Week 7

The authors noted the lag in development of mathematics concepts is due to delays in language development, lack of exposure to life-based problem solving, and inadequate preservice teacher preparation in the area of mathematics. Do you agree or disagree? Explain your answer.

I absolutely agree.  Delays in language development can have a huge effect on everything—including math concepts.  The first example I think of for this is word problems.  A student who does not have a good grasp of written English, as well as of math terminology, will have a lot of difficulty understanding the question.  The student will not only need to understand the individual words, but what the problem is asking for as well as what information is relevant and what way to use it.  (For example, a word problem asking for the product of two numbers… the student will need to know to multiply the numbers.)  Life-based problem solving is important because if the students don’t see practical applications of the math they could be uninterested in putting in the necessary effort to understand it.  If the student realizes that the math will be used in the future for something that (s)he wants, I think (s)he will be more encouraged to learn.  I also agree with inadequate teacher preparation in mathematics.  I took a “Math for Teachers” course and learned how to do “New Math”, but knowing how to do the problems and teaching a deaf student to do them are two very different things.  I am very pleased with the Deaf Education program I am enrolled in, but we don’t have a class specifically for teaching math.  So, no, I don’t think most teachers receive enough training in that specific area.  The most I have discussed math teaching and strategies is within my current Instruction Strategies class and my current practicum setting (in which I teach math lessons).

What areas do you feel that you need to develop to teach math?

I am very concerned about my lack of vocabulary as well as how to conceptually show the math processes in sign language.  I think it would also be helpful to know which areas are built on other specific areas (we discussed this in our previous Instructional Strategies class period) as well as some examples across areas to make them more visual.  I think some of these things (i.e. making the lesson more visual) I could figure out on my own by critically thinking. In other areas, it would be helpful to receive some direct instruction.