. This means I often have to do an equation to work out how many carbs I am going to eat by adding up the different types of carbs on my plate e.g. rice, potatoes and vegetables. On top of this, some foods with carbohydrates can easily put my blood sugar into the 20’s, which means if I calculate my food wrong I could end up much too high and having to do another injection to bring my blood sugar back down. This means a correction ratio is given, for example 1 unit of insulin drops me 2 mmol (1:2). Something that makes taking insulin even more complicated is If I go below 4mmol I am in danger of having a hypo which means I do not have enough glucose in my body to fully function. This can make me feel shaky, confused and sweaty. When I have a hypo, I need to take some fast-acting carbs (something sugary) to bring my blood sugar back up quickly as if it goes too low it can cause a seizure. Keeping blood sugar between 4-7mmol is a complete balancing act when so many things other than carbs can also contribute to it rising and falling including exercise, hormones and stress. This makes Type 1 diabetes a total roller coaster of highs, lows, carbs and of course, maths.

The Discovering Mathematics module has completely opened my eyes to the fact maths is all around me and reminded me that I use it every day of my life! I am so thankful to have a profound knowledge of fundamental maths as without it, I would not be able to physically keep myself alive.

Example of a slightly bumpy roller coaster day! Mostly kept within the range which is what is important.

To date, in the three years of living with T1D, I have on average, given myself 4,380 injections and pricked my fingers 6,570 times to find out my blood sugar. Type 1 diabetes is a condition that affects me physically and mentally. In fact, only recently have I felt more in control of my diabetes and it is all because of my new blood sugar monitor. A new technology that allows me to scan a sensor on my arm to find out my blood sugar instead of pricking my poor fingers and also traces my BS continuously for me to see (let’s not get started on the maths that must be involved in that!). I am so lucky to have the love and support I receive from my friends and family who make sure I never feel alone in my life journey.

Example of ideal blood sugars at certain times of day, the ’58’ is different way of measuring BS and is the healthiest average over three months.

additional information:

https://www.diabetes.org.uk/In_Your_Area/Scotland

Maths anxiety in children

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Maths anxiety

Heart beats faster and faster. Sweaty palms. Puzzled and confused. Everyone has some type of fear or anxiety. Imagine how you would feel when being faced with a maths question that leaves you in this state, the cause? Maths anxiety.

What is maths anxiety?

Maths anxiety is defined by Mark H. Ashcraft (2002) as ‘a feeling of tension and anxiety that interferes with the manipulation of numbers and the solving of mathematical problems in ordinary life and academic situations’. This shows that people not only suffer from anxiety when faced with a maths question, but due to the maths affecting aspects of our everyday lives, it can affect some people constantly. Now, of course everyone can have a different level of anxiety and it doesn’t always stop some people from doing well in maths. It is also possible to conquer maths anxiety and I will mention some of the ways teachers and parent can help children who suffer from it.

Does maths anxiety affect performance?

Well to this I ask: What came first, the chicken or the egg?

Random question, I know! But this theory can be applied to maths anxiety and performance in maths. And of course, there isn’t a clear-cut answer for this either. What came first? Ma (1999) provides evidence that people who suffer from maths anxiety are more likely to perform more poorly during assessments than those who do not suffer from it. Where it gets confusing is that we don’t know which caused which. Anxious thoughts could be what causes poorer performance in maths or it could be that struggling with maths causes anxious thoughts about mathematics. I personally feel it is my difficulty with maths that has stemmed my anxiety and this can be traced back to primary as there are some fundamental area of maths that I never got to grips with which meant anything that was built on top of these area as I got older I was anxious about and had no confidence. However, others may experience it the other way around for example if they go to school with a fear of maths from listening to people at home being negative about it, this may affect the from the start.

How will I defeat maths anxiety in my future classes?

Involvement: Ensuring parents are actively involved in helping their child with maths is proven to improve children’s success with maths. If a child sees their parent has a good relationship with maths, this will help them to have a better perception of it.

