November 23rd, 2020
Dear Readers,
Today in class, I participated in the final problem solving session, led by my peers. Today we talked about being your own questionnaire and asking questions and thinking about past experiences. While solving the problem, I was very proud of myself! Today was this first time I was okay with not finding the answer. Today I challenged myself to introduce something I normally don’t when solving a problem, a table! Many of my peers in our other problem solving sessions use tables very successfully, so I decided to try it! Although I did not get the answer, I challenged myself and was willing to try something outside my comfort zone, which I am quite proud of! For the past problems I have stuck to solving problems in my own way, always finding and using a formula. This can be good, but for when I have students who don’t learn this way, I want to be able to introduce different ways of solving the problem, which means I need to try different ways!
After class today I have been thinking about where I was at the beginning of the semester and how my thoughts and experiences with problem solving have changed. Coming into this course, I HATED, HATED, HATED word problems and application questions. While they still aren’t my favourite, I feel like I have developed new skills that I can explore and teach my future students. I know find myself breaking down the questions before starting with the questions; what do I know?, what do I need to find out?, and what can I introduce? This step has been very great for me to develop because the question becomes more clear to me.
Also, I now find myself thinking about the assumptions I may be making, and how that can alter my answer, or hinder my progress with solving the problem! When our professor was having us read about all these steps, I didn’t really believe in them. I have slowly started to notice how much progress I have made as a mature university student, and if these steps are helping me, they will help my students.
Today, the reading focused on asking yourself questions, and how that may help clarify the question. While I was solving the problem, I asked myself questions, but after I thought I had the answer (which was nowhere near correct). I was thinking about my answer and then asking questions, making me realize my answer was wrong, making me feel even more STUCK! Though I was able to determine the final answer, I was making progress towards feeling unstuck, which is the important thing, in my opinion.
This article is written by a teacher who promotes the feeling of being STUCK in her classroom. There are examples of posters she has, and how she creates the best problem solving environment for her students! Take a look if you have the time!
Overall I think I have learned a lot more this semester than I have realized! I have developed confidence not only with problem solving, but with presenting.
Until next semester!
-Sydney
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