Let’s Talk about Numbers!
Embedding Number Talks into Pre-service Teachers
Mathematics Methods Course
As a classroom teacher, I saw the essential benefits
of including mathematical discourse in my mathematics classroom. My elementary
students were engaged with solving problems and having discussions about their
approaches. As a faculty member, allowing my preservice teachers to have conversations
about numbers is even more essential. Preservice teachers come with diverse experience
and preconceived feelings about mathematics. They bring their feelings into
college and into their teaching practices. These feelings include the
following:
·
I can’t stand math! I don’t want to teach
it.
·
I love math. It was my favorite subject in
school!
·
There is only one way to do math!
My goal is to
help develop mathematical thinkers, and, in turn, give them the necessary
pedagogy to build mathematically thinkers. Hopefully, my preservice teachers
can change their feelings into positive ones. That is where Number Talks come in.
I decided to embed Number Talks into the mathematics
methods course. Number Talks is a short (5 to 10 minutes) ongoing daily routine
that provide students with meaningful practice with computation (Parrish, 2010). My preservice teachers were presented a set
of computational problems and were to solve the set mentally. At first, we
started with dot images. They were presented with two questions to respond- “How many did
you see? How did you see it?” After a couple weeks of dot images, preservice teachers were given addition,
subtraction, and multiplication whole number computation problems. At the end
of the semester, preservice teachers were adding and subtracting
fractions. The goal is to solve each set
of cluster problem using mental mathematics.
Yes, even the fraction computation problem had to be solved mentally.
There are several benefits for including Number Talks
into the mathematics daily routine.
Students used multiple computational strategies. Number Talks strengthen
flexibility with numbers and computational disposition. Students experience a
change in perception of mathematics, and the development of critical thinking
skills (Parrish, 2010).
When I surveyed my students about Number Talk experience the
five themes emerged from their responses:
·
You really pushed us to think outside of
the box instead of using the traditional algorithm
·
I learned so much about how numbers are
related.
·
I really enjoyed seeing how other people
think.
·
I hated fractions. Now I can understand
them.
When expose to Number Talks, my preservice teachers
displayed the standards for mathematical practice. They used tools mentally
through visualizations to compute strategically instead of relying on standard
algorithm. My preservice teacher critique each other’s reasoning by freely
questioning and discussing the strategies use by other classmates. They
challenged each other to attend to precision by using correct mathematical
vernacular. Flexibility with numbers and computational disposition was present.
One example is adding 1/2 and 1/8 . My preservice teachers were able to
decompose 1/2 into four 1/8 instead of finding the least common
denominator. Their success in
decomposing fractions started with engaging in Number Talks earlier where they
were decomposing whole number to make friendly number combinations. In addition
to gaining flexibility with numbers, preservice teachers’
perception of mathematic changed. Most
used the traditional algorithm during our earlier Number Talks. As time
progressed, they employed different tools (through visualization) and
strategies. Their perception that there is one way to solve a problem mind set
changed as well.
An important part of being a practitioner is being
reflective in my teaching. As I look back over the semester, I will continue to
include Number Talks as my daily part of my mathematics methods class. We meet
once weekly which hinders the continuity of Number Talks. Therefore, my plans
are to provide outside opportunities for my preservice to engage in Number
Talks with each other. Furthermore, during their field experience, I will
require my future preservice teachers to explore Number Talks with their
cooperating teacher and class. I believe if they experience Number Talks with
elementary students, they will gain a valuable experience on how children think
and learn.
Parrish, S (2010) Number Talks. Helping Children Build Mental Math and Computational Strategies. Sausalito, CA: Math Solutions.
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