Positivity: As a teacher, I will ensure I use positive language surrounding maths and children’s abilities. Making sure children are not under pressure to answer questions they may not be confident about in front a whole class so that anxious feelings and loss of confidence never happen. I will also make sure to celebrate improvements and give assurance for any struggles they may have.

Fun and relevant lessons: Making lessons fun and relevant will allow children to realise that maths isn’t just a subject you need to learn for school. Highlighting that it is all around us in our everyday lives will motivate children to put more effort in to learn. Active lessons eg. groups competing against one another are great ways for children who are less confident working individually to learn from their peers. As there are no specific children in the spotlight it allows them to enjoy the activity without worry. Even adapting lessons around specific children’s interest eg. football or dancing, will engage them more and make them want to learn. Making sure to eliminate gender stereo types for future jobs by showing both genders achieving any many professions.

Building knowledge slowly: Rote learning is often looked down on these days, however, I am someone who wishes I did learn some of the basics by rote to ensure they were instilled in my mind. Timetables were always an aspect of maths I never knew ‘off by heart’ and it caused to struggle with many other aspects of maths that depended on confidence with times tables. Therefore, with my class I would ensure that children are confident in fundamental maths so that building further knowledge isn’t daunting. Going slow doesn’t mean a child is bad at maths but it ensures they have thorough understanding before moving on which will, in the long run, make them more confident.

Mistakes are allowed! Children must realise that maths is not all about getting every answer correct all the time. The process of solving the problem is just as important. My maths exams in school are what taught me about the importance of this, as one maths question could be worth 5 marks and within those 5, the correct answer was only worth 1 mark. Maths is about being able to process problems and being able to apply these skills to many different questions within maths or even real-life situations. The more pressure a child puts on their self to always be right, the more anxious it will cause them to be. It is also a good way to show all the alternative ways there are to find an answer to one question and all of them are correct if it leads you in the right direction.

(Taken from www.MathsInsider.com)

As a committed, professional developing teacher at university, I am determined to work hard over the next few years and freshen up my maths skills to ensure my past and current feelings of maths anxiety do not affect the children in my classes. After writing this blog post I have already given myself an open mind and confidence in myself that I can do it! I want to teach children, the way I have mentioned above, to be confident in maths concepts and problem solving with the hopes that anxiety will never affect them.

References

Ashcraft (2002). MATH ANXIETY: PERSONAL, EDUCATIONAL, AND COGNITIVE CONSEQUENCES. Current Directions in Psychological Science 181-185.

Ma (1999). A META-ANALYSIS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ANXIETY TOWARD MATHEMATICS AND ACHIEVEMENT IN MATHEMATICS. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 30(5). 520-40.

Mukisa, C. (2017). 8 Practical Ways to Conquer Your Child’s Math Anxiety | Maths Tips From Maths Insider. [online] Maths Tips From Maths Insider. Available at: http://www.mathsinsider.com/conquer-math-anxiety/ [Accessed 25 Oct. 2017].

the Guardian. (2017). The fear of all sums: how teachers can help students with maths anxiety. [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2015/nov/17/how-teachers-help-students-maths-anxiety [Accessed 25 Oct. 2017].

The mysterious brown envelope..

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On Tuesday the the 20th of September all Education, social work and CLD students came together for our very first ‘values’ lecture. The lecture focused around the three levels of ‘bias’ and how to overcome these to make the unconscious conscious. We were also shown a video to exemplify how social structure plays a big part in unconscious bias which was very interesting and brought to light exactly what was meant.

By 4 o’clock it was time for the workshop. I was very apprehensive as to what would be involved in the workshop as this was my first one of the term. To begin with, we were asked to organise ourselves into groups depending on our birthdays and we were all numbered then split into groups according to the numbers. I was group number 1 woohoo! (at the time I didn’t realise quite how lucky I was). We all sat down at our table and each group was given a mysterious brown envelope that we had to wait to open. As our curiosity grew more and more, Carrie told us we had to use the contents of the envelope to make something which would help a new first year student at the University of Dundee. As we were all in this boat a few weeks ago, we thought it would be easy, depending on the contents of course!

