I see myself as a very sporty person and for some sports know everything about the activity. However, I still failed to notice the mathematics that surrounds them all. Take football for example. I play as a striker for a Sunday league team and through this module I have become aware of how many times maths is used. Firstly, we must be at the match on time. This may seem easy but when you are playing another team outside of Dundee we must estimate how long it takes to get there. This is followed by how costly the journey will be by calculating the miles travelled by each hour. Secondly, each person has a number on the back of their shirt, myself being number 14. Thirdly, we need 11 players for a team plus substitution players which means the manager must make sure they have exactly enough to play. The BBC (undated) states the length of a pitch must be between 100 yards (90m) and 130 yards (120m) and the width not less than 50 yards (45m) and not more than 100 yards (90m). I would not like to be the person having to measure this out. There is also the time of a match which the referee has to count. 90 minutes for a full game with half time being after 45 minutes. So, the next time you watch a game you may start to appreciate that without mathematics you can’t have a game of football. You may even want to think of any mathematics that are involved in any sports that you enjoy to play or watch. I bet you will be surprised just how big a part mathematics plays.

We can also link sport with one of Liping Ma’s (1999. Pg 122) 4 principles which is Connectedness. Connectedness means that teachers teach children maths in a way that can link different mathematical topics together. By weaving them together children can make the connections rather than being confused by individual topics. A good way to do this according to, Goodman and Williams (2000, pg 108) is to set children up in their own classroom sports day. “Many games require keeping score and scoreboards” which can be a good way to get children reading and writing numerals as well as adding and subtracting scores. This gets children involved in maths in a practical way. Mathematical equipment can also be mixed in for good practice, as stop watches can be used for races and measuring tapes can be used for activities such as throwing or long jump. By doing practical maths and linking it with the outside world instead of classroom textbooks, children will begin to enjoy the subject. Especially when they know maths is linked with something as fun as sports. This is something a lot of children do find pleasure in.

BBC. (undated). Pitch Dimensions. Viewed at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/rules_and_equipment/4200666.stm [Available from: 22^nd November 2016]

Goodman, S and William, S. (2000). Helping Young Children with Maths. London: Hodder and Stoughton.

Ma, L. (1999). Knowing and Teaching Elementary Mathematics. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

In one input a quote describing mathematics clearly stood out to me: “a problem-solving activity supported by a body of knowledge” (SOED, 1991, p.3). During my time at primary school I found mathematics very interesting. The notion that each question has a definite answer intrigued me. I liked the idea that stepping stones of investigation, guided us to finding the answer, which lead to us either being right or wrong. However, despite enjoying the subject, some factors of the mathematical lessons I received did create an anxiety towards parts of the subject within me.

To this day I still use my fingers to count, mainly surrounding my times tables. I distinctly remember back in primary 5 being asked “6 x 7” in front of my whole class. As I proceeded to count using my fingers I was told to sit down as “I should not be using my fingers to count at that age.” I have never understood to this day why using my fingers was a problem? As long as I got the correct answer in the end then there would be no need to humiliate me in front of the class like I had been. Therefore, creating a fear within me that I wasn’t learning in the correct way.

Until lately I never realised that my teacher was restricting my ways of learning. Going out on placement made me aware that each child learns in a different way and it is our job not to limit this. We need to explore different ways to teach a subject including maths. Again in primary I struggled very much with the concept of fractions. I just could not grasp an understanding of this element due to my teacher only teaching it in one way. As I moved up the school other teachers just assumed I knew fractions, so it was never went over again. Due to embarrassment I never raised the issue that I wasn’t sure what I was doing, as everyone else in my class seemed to get it. As I went on to high school I remember praying in maths class that the lesson wouldn’t be surrounding fractions and going on to university I only knew the very basics. Many people would think “what kind of student, wanting to be a teacher doesn’t understand fractions?” but it’s true. My mind was blank anytime they were mentioned. I then made it my own responsibility before placement to teach myself and find different ways to teach the children so they weren’t limited like I was.

In a recent lecture we were told the importance of developing a profound understanding of fundamental mathematics. Meaning we need to know the basic ideas before we build on to mathematical problems and this is where I feel my learning went wrong. Bruner (1964) created a scaffolding theory where we (the teachers) are the stepping stones of a child’s learning. They start at the bottom of the ladder learning the basics and as they become confident they move up a step. In my experience I feel I did not have a profound understanding of the basics and therefore was not ready to move on to the next steps of my learning. Despite having this negative experience with mathematics it has not put me off and I am eager to learn in this mathematical module. It has also made me acknowledge the teacher I want to become when teaching the subject myself.