Literacy in Math

Literacy is so vital to a student’s education, no matter the discipline. In math I had a difficult time at first seeing how literacy could possibly relate to numbers. My limited view of literacy consisted of reading books and being able to write a paper about it. Although that is a part of literacy, there is so much more to it.

A student who is math literate, in my opinion, is someone who can read a problem, understand what its asking, know how to solve it, and understand how it applies to the real world. That is asking a lot more from a student then just being able to memorize a formula and use it on a test. I want my students to be able to understand why what they are learning is important and how it is applicable to them. This can be done in a multitude of ways. In this education course: Language, Literacy, and Learning in the Content Areas, I have learned skills and techniques that will help me contribute to the literacy of my future students.

I learned techniques in reading comprehension, vocabulary, oral language digital literacy, and writing to help my students to improve their math literacy. To help my students improve their reading comprehension and vocabulary I can use before, during and after reading activities. For example, I taught my brother a small 15 minute math lesson. I had him take two minutes and tell me the similarities and differences he noticed in the five pictures of a line, segment, ray, median, and a perpendicular

line.  (Before reading activity) Then together we discussed all differences and similarities, and I had him write down formal definitions for all five elements. (During reading activity) After the lesson, I gave him a piece of paper with the five elements written down, and he was asked to draw a picture that represented each of the elements. (After reading activity) Using this strategy to teach math, increased my brothers literacy on recognizing different line segments.

Oral language is something I had never thought of when teaching math. Don’t kids just listen to your lecture, take notes, do their homework and get straight A’s? That was my math experience. As a  class we have discussed many different ways to incorporate oral language into our discipline. Planning math lessons that include presentations, class discussions, and small group discussions will greatly improve student’s literacy.

Digital literacy and writing can be combined into a project that involves students researching a famous mathematician, or researching a good math website (like www.AAAmath.com and www.mathforum.com)  and writing about it. There are multiple ways to include both writing and digital literacy into a math class.

Exploring different ways to help my future students become more literate has been a lot of fun. Who wants to simply lecture all day, or even listen to a lecture all day for that matter. I am not saying I will never lecture, but I will do my best to incorporate the techniques I have learned to help my students become math literate. A fun website I came across that has helped me see how other teachers have incorporated literacy techniques into their math classrooms is http://www.brighthubeducation.com/. There are tons of fun activities and suggestions for how to teach more complex topics. It is possible to make math fun and enjoyable, and to help students become literate at the same time.

A Mathematician and a Writer?

I do not view myself as writer. When I think of writing I think of essays, short stories, and poetry. I cannot remember the last time I wrote a paper in response to anything other than a short response on a test.  I will write a poem occasionally to express a thought or emotion, but emphasis on the word occasionally. That will happen maybe twice a year. Most often I express my ideas in person through word of mouth. I prefer expression through facial expressions, body language and verbal words and sounds.  

As a child I actually grew up wanting to be an author one day. I loved writing assignments, and always went above and beyond the requirements. However, once entering into college, writing became a task instead of recreation and once I chose to become a math major my opportunities to write dwindled. I remember one assignment in third grade we had to write a paragraph on wolves. I ended up writing a 14 page story of a wolf and his friend. My teacher gave me an A, and advised me to keep it shorter next time. From there on out I took as many creative writing classes as were offered. I loved to write stories and poetry in my free time, and still have multiple notebooks with unfinished stories. I was your classic daydreamer and could spend hours developing and writing a story.  I loved the adventure writing a story took me on. It was so much better than a movie. My recreational writing now is limited to texting friends and family, and keeping a journal. Apart from the occasionally math proof, I have not had very many opportunities to write while studying math and stats.

In school before college I loved to write creative essays and stories. One particular project I remember was a poetry portfolio. The teacher’s only requirements were in length and style of poetry, but as for topics that was all up to us. I loved the freedom of creativity and thoroughly enjoyed expressing my ideas in the structure and fluid form of a poem. But as with all school experiences, there were writing assignments I did not enjoy as well. I always struggled with writing assignments that were so structured and specific that it took the creativity out of it. I thought it boring when my written responses were expected to be uniformed and organized instead of including unique voice.

