Learning Activity Presentation Reflection

Hello everyone :) 

This week I presented my Learning Activity to the class. I feel as though it went well. The activity I chose to present is a modified version of activity 15.4 in the “Making Math Meaningful” textbook, which is a basic form of adding integers where the students are asked “to select two integers and add them, and understand if the remainder is positive or negative” (339). On page 352 there are examples of appropriate manipulatives to use when teaching expressions with integers and the manipulative that stood out to me was the use of two coloured counters. I wanted to combine the example activity 15.4 with the use of counters. I liked the idea of using new manipulatives that are reminiscent of old manipulatives, as it adds a sense of familiarity for the students. To keep the game structured, I provided a list of addition equations for the students to complete. 

The game was well received by my colleagues and they seemed to be excited about the use of army people. I found the use of familiar and "fun" manipulatives ensured the participants maintained a level of interest with the activity from the beginning until the end. This is a game I will definitely keep in mind to use in my future teaching practice. 

In regards to my presentation of the game, I could have gone through the first part of the activity with the group a little bit slower and have sought out their participation in writing on the board and answering the questions, instead of teaching "at" them. I will work to ensure I establish a collaborative and participative atmosphere in all my future teaching moments. This would have been implementing differentiated learning, to slow down the activity OR vary my communication of the activity for those who need further/different explanation. Differentiated instruction involves responding to the variance among learners in the classroom. This creates the best learning experience possible for each individual learner. I definitely utilized differentiated instruction by providing the manipulatives, but could have better implemented it with my oral communication of the activity. This is something I will keep in mind in my future teaching, and over the next little while I will curate resources on how to best use differentiated instruction, as well ask questions to by colleagues, teachers, and associate teacher at my placement, to cultivate a deeper understanding of this type of teaching. 

I have embedded a video providing an example of how to use counters to subtract integers, as my activity focused solely on the addition of integers. Enjoy :) 



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