Reflective Folio for Mathematics Teaching

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EDMA262: Mathematics Learning and Teaching 1

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Reflective folio for mathematics teaching
Content area
Recently, I came across an article in the journals that discussed the usefulness of mathematics
in daily life. It was surprising to learn that most people feel that they wasted time learning
math in school because they do not use the skills practically. I tried to look at the study areas
for useful classroom and out of class maths that I could apply. I made entries that connected
to mathematical content areas, concepts from the curriculum and knowledge. Mathematics is
a science subject taught across different levels. It uses different models and guidelines to
become effective. Used in everyday life, Math concepts represent the relationship between
the social life and the pedagogical. I often wondered why mathematics tasks became more
complex with the advancement of the learning levels. I came across theoretical explanations
of this explanation and its development over the years (Feathestone & Knaus, 2015).
Mathematical reasoning provides insight into the subject knowledge in different dimensions.
Inspired by Math Reasoning, I made the contents as follows. I closed my eyes and tried to
visualize numbers and their use in everyday life.
Mathematical content knowledge
Connecting to my experience as a student, I could attest that the key ideas in Mathematics
content are Mathematical Reasoning, which captures insight and skills. Models and measures
in practical Math applications incorporate the key concepts (Wray, Bay-Williams, Karp, &
Van de W, 2017). This gives teachers an understanding of the content area shaping the
decisions made by teachers when preparing content.
Entry 3: Early Number Experiences
As I started thinking about mathematics concepts, I came across Van de Walle, Karp, &
Bay-Williams, (2017, p. 191) which talked about how to develop meaning in operations. In

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chapter 9, it talks about types of number problems and its use on distribution, modeling and
computational equation. From this, I recalled some of the business news that I encounter
every day in the dailies. I thought about the use of Math in digital communication and codes
used in international communication with reference to the development of mathematical
concepts in early years (Knaus, 2013). Online news links display Math as useful for
shopping, creating menus, counting drugs in a pharmacy and in business matters among other
areas. That is why academic content incorporates a variety of lessons such as measurement,
pattern, and probability as well as reasoning. Learners start learning math concepts as early as
the toddler age. Reasoning covers all types of content including the meaning of concepts.
Entry 4: Multiplication and division problems
I have always wondered when we have to use multiplication and division in real life. This is
more complex when they are dealing with measuring units. From Van de Walle, Karp, &
Bay-Williams (2017, pp. 203-217). For example, I cannot fully comprehend how measuring
one litter of milk is an equivalent to one kilogram of stones. In a math class, students use
models in order to measure concepts. My teacher often explained that in order to grasp the
ideas, it was necessary to understand the mind behind the reasoning. I have taken to study
famous mathematicians like Michael Faraday and Isaac Newton and the best way I could
understand their ideas was through reasoning and direct comparison (Joseph, 2014).
Although mathematics content and concepts feature ideas and ways in which learners can
perform tasks mathematically, there are specific content areas. In my opinion, a perfect
example is in the ICT sector where computer programming using algorithmic and coding
systems has brought numerous changes (Knaus, 2013). The content knowledge, in this case,
includes specialized content knowledge. Authentic learning practices based on thinking