Big Idea Experiments Reflection
This page is for people who have completed the activities with at least one other person, If you have not done this activity, please
Return to Math and Design page
Simply reading further without doing the activity, may not yield many insights. For many, these are simply words that anyone can read. At least it presents what the slide show is about.
When ideas have first been constructed with cooperation with a partner, these are the understandings that become part of these people’s being. They said these thoughts. They are theirs. No one has to tell those that understand because they built the ideas.
The big takeaway, really, as I have come to understand, is that people who have been through this love teaching with others who have built this. They are on the same page. They don’t have to tell their colleague to let the children work it out. Partners who ‘get it’ share a precision.
When it’s the learner’s discovery it is (1) theirs for life and (2) they will enjoy seeing children discover things, too. No one has to tell them. They understand Rita Smilkstein‘s mantra: “We can’t give them our dendrites.”
What we know about learning mathematics that was highlighted in these experiments:
We were physically active and experimenting, using our eyes and hands.
We enjoyed making the materials we use and the freedom to create our own strategies.
It was important to first predict and then find out from the outcomes.
In our work with partners we created our own language; we knew what we meant.
We learned what works by getting it wrong first.
We combined our various senses, past knowledge, and various intelligences to the current experience.
The variables in our answers added richness to the discovery.
What we know about children’s engagement with mathematics:
Children never give up.
Children have inquisitive minds.
Children seem to never give up right away; they keep playing with the materials. They experiment and vary their explorations to answer their own questions. They get excited about what they create and eager to share their discoveries. They seem to naturally be drawn to orderliness, symmetry, and proportion.
We see them apply what they discover to new materials and experiences.All children inherently love math; we seem to teach them not to.