Category Archives: 2.2 Education Systems & Prof. Responsibilities

Where did it all begin?

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The history of mathematics is a topic which I have never really giving much thought, until our lecture the other day. I understand the way mathematics works within in my own country but I had no idea of the process that was involved for mathematics to be the way it is now and how long mathematics has been around for.

ishango_bone No one can know for sure how long mathematics or numbers have been around but it is believed that the working systems and the use of symbols for numbers has been around for about 10,000 years. (Bellos, 2011, p15.) Although there may not have been actual numbers systems prior to this time it is believed that our ancestors would have had some understanding of amounts. For example, they would have been able to distinguish between one animal or two animals’ (Bellos, 2011, p15.) Some of the earliest evidence of numbers are dating back from 35,000 to 20,000 years ago in Africa when they counted on bones. (Mastln, 2010.) This shows that for generations there has been some understanding of amounts and numbers.

Sumer – modern day Iraq –  developed the earliest known writing system and were one of the first generations to assign symbols to numbers (Mastln, 2010.) One of the reasons for the development of symbols associated to numbers was a response to the needs of the country and developed agriculture (Mastln, 2010.) They were dealing with larger numbers such as plots of land or taxation therefore they needed symbols for larger numbers. Sumerian and
Babylonian mathematics was a base 60 system, which means that number 60 was the base number. This is still used in modern day society with aspects of mathematics such as time babylonian_numerals(Wikipedia, 2016.)  The Babylonians also discovered a mathematics revolution by acknowledging zero as a number and symbolising it (Mastln, 2010.) It also believed there was evidence of some type arithmetic exercises in Sumerian and Babylonian schools. It is believed that Babylonians were one the first to invent multiplication. As their society grew there was a need for more sophisticated mathematics and this led to the invention of multiplication tables. They created multiplication tables on tablets and carried them around to speed up calculations (Marcus du Sautoy, 2014.) Another example of mathematics from thousands of years ago being relevant in today’s society.

There are many different number systems from all over the world and that have developed over time and that play a part in mathematics today. The Egyptians created one of the first fully developed base 10 number systems, the system we use today, as well as fractions (Mastln, 2010.) The Rhind papyrus was discovered by Henry Rhind, in the 19th century. It was a book filled with problems and solutions which included a section on fractions. The Egyptians used fractions such as 1/4, 1/2 and 1/8 (Shuttleworth, 2012.) This is another area of mathematics which stems from thousands of years ago which we use frequently in today’s world.  Greek mathematics was based on geometry. The Greek’s have established well known and used theories such as Pythagoras Theorem (Mastln, 2010.)

It is fascinating to see how far mathematics has developed from Babylonian number systems too today’s number system. However, there are still places in the world which are not as numerically developed as us. The Munduruku tribe in the Amazon only have the numbers ‘1 to 5’ after the number five it is just referred to as many (Bellos, 2011, p15.) We live in a society where numbers and mathematics play a large part in our everyday lives that I found the concept of only having five numbers completely alien. Pierra Pica went to live with the Munduruku tribe for many months and on his return he had lost the ability to describe the world in terms of numbers (Bellos, 2011.) I found this fascinating as he was a highly intelligent man living in the 21st century, how can you lose the concept of numbers so quickly? Due to numbers not being a huge part of day to day life such as time or counting, he simply learned how to survive without numbers. This made me wonder, as a society why are we so “obsessed” with numbers and time? Is this due to the fact that we are surrounded by it much more. I am intrigued to experience what life would be like where numbers play a minimal part in your day to day life. If others can live by it and survive, surely we can?

During our lecture we were asked to complete an activity where we had to create our own number system using symbols, and I tell you I take my hat off to those who have created number systems as it is definitely not as easy as you would think. Me and my partner Hannahunnamed thought it would be a good idea to use a circle as our symbol and one whole line within the circle would represent the amount. We quickly figured out that our system was too complex as by the time we reached number five we were both confused. Some of our classmates came up with really good examples and were
very simple to follow.

 

So how does this all link to Liping Ma’s profound understanding of fundamental mathematics?