As a teacher, even as a math teacher, I want to give my students opportunities to express themselves through writing. Structure is needed, but so is the chance to be creative. I want to give students topics that they feel are applicable to them. For example, a writing prompt I could give students when teaching negative numbers is: ‘What are your hobbies? Choose one of your favorite hobbies, and write two paragraphs on how negative numbers are used in this hobby. For example, if you like football, the number of yards a player has to go can be expressed in terms of negative numbers. Explain why you think negative numbers are important in today’s society. If you think they are not, explain your reasoning.’ I want my students to not have to view writing as a task. I want to find ways to make writing enjoyable.

My love of reading

     I would not classify myself as a good reader, but as an impatient reader. I don’t know the last time I sat down and enjoyed a book from cover to cover. I usually get so impatient to find out what happens that I will skip ahead in my reading to discover the end of a climax scene, before returning to learn what actually transpires. I thoroughly enjoy reading. To be honest, I enjoy it a little too much. During the school year I have to limit myself to a certain number of books, otherwise I would spend my time engrossed in tales of mythical creatures, or romances, instead of doing homework or studying. I get easily caught into a good story, and can’t seem to pull myself out of an adventure to focus back to real life. My favorite kinds of novels are those that include a protagonist that the world views as nothing, who becomes something great: for example, the Eragon series. My other favorite kind of novel is a clean romance novel that has a good plot line; for example all books written by Marcia Lynn McClure.  (http://distractionsink.com/) I love to read and am not too picky when it comes to choosing a book to read. I do have one stipulation; I don’t enjoy a book with a sad ending, which somehow ended up being a good majority of the books I read in high school. When it comes to books like Night, The Outsiders, or The Pearl, I hate reading. I don’t find it worth the read, even when it is a classic, if I am going to feel sad and disappointed at the end. I read to enjoy life’s pleasures, to feel happy; not to be dismayed by an author’s perception of a dark society.

My love of reading comes from my dad. He loves to read and loves to learn. No longer being in school, he feels books are one of the best ways to further his education. He reads at least 50 books a year ranging from poetry to books on quantum physics. My dad’s eagerness to learn has spread to me. As a child he would take me on daddy daughter dates, which almost always ended in us going to a book store to each pick out a new book to buy. At the beginning my reading was simply novels, but as time has gone on, I have come to love poetry, news articles, and comics, especially math comics.

I was introduced to math comics by a teacher up here at Utah State, Dave Brown. At the beginning or end of each class he would past a comic on the overhead, usually about what we had learned. Being able to understand a math comic was enjoyable because 1, it was hilarious, and 2, you felt smart getting a joke, not many other people would understand. It made me enjoy my math just that much more. There are not too many texts that my students will use apart from their math textbooks. I would, however, love to help my students find a joy in reading articles or comics abut math. From my experiences I have learned, that if the reading is not something I am interested in, or is something I don’t like, I will not enjoy the reading and I will not retain what I read.  As much as people dislike math, math is involved in so many things. I would love to have an activity which included my students finding an article about a personal hobby of theirs, and how math is related to that hobby. I would also love to incorporate the use of comics in my daily or at least weekly lesson plan. I want my students to learn to enjoy math, and I hope it can be achieved through this sort of analogy charting activity, and through the comics.  I hope to be able to foster an environment in which my students begin to see a value in math, as it is applicable to not just their daily lives, but also the things they enjoy. I hope, that by giving students the freedom to choose their reading as it relates to math and their hobbies, and by letting them enjoy it, through comics, they will become successful math readers. Math is not so much about reading a text, as it is about finding how it can be applied to life.  I believe student’s self-perceptions of themselves as readers can be built up by letting them incorporate what is important to them, into what you are teaching, and having them read.

