Counting Circles

In class we have been doing these exercises called counting circles. Everyone in the class stands in a circle and the teacher gives a starting number and then the amount that it will change by as it is passed around the circle. The first time was a bit scary because I was afraid that I would get the answer wrong or that I would take way too long to figure out the answer. As the exercise progressed those anxieties eased up, and I realized that some people were fast and some were not. After we got all the way around the circle plus maybe a few more people going twice, the teacher picked a person down the line from where we stopped and asked the class to figure out what that person's response would be for the problem. Once we all had answers, shown by a thumbs up, we were asked to share the answer and how we came up with our answer. Multiple people shared out their answers and how they got to their answer. What I like a lot about this exercise is you are practicing mental math and at the end you see that there are many ways to get to the same answer. It is also a good way for you to realize that you made a mistake. When I shared my results and I explained what I did, I had made an error with my mental math, but I saw were I went wrong as I was talking through my process. I believe that this would be a great exercise for students to do at the beginning of class as a warm-up. I will be using this in my classroom and I my even try to figure out a way to tie it in to my band classes...Rhythm Circles! That could be fun!

Introduction

Well I am starting this blog for a class that I am taking. I have been teaching now for 14 years in the area of instrumental music. I am only part time so I have decided to finish my math minor so I can add the math endorsement to my teaching certificate. I am hoping that the district that I teach at will be able to bring up to full time by adding in some math classes. The class that I am taking is called Math For Secondary Teachers and I was a bit afraid that the class was going to be all about teaching basic, such as, classroom management, how to make a lesson plan, ect. We have only met three times and I am happy to be very wrong. This class has made me do a lot of thinking about how I will teach math an how I was taught math. I can't say that I thought teaching math was going to be easy, but I did not think that the transition would be too difficult. I am beginning to think that it is definitely going to be a little more involved than I thought. I am glad that I will be keeping this journal of what I have learned so when I do teach a math class I will be ready!