Minnie's post

Creating a map using wood - walking the path and scaling at the same time. I'm expanding my senses and my math tools!!!#CMESG2017 Susan Gerofsky
















Slide rule time! What's the square root of 4? 400? How are they related? What about root 40? 4000? How are these related? Why r there 2 sides to the slide ruler? What are the affordances and constraints of this tool? How can we use this tool to help with students' understanding?#cmesg2017Susan Gerofsky
I'm getting goosebumps. This is so incredible!!!!!! Susan Gerofsky

And meanwhile...... Tanya Noble and I do this...... the Babylonian method is so sophisticated. I wonder how they figured it out!


Thank you, Susan, Jean-Francois, and Yasmine for a wonderful working group!!! Sorry these reflections are still a bit raw. But they are authentic! :)

Minnie

June 5

When you only have a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

This really strikes me. What tools do I have? What do they look like? What can I use them for? It is so important to have an understanding of the tools we each have and recognize and keep and open mind of what they can be used for. From a problem solving perspective, It is also important to expand our toolbox so I can begin to interpret problems from various perspectives and take different approaches to solve the problem.

It is also important to be mindful of what cultural and historical backgrounds we bring to the table. While there are definitely affordances, what we bring to the table can also be constraints.

What happens if we don't use the tool as it is designed? What if I deliberately change the function of the tool?

June 4

I understand tools come in many forms and they are never a standalone object. While we discuss tools, it is also important to look into the relationships between these tools, including the people involved, the relationships between these people, the language used (spoken and written), etc. How do these relationship affect the use of the tools? What does this relationship web look like? How do these relationships change as we use the tools?

When we r not told what a tool is for or how to use it, does it allow for creativity? Does it allow us to bring our cultural and historical backgrounds into the relationship between us and he tool? What are the affordances and constraints?

Manipulatives- limitations seem to always exist in manipulatives. But these limitations are definitely worth exploring as they have so many potentials and they open up so many opportunities!!

June 3

What a profound experience I had.

Tools can have such multiple facets - different uses, different perspectives - they can b so dynamic and they change as we use it to develop a concept

We shape our tools, and then our tools shape us.

What tools do we use? How are the tools affected by our cultural backgrounds? How do these tools shape us?

What do we attend to when we use a tool? The tool itself? The activity? The context of the activity? What's in the foreground and what's in the background?

June 3+4

Yesterday I felt like I was invading someone's culture and I was using their tools --> need to follow rules

Today with the fraction tools - I feel I can use them however I want to. I wonder if that's because these fraction tools bring with them less cultural backgrounds? That we r teachers and we feel we can do whatever we want with the tools? I also feel that I "own" these tools or that I have control over these tools whereas I don't w the maps we worked on yesterday - they r someone else's tools and I don't feel I have control over them. Maybe this is also affected by the activity - I feel I know fractions much better than creating a map.

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