Math Memories

Mathematics is more than just a personal interest, it is a family interest. My mom received a degree in math education from Utah State, and as the first child, my math instruction started at an early age. At 6 years old, i remember a rode trip our family took to visit my grandma. Instead of the classic car game of I spy using color, we would use shapes. "I spy a triangle," my mom would yell. My dad and I would then frantically point to every triangle shape we could find until the correct one was located. This game taught me shapes, and also made me very competitive as later in car rides I couldn't help but search the land for well known shapes, hoping to get a head start if we started playing.
Another experience I remember as a child, was baking with my mom. I was that child that had to be involved in everything, so I would put on my little pink checkered apron, push a chair to the counter and beg my mom to let me help until my pestering would win out her patience. My job was to pour in the contents once she had measured them. Some of the recipes would be the same and I would become familiar with how much we needed of certain items. For example, when making cookies I got to dump two cups of flour into the bowl. One day, however, i remember my mom handing me a third cup of flour to pour in. I pointed out her mistake but she explained we had grandma and grandpa visiting and grandpa ate a lot of cookies so we needed to make more. Although learning exactly what a fraction was wouldn't come for another 4 years, understanding the concept of fractions was introduced to me.

Both of these experiences to a degree have shaped the way I think about my discipline. From an early age I learned that math was enjoyable; it makes games and makes more cookies. I also learned that math is more than just a subject in school, and a homework assignment; it has real world application.
I want my future students to also learn to see the value of math, and to find joy in its contributions. Mathematical concepts can be applicable to everyone's life. Everyone has background knowledge or experiences that can link to a mathematical concept. As a teacher accessing these experiences will help the students comprehend  the material we are learning. For example, when teaching about fractions, using food and recipes will help students understand why they need to know it, and hopefully motivate them to truly learn the material. A fun before reading activity might be having students discuss in groups, different shapes they have observed. We could even play "I spy" in small groups in a geometry class.
I have never really thought of these experiences as having any value to my future career. However, in thinking back my love of math didn't come when i started college, it started when i was a child. The greatest thing I can give my students through these experiences is my love for math.

Introduction: SCED 4200

I am Elizabeth Phillips, better known as Liz, and I am a student here at Utah State. I am majoring in mathematics education with a statistics and German minor. I never knew studying math and stats would lead to so much writing. But taking Education 4200 and a proofs class at the same time, well let’s just say I will get my fill this semester. I am thrilled for the opportunity to expand my abilities. Blogging is also something brand new to me, as is most technology. My family is into books and sports, so there was never time or interest put into video games, or the computer. One of my favorite past times is reading a good book. I love all kinds of books: history, poetry, fiction, romance, etc.

I grew up in Boise, Idaho but was actually born here in Logan as my parents attended Utah State. I am a fifth generation Aggie, so I could not have dreamed of being anywhere else. I even live on the same street that my parents did when I was born. I studied for three years and then took a year and a half break to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Switzerland and Germany. It was there that I learned German, and decided as I returned to also minor in German. Being in Switzerland also gave me an opportuntiy to fulfill my lifetime dream of hikking in the Alps. I love hiking, and truly nothing was as beautiful as the Swiss Alps, and their cow filled pastures.

As for math, so many ask how I came to choose that major. My mom was a math teacher when I was younger, and not only did she enjoy it, but as a mother it was a very logical career choice. My freshman year of college I took a trigonometry class, and loved it so much I decided I wanted to do something with Math. My true desire is to one day be a stay at home mom, so I wanted a future job that would allow me as much time with my children. I sought my mother’s council, and it was she who suggested I look into math education. The more math classes I took, the more right it felt. I have had many opportunities to help tutor people over the years and I love teaching. The more I learn about this major, the more I get so excited to actually get out in the field and begin.

Math to me is an art, a logical art. I love that either an answer is right or wrong. Math problems are like a puzzle, that you know will always have an answer… even if the answer is that a problem does not exist. There is always a conclusion to be drawn. As I have gotten into the higher level math classes, I have had to use creative skills I did not know I possessed. There are problems that can be solved a number of ways, and trying to find the most efficient way is somewhat of a game. Literacy is also a part of Math, according to my understanding and definition of literacy. I view literacy as the ability to apply a knowledge gained. Math literacy to me is being able to solve problems using equations one has learned. It is more than just being able to plug in an equation, but also understanding the workings behind why that equation is used in that particular instance and what we can read and learn from it. I am excited for this class, and to better my skills as a future teacher.