FINALLY!! we were allowed to open up the envelope. Lots of coloured card, envelopes, post-its, paperclips, rubbers, pencils and pens fell out. My heart started racing as this felt all too familiar to the day of my interview and how nerve wracking that was when we were working in groups and trying so hard to gain a place on this course. I reminded myself that I was in the workshop to learn, to have fun and not to worry so much. Anyway, Carrie kept coming over to tell us how great the resources we had were. This in turn, surprisingly, made us feel like the idea we had wasn’t as good as it could be and maybe we should think of a different one. However, Carrie supported us all the way through the idea of a welcome pack full of maps, phone numbers, pens, pencils and rubbers and told us it was amazing. We still doubted ourselves but we weren’t going to change it after such a good response. By the time we finished we ended up with a surplice of the materials, we were surprised when a girl from another group came over to ask if she could trade a paper clip for a rubber as we assumed everyone had equal resources. However, when she saw we had lots of paperclips she realised we wouldn’t need another and ran back to her group before we could even resond. Unbeknown to our group, each other group progressively had less and less items. Even though I thought all their ideas were great, Carrie gave them a lot less positive feedback even to the point where she gave group 4 no attention at all. An underlying murmer began to take over the classroom as we were shocked at the way Carrie treated each group so differently even knowing though she knew of the different circumstances. Once we realised the girl that had come over was from group 4 we felt extremely bad as they really needed the resources that we had left over. This shows that you must help people even if you have no idea about their situation. Carrie then went on to tell us that the whole workshop and the way she was acting was all fake!

It was revealed that the workshop was all about demonstrating the importance of equality. We spoke about how in every day life, all children have access to completely different materials whether it be the latest technology to the most basic teddy. Every one comes from a different background and it is so important to treat everyone as an equal with the same values and to try to remind others of this. We even took it as far as to discuss inequality between ‘rich’ and ‘poor’ countries, each group was able to represent a different country with how many resources they had. This really brought it home to us as we realised inequality is all around us; places and people are being treated just as group 1 were in real life. Linking back to the lecture in the morning, it is also important not to let your unconscious bias allow you to treat people differently, this is why it is extremely important for people to make their unconscious conscious.

This workshop will have a lasting effect on me and I will be sure to use it for a lesson to teach the importance of equality as I feel it got the message across extremely well. I am still thinking of many examples of inequality. It has made me very aware that in this modern day it happens all around us. Hopefully we will be able to change that, even if it is just treating others and the children in our classes as equals and also teaching them as much as we can on the subject.

This video has also given me more insight and thoughts on it:

Why Teaching?

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Today in our IT input, we were taught about the importance of our eportfolio and how essential reflection will be throughout our whole career. A great way to combine both is by making a blog which we all created together as a class! I’m so glad we did this as I would never have managed my self.

For our first blog post we were asked the question “why teaching?”. I have wanted to become a primary teacher for as long as remember, very cliché I know! I was that little girl who would line up all her dolls, make a fake register and pretend to be the teacher for hours on end never getting bored. On top of this, my experience at primary was amazing! I loved all my teachers, my classmates, my lessons and I was gutted when I had to grow up and go to high school. I hope to give my future classes the same experience I had and allow them to actually enjoy learning. After volunteering in a school for the last year it truly confirmed that teaching and Inspiring children is exactly what I want to be doing, it just felt so right. Witnessing a child struggling with something then helping them to understand and have that ‘lightbulb’ moment is one of the most rewarding feelings for me. I really felt like I played a big part in the children’s lives last year and the relationships I created I will never forget.

I am so excited to be at the beginning of my journey of becoming ‘Miss Edmond’ at the University of Dundee and I’m looking forward to the challenges that the next four years (and the rest of my career) holds for me. I am also happy to have the opportunity to use a blog for our eportfolio, I feel that already I am reflecting on my past and beginning to think about what i want to improve and achieve in the coming months, years and beyond.