As I look back over my math posts from the quarter there is one obvious theme across all of my posts- manipulatives. I guess that's what stuck out in my mind most prominently after class. It is not surprising to me really because I am a tactile learner myself. Working with manipulatives in class taught me new ways to think about teaching (and learning) math in the higher grades. I always had the misconception that manipulatives were only useful in the lower grades where students are learning to add and subtract, etc. the idea that you can use manipulatives to teach algebra kind of blew my mind, I'm not gonna lie. There are so many options out there for teachers to use and there are ways to do it without spending a lot of money. If you do have a lot of money or access to technology there are so many cool websites and applications that offer virtual manipulatives and opportunities for students to expand their thinking. I feel like one of the most valuable things I got from this class was a reaffirmation of the fact that you don't know what you don't know and now that I know how much is out there and how many different ways there are to teach math I feel like I have a foundation from which I can explore the unknown and see what all is out there. Before this class I wouldn't have even known where to begin and the task would have been so daunting I would have balked at taking it on. Now I have the start of a toolkit of valuable resources that I can continue to build upon. That's what I learned this quarter.
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