“Hello, Math”

By: Gissele P. Jaro

Before starting my internship, I desperately prayed not to be assigned to Math, I’m okay with
any subject except that one. Out of Gardner’s 7 intelligence, I lack the mathematical intelligence big
time. That’s why I was very happy when I didn’t have it last semester. But sad to say it landed on my last
student teaching. Though I’ll be handling elementary level, it is still a challenge for me to teach the
subject because all my life I’ve been struggling on Math. I was nervous that maybe I can’t teach my
students correctly because I myself don’t have the confidence to teach it. Also, Math is a technical type
of subject. You can’t make a mistake because the kids will follow what you taught. It contains numbers
and solutions, so you really can’t make a fault.

Hence the challenge, I started observing Ma’am Agir’s class this week. The topic for the fourth
quarter is about fraction and it’s not an easy topic. I can understand how it should be done but I feel like
I won’t do good in explaining so I really need to study harder for this topic. The theory I learned from
observing the class was constructivism. This theory is about using our prior knowledge in learning new
things. During my observation, a new lesson was introduced to the class, and it’s about fraction. Their
previous topic was about least and greater common factor and it will later on help them understand
how to find the simplest form of a fraction. Learning Mathematics should be taken step by step. We
learn from the easiest to the hardest in order for us to understand the complicated formulas in the
future. Just like the what happened in the class this week, they are learning step by step. They use their
previous learnings to be able to learn new things. As a teacher, I can also relate to the theory
Constructivism. Prior knowledge can be helpful in improving our minds as it will develop complex
understanding of things.

Also, one of the domains I can conclude in this week’s observation is the Domain 1, Content,
Knowledge and Pedagogy. In order for me to successfully deliver the Math lessons, I must study hard to
familiarize the terms, solutions, and formulas needed so that I won’t make any mistakes when I teach
next week. Also, I should plan my teaching strategy so that my learners will not get bored and will
actively participate in my class. There are many interactive games for Math in the internet, all I have to
do is to find what is best for my students. With the application of this domain, I can effectively impart
new knowledge for my students.