Entrance slip Sep 24---Scientific Language and the Language of Animacy

Reading:

Kimmerer W. Robin. 2014. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants. Milkweed Editions. P. 48-59.

Terminology, by its definition in some dictionary, is the language used to describe a specific thing or the language used within a specific field. If teachers use many new Mathematics/scientific terminologies during the class, students will feel hard to understand and feel discouraged.  Like learning a new language, teachers could teach in both languages in order to help students gradually learn Math terminology. 

Language is far more than a tool of communication. It is a combination of the cultural and the mind. Citing the words from the article, "The language is the heart of our culture; it holds our thoughts, our way of seeing the world."(p.59) Potawatomi is a language that incorporates respect for nature and all living beings including mountains, trees, and rivers. This idea shows tolerance and human fraternity. If I don't read this article, I would never know the existence of this language and the thoughts behind it. I am grateful that I can read this article in this course. 

In a diverse society, as a teacher, we should show our students respect and empathy at all time. Respecting their culture, language and perspectives is the way to build a mutual trust relationship. In the future, I will allow my students to talk in a language other than English if they feel necessary and respect others. We could even hold some activities to introduce different languages and cultures, and communicate different thoughts and ideas. My ways to indigenize my own classroom and curriculum is to be a good listener and observer first, then involve all my students in a positive learning environment.

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August 3, 2021

I think it is necessary to learn Mathematical terminologies in the math classroom when learning math, especially those terminologies with logic. These terminologies can help students understand the concepts and staying on the same page when discussing a topic together. However, I suggest providing students opportunities to study and explore a concept or method first, then give them a reasonable name for that concept or method.   

In Kimmerer's article, she reveals an indigenous way of seeing things. She learned about this tradition from its language. I don't think there is any conflict between the European scientific way of knowing and indigenous ways of knowing. In math class, I encourage students to see things from multiple angles and to solve problems in different ways. Math is learning ways of thinking and seeing. As long as you can prove or explain an idea logically and ethically, we should show our respect to it. I appreciate that Kimmerer opens a door for us to see this world. It is lucky for me to have exposure to this indigenous tradition. I will try to find a proper way to offer my students access to indigenous cultures in the math classrooms. 

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Notes of Sep 17, 2020

One interesting topic discussed on that day is Planning vs. Improvisation. I agree with some groups that it is always necessary for teachers to plan and prepare each lesson. It would be better to have some options and ways so that we could change up the lesson plan if it is necessary. When we teach we can have some improvisation according to feedbacks from students. 

I want to be a teacher who can make students feel comfortable to be in the classroom and be willing to engage in the learning activities. 

Some useful resources:

 Making mathematics with needlework

Crafting by Concepts

Crocheting adventures with hyperbolic planes

Websites:

Bridges Math and Art archives

Arbitrary and Necessary, Part 1. For the learning of mathematics

This article tells us how and why teachers should help students learn by their own awareness rather than by memorizing. Reflecting on my own teaching, I found that I didn't do well on teaching the necessary. Showing and demonstrating couldn't educate awareness. Even though students can solve math problems, they still may not understand the rationale underneath. This causes that our students can only know how to solve the problems that have been solved by the teacher in the class.

To improve this, I should first know which content in the curriculum is arbitrary and which is necessary, then think deeply about how to teach them so that students could use their awareness to learn. 

For content that is necessary, I could design some activities to help students work out for themselves why a statement is true, and use questions to inspire my students to think critically and figure out by themselves why it is important and should be learned.

To engage my students in the classroom my goal is to provide them ample opportunities to participate in eclectic learning activities. On the other hand, for the arbitrary, I will encourage students to generate their own memory aids to understand what they should know.