Prehistoric Mathematics

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1, 2, 3, 4, 5 is almost everyone’s first memory of maths, the enjoyment of being able to count. However, I have been very naive in my thinking and believed that number systems and counting have been around forever. I have recently discovered that this is not the case.

Some of the earliest evidence of mankind considering mathematically thinking can been seen on marked bones from Africa dating back to around 20,000 years ago (The Story of Mathematics, 2010). It is thought that mankind could identify the difference between having one of something and having two but they had not discovered a way of communicating this through words or symbols. It has been suggested that early mankind made markings on bone to track occurrences such as the phases of the moon, the seasons and time (All Worlds, 2015).

The first steps made towards the mathematical systems we have now were suggested to have been made for bureaucratic needs and the development of agriculture. A shared mathematical system was needing to measure land and work out taxes (The Story of Mathematics, 2010).

This video explains mankind’s first signs of mathematical thinking by looking at the Ishango Bones.

I have read through many articles while writing this post to see if there has been any final determination of what the markings on the Ishango Bones mean, however it is still unknown. The most commonly found assumption I have read is that early mankind were making these markings to track the phases of the moon but again, whether or not this is true is still unknown.

References:

All Worlds (2015) PREHISTORIC MATHEMATICS, Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsLqTfKtpCA (Accessed on: 6^th October 2017)

International Organization for Chemical Sciences in Development (2015), The Ishango Bone. An enduring symbol of mankind’s intellectual progress and a star of archaeology from the heart of Africa, Available at: http://www.iocd.org/v2_PDF/IOCD-IshangoBrochure2015bp.pdf (Accessed on: 6^th October 2017)

The Story Of Mathematics (2010), Prehistoric Mathematics, Available at: http://www.storyofmathematics.com/prehistoric.html (Accessed on: 6^th October 2017)

Daunting Discovering Maths

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Mathematics, one of the scariest words that can be said. I feel that I suffer from maths anxiety and so when deciding to choose the discovering maths elective I felt very nervous about what to expect. However I must say, so far so good.

From my experience of maths at school I always believed, what I now know to be one of the maths myths; it-should-be-easy suggesting not everyone has a maths brain. (University of Alabama, no date). But there was always part of me questioned this, I knew I wasn’t a maths genius; another one of the math myths but I wasn’t terribly awful at maths either, why was this? The past few lectures provided me with the answer to this – I was able to memorise formulas and structures and apply them to mathematical questions.

Another question about my own math experience started to puzzle me, if I was able to apply what I had memorised to basic mathematical questions, why did I always struggle when the format of the question was changed? For example, if the teacher put the question what is 2 + 3 in front of me I could answer within seconds but when it changed to the question “if I had 2 sweets and my friend gave me another 3, how many would I have altogether?” it would take me some time to work out what this question was asking me to do. The answer to this was simple, during my time at school I had very little practical maths lessons. I cannot remember ever having a maths lesson I didn’t realise at the time was a maths lesson or one I even found enjoyable. Boalar (2009) suggest that children, like myself, who have been taught in a very structural way do have a board range of understanding, however this understanding is not deeply engrained so is easily forgot over time. She also suggests that children who have experienced a more practical approach to mathematics were more flexible and so were able to adapt their knowledge to suit the question that was in front of them.

Since starting this module I have realised many potential ways mathematics can be enjoyable for children. I thoroughly enjoyed the latest lecture on making maths creative. Until this lecture I most likely could tell you very little about geometry and I most definitely could not tell you anything about tessellations. However, I know feel my brain is filled with so much more knowledge about these aspects of mathematics and I certainly won’t forget making my own tessellation, I even plan to make some more.

I am starting to see that discovering maths might not be so daunting after all.

References:

Boaler, J. (2009) The Elephant in the Classroom. London: Souvenir Press Ltd.

University of Alabama (no date). Math Myths. Available online at: http://www.ctl.ua.edu/CTLStudyAids/StudySkillsFlyers/Math/mathmyths.htm (Accessed 26th September 2017).

Reflective Practice

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One of the most important moments in semester one for me was preparing with my peer learning group for our collaborative practice enquiry visit. In preparing for the visit we had to create the questions and examples we would like the professionals to answer that would help us to create a final presentation that would fulfil the specified criteria. This was an important of semester one as it was critical that our group worked together to form the questions which would allow us to be successful in completing the module assessment. Had the group not worked collaboratively and understood the different perspective each of the 3 professions then it would have been very difficult to produce questions that would have covered all the aspects that needed to be cover. This was a key moment in my professional development as it showed me how essential it is to take into consideration the views of all three professions so that the best decisions can be made for a child or young person.

The process of reflection is becoming more prominent to me. Reflecting on the collaborative practice enquiry and the work we completed as a group is the reason why I have realised the importance of taking into consideration of all 3 of the professionals views so that the best decision is made for a child and their overall wellbeing. From this I have started to understand the importance of refection in order to understand the reasons for things I will come across in practice. Using the theories provided by theorist like Dewey and Schon, I will be able to come to a greater understanding of reflection and its importance within my practice in order to help me improve myself as a practitioner. Using this information to help me continuously improve is therefore going to help me become a more successful practitioner.

