My Refection - workshop 2

In my reflection for the second workshop, I need to reflect on my school experiences in relation to learning computation. So, reflecting back on what I have been through in my mathematics class during school time, honestly I don’t know what to write. It is because there is not much exposure to different techniques or activities in relation to learning computation. My country education system is examination oriented, therefore what my teacher did in improving our skills is mostly drilling and memorization. We were given a lot of mathematical exercises to be solved as parts of drilling exercise. For table multiplication specifically, memorization is very much emphasized.

However, as I give this a deeper thought, there were activities that my teacher did integrate which is in line with developing learning computation! Number line strategy and” ice cream stick “are activities being carried out in my classroom. Ice cream stick was used in my early addition and subtraction involving small numbers which is less than 20. I also developed my understanding of number sense through my engagement with ice cream stick. Ice cream stick helps me to understand the real concept of counting as I was able to make connection with the number and the quality presented. For instance, number five. The ice cream stick activities helps me to understand the concept of number five and the quantity it presented. On the other hand, number line strategy is used for bigger numbers. Number line strategy requires me to decompose the digits to a simpler form as to get the answers. For instance, to get the solution of 99 + 49, it is easier to round off 99 to 100. Then, 49 is split to 40 and 9. Therefore, 100 plus 40 equals to 140. We still have remaining of 9, thus plus 9 to 140 equals to 149. However, 1 need to be takes away from 149 as we round off 99 to 100. Thus, the answer is 148. By splitting, jumping and rounding off the number to the nearest tens, it helps to promote mental computation strategies amongst the children. From my own experience, it is proven that solving mathematical problems using alternative strategies rather than traditional one indeed helps in turning mathematics into an interesting lesson.