Connectedness – In order for me to understand the way different number systems work I had to make connections with different mathematical concepts such as different base systems. I made these connections with concepts which I was familiar with such as time which is a base 60 system to understand my new knowledge in more depth. I also had  to make connections with real life in order to understand how number systems have developed over time and how they are different to the numbers I deal with daily.

 

References

Bellos, A. (2011.) Alex’s Adventures in Numberland. Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, London.

Mastln, L. (2010) 20th Century Mathematics – The Story of Mathematics. Viewed at: http://www.storyofmathematics.com/20th.html [Accessed on 7 October 2016.]

Shuttleworth, M (2012.) Egyptian Mathematics – The History of Mathematics. Viewed at: https://explorable.com/egyptian-mathematics [Accessed on 7 October 2016.]

Du Sautoy, M (2016) The Guardian. Viewed at: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/may/17/ask-a-grown-up-who-invented-times-tables [Accessed on 7 October 2016.]

Be smart, stay safe!

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For one of our ICT inputs we were looking into internet searching and safety. This is a topic I feel is so important to incorporate into schools, the internet plays such a huge part in our day to day life. The internet is such a great tool and provides so many opportunities and learning experiences, however, there also many dangers and hazards which our children must be aware of searching online and also communicating online. Children are beginning to use the internet younger and younger now and providing children with information on what to do and what not to do on the internet can help keep them safe.

Sharon introduced us to some websites for internet safety such as ChildNet and Doople Me. I looked further into these and found them very useful. Child Net  provides information to teachers about teaching children how to use the internet safely. It also provides information for teachers how to remain professional online and within the workplace. ChildNet also gives helpful advice to parents with on how to encourage their children to use the internet safely.  I feel its so important for parents to be aware of what their children are doing online and if parents have more knowledge about internet safety they can really help keep children safe. Child Net provides a area in which children can access games and tips about internet safety. There was an acronym of SMART I found on Child Net which I thought would be great for children to use as a way of remembering how to be smart and stay safe online:

SAFE: Do not give out person information such as phone number, house address or passwords when chatting or posting online.
MEET: Do not meet someone you have only been in touch with online as this can be very dangerous. Only do so with parents’ or carers’ permission and even then only do so if they are present. Online friends are still strangerUntitleds even if you have spoke to them for a long time.
ACCEPTING: Do not accept friend requests, messages or emails from people you do not know, They may contain viruses or nasty, inappropriate messages.
RELIABLE: Some people or websites may lie about who they are or the information may be false. Always check information by looking at other websites or books. If you like to chat online it is best to chat to people you know.
TELL: Tell a parent, carer or adult if there is something oavatarr someone online which makes you or someone you know feel uncomfortable or asks you to do something you are not happy about.

I also thought Doople Me was a very useful tool. This is a website in which the children can create an avatar which represents the way the look. This allows the child to use this as a picture online rather than an actual photograph of themselves. This protects the children identity. I feel that this website is also a good tool to witness how the children view                   themselves. I made my own one and it was very simple and straight forward!

Throughout this input I also learned a few valuable skills when it comes to searching online. I am the number one culprit for using google for any questions or help I need. I was aware that some websites you have to careful of as they can portray false information. However I was not aware to how to condense your search so you are not getting so many results and also the other search engines available to use. After the input I felt that it was my job to educate children how to search correctly and also the other search engines such as AOL Kids.  AOL Kids is a search engine which caters for kids. On the homepage it provides popular and suitable websites that kids can use such as Disney and Fun Brain. I feel this would be a good search engine to use in school as search engine such as Google can sometimes have content which is not suitable for children.  Sharon also introduced to us some presentation tool such as Prezi and Animoto. These are different ways and ideas of putting together to make presentations more fun and interactive. These would be both beneficial for teachers and children to use.

Overall, I feel this input was very useful as it give me an insight to different resources available to keep children safe on the internet without scaring them completely of using the internet. It also provided me of different resources to use in class with the children not just for internet safety but across the curriculum areas. The internet is a wonderful resource which we are so lucky to have and having the knowledge to use it appropriately will help to keep children safe online. Be smart, stay safe!

What is an Enquiring Practitioner ?

