Data Analysis

Things have been going much more smoothly recently with my practicum. I have finally gotten over the nerves of all eyes on me as the leader in the classroom. So much in fact that I decided to conquer another one of my biggest fears: Math.

Where did the trauma start? Not too sure but I have vague memories of my grade two teacher angrily telling me that 2+2 would never equal 5 no matter how many times I tried to count it my fingers. As a teenager I got pushed down from the math that the smart university bound kids took, to the math for kids who were taking math because the school said they had to.

"You're just not very good at math" They told me.

My new teacher Mr.Bieksa was a great guy, who told a lot of funny stories, but I can't seem to remember a thing he taught me. As someone who is going to be shaping the minds of young children, I am more than worried about my lack of confidence in mathematics.  "But it's only grade three!" you are probably thinking to yourself. It's deeply ingrained folks... Perhaps it's a great lesson for future teachers out there, if you tell kids they suck at something, they will believe you for the rest of their lives. 

However, I cannot be a classroom teacher who does not teach math. So I chose to teach an entire math unit on Data Analysis with the support of my SA who thinks I'll get over my fear by jumping in with both feet.

Check it out! Awesome graphing visual

You know what? So far so good. Graphing is a great way to start teaching math!  It visual and engaging for the kids. I began by reading some great books on graphing The Great Graph Contest by, Loreen Leedy and My Path to Math:Graphing by,Penny Dowdy.  If you are looking for good math resources for a classroom library, these are fantastic books! These stories provided great discussion points of what a graph is and why we graph information. The books also provide introduction to vocabulary used in graphing.

So far I have been teaching graphing as a class activity. We just finished a classroom graph on our birthdays. The kids loved it. We all drew pictures of ourselves and glued them on to a big class graph. Colorful and completely relevant to the kids. We drew the graph together. It was a great way to scaffold the construction of a graph.

As for analysis, I have "borrowed" ideas from the classroom teachers I currently work for as a Special Education Assistant.  They are master teachers and I am forever indebted to these two gentlemen, they have taught me skills I will use for my entire career. 

Right There Information: Information that is right on the graph. You can find it immediately without much of a search. E.g. No one has a birthday in February                                                

Search and Connect: A bit more of a higher order thinking activity. This is information that is found by looking for information and comparing it to other pieces of information to make sense of the data. E.g. All the birthdays in September are girls.         

What do you Think? This type of information gleaned from the graph requires students to make decisions based on the data. This can be difficult as it requires students to think about the data and generate their own  for the results.  I think most people are born in spring because that is when most babies in nature are born (I actually have saved this line of analysis for the next lesson. two concepts seemed more than enough for one lesson plan)

                                               

I like this approach to data analysis. Instead of just asking questions about the data I want to give students the foundation to critically look at information. I think it's an important skill that everyone needs but not everyone has. Graphing is a real "thinking activity" for kids and a fantastic way to develop a sharp critical mind.

This coming week: Halloween candy graphing and making our own graphs.