Expressive Dance

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On Friday I took part in my first expressive dance workshop and I was really excited. I have danced since I was 8 and still attend dance classes at this current time. Dance has always been a big part of my life and I feel its something all children should do.

After the workshop we were directed to read a bit of Get Scotland Dancing: A Literature Review and I was quite surprised by some of the figures outlined in the text, especially those about the uptake of dance in Dundee as they were much lower than I expected. This made me realise that dance isn’t as widely thought of and used as much as it could be and it has really inspired me to incorporate as much expressive dance into my teaching as I can.

Having a good background in and passion for dance will really help me in the future when I carry out my own expressive dance lessons as I will have lots of previous knowledge to bring to the lesson. I also have a little experience in taking some dance class which too should help me when carrying out my lessons and hopefully give me some more confidence when delivering the dance curriculum. However I know I will be slightly apprehensive about the size of space available and where about in the school it will be because I have always danced in dance studios and I will worry that I am disturbing other classes. Also I worry that I have a class that do not enjoy dancing and feel I am over-enthusiastic about it.

To overcome my challenges I have set myself a personal development goal. I am going to find the balance between showing my passion and enthusiasm for dance and making sure I have a lesson the children will enjoy fully.

The Importance of the Early Years

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Our health and wellbeing tdt for this week was to watch 2 videos that explained why the first 4 years in a child’s life are the most important. Both videos showed that human babies are actually born prematurely compared to all other mammals due the ever-growing size of their brain. For the babies this means that their brains are still developing when they entre the human world and are influenced by the environment around them. In both videos the speakers talked about the importance of the environment around a baby and this is because brains develop as consequence to relationship. An example given in both videos was about the effects of a child being brought up in a family in which there is domestic abuse. It could be seen that this causes the brain to look for threatening behaviour in all situations and causes very high levels of cortisol, a stress hormone, to surround the brain.

Both videos emphasised the importance of children having a significant other during their early years. Children need consistency in other environments they are in, such as school, as they may have a hectic and inconsistent home life. Therefore, if they had consistency within nursery or school then the brains development will allow the child to have a more successful adulthood as they had a consistent environment in which a significant other showed them care and protection helping their brain to develop in a more positive way.

After watching both videos I am beginning to understand some of the importance of myself as a primary practitioner in a child’s development. These videos have shown me how important it is to have a consistent classroom in which the pupils can feel welcome and cared for, they feel encouraged and supported and most importantly it should be a place where they can be themselves and not have to worry about anything. Providing this environment should help with brain development, especially in the early stages, and help the children to reach their full potential.

Values Workshop

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This week I took part in my first workshop for the values module. Before the workshop I started I was keen to find out what a university workshop was like and what the lectures had in store for us. When Derek announced the task and provided us with a brown envolope I had lots of ideas going around my head and couldn’t wait to begin discussing different ideas with my group. When we saw our materials we decided the best option was to make a personalised guided for new students; we were all very happy with our idea and couldn’t wait to hear what the other groups had planned. However when the other groups started announcing their ideas it was clear to us that we didn’t have the same number of resources as everyone else, some groups had more and another unfortunately had less!

After the discussion we began making our personalised guide out of the little materials that we had and when it was finished we were all very pleased with ourselves. But this happiness did not last long after we seen the praise the first 2 groups were getting for their idea and we were asked if we had copied ours from group one! We were then even more disheartened when we were given a score of 4. Being given such negative feedback made us all feel very disappointed in ourselves and our work; it also make us think that Derek didn’t like us!

When Derek told us it was all just an act we were very relieved but we understood the importance of the task. Taking part in this, and being one of the groups experiencing the negative feedback, showed me how you cannot expect the same standard of results from everyone if not everyone has the same amount of resources to create their result with. This workshop was very valuable and made me realise just how important inclusion and equality are in the classroom.

This was a lesson I will not forget.

Why Teaching?

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There are many reasons as to why I have chose teaching but the greatest one of them all is my passion for learning. I feel it is very important that children learn some of the most essential life skills while they are at primary school. I feel it is the duty of the teacher to ensure that all children within their care are taught key knowledge that will help them achieve their best in the future, as well as giving them life-changing experiences. I chose teaching because I want to help guide our future generations to shape their own individual futures. I feel it is essential to raise the aspirations and opportunities of our young people, this can be achieved through the help and guidance of their teachers’ and so, this is another reason as to why I have chose teaching as my profession. Also teaching is a very rewarding job for the teacher as they are helping future generations become the greatest and most successful people they can be. Being able to help with something that is so important is another reason as to why I have chose teaching. The final reason I have for choosing to be a teacher is that I have a great care for children and thoroughly enjoy working with them; I could not think of any other profession I would enjoy as much as this one.