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An enquiring practitioner is some who grows as professional “by challenging or ‘disrupting thinking’ and ‘ingrained habits of mind.” For me this means someone who is open to change, someone who seeks to gain more knowledge and someone who reflects on their teaching styles and aims to better these in order to  provide their pupils with the best learning experience.The best way to better yourself as person is to reflect and learn from particular situations.

Some benefits of being an enquiring practitioner which is stated on the GTCS is that it “enables teachers to bring about fundamental changes in pedagogy and curriculum and thereby significantly improves the quality of students’ learning experiences in educational institutions.” Seeking further knowledge regarding the curriculum and incorporating different teaching styles allows teachers to grow as professionals but also improves the learning environment for children.  Another benefit I thought was of importance was that it “enable teachers to collaboratively develop the curriculum.”  The saying “two heads are better than one” comes to mind for this, working with someone allows you to see a situation from a whole different perspective. By reflecting together it allows people to share different experiences and ideas which can develop whole new opportunities for learning. Also to be a enquiring practitioner you have to ask why and having the ability to challenge certain ways of thinking. There are however some challenges which may be faced when being an enquiring practitioner such as some people may feel uncomfortable. As an enquiring practitioner the aim is to continue to better yourself as a professional through research and reflecting; this means there may be new skills and challenges being faced which can be daunting especially if you have been in the practice for a long-time. Another would be that It can be difficult to question your own assumptions  therefore many can start looking for problems in products, strategies and pupils. To be an enquiring practitioner you have to be critical of yourself to learn how to adapt to different ways of teaching.

I feel that learning now, how to be an affective enquiring practitioner will really benefit me as a student teacher . Within the University set up for example, in lectures not just believing everything you are told. Having the ability to go away and research theories and challenge them will allow me to grow as professional.  Another example would be whilst observing your classroom teacher on placement having the confidence to ask why they done that particular lesson plan or why they dealt with that behaviour in that way. Not just accepting that, that’s the way it is done. Then having the ability to reflect on this and either use it in your own lessons or deciding you may do something differently. I feel this will all set me in good stead for becoming an enquiring practitioner.

Personal vs Private

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The GTCS states that teachers have to use social media wisely and in a correct manner. Even though they are entitled to a private life; what they say on social media or how they use social media can be classed as unprofessional and seen as going against the GTC code. Teachers have to maintain the trust of both pupils and parents. This trust is maintained through behaving in an appropriate way both in there personal and professional life.

For me personally I feel it would be difficult to marry up both your personal life and private life on social media and I prefer to keep both mine separate. All my personal social media accounts such as; Twitter, Facebook and Instagram are private. In your private life you could say something on social media which you see as harmless however others may think you are being inappropriate or unprofessional. I also feel it would be difficult to maintain a professional boundary if you tried to marry it up with you personal life as people can see you in a different light. My personal view is that people have very high standards regarding the way teachers behave and are quick to pick up on any negative behavior and come down hard on this.  I feel marrying the private and personal life can make a teacher vulnerable to scrutiny.

The use of social media professionally however I feel has great aspects. Social media is the forefront of everything these days and children are heavily involved within social media. I feel introducing social media sites into the classroom such as Glow makes learning more modern and relevant to the children. However I feel its so important to stress to children the dangers of using social media and that they should be taught how to use social media safely and appropriately. I looked into some statistics regarding social media and young children and one that really sprung out at me. On Guardchild (http://www.guardchild.com/social-media-statistics-2/) it stated that “Only 10% of parents of children aged 10 and under had frank talks about appropriate online behavior and threats” Children are using technology and social media from such a young age that this should be drilled into them especially when they do not get told in depth at home about appropriate use of social media.

There are many challenges to social media and I feel that social media is portrayed in a negative way. This could be due to all the horror stories you hear regarding it or that because its relatively new that some people of older generations see it a bit alien like. However I feel it is a very positive aspect of learning. Websites such as Glow allow you to communicate safely and appropriately with pupils. It expands pupils literacy skills e.g by using blogs. I feel there is always going to positives and negatives of using social media however it is the future and I believe we have no choice but to embrace it.