New Connections
I'm at a birthday party for two siblings. Miley is one and Zak is three. There's lots of activity and conversation. One of their cousins is in Grade Three. We talk about the EQAO test and make connections between us. I'm a teacher and she's a student who didn't realize that all Ontario students write the exact same test. It's nice to find a point of connection; something to talk about at a deeper level than the others around us.
Then the birthday cake is displayed; half for Miley with a 1 and half for Zak with a 3. Immediately I connect to a math problem I gave my students for homework. They (and their parents) struggled to find the answer. I had struggled to even know which strategies to try. Here was a "real life" situation that connected for me........and instantly I am forming a word problem in my mind, before the candles are even blown out.
If Zak is three and Miley is one, in how many years will Zak be twice as old as his sister?
In the original problem, the children were four years apart and the oldest was twice as old as the other in four years time. If you were asked to figure out how old they were right now, could you do it? This morning I discovered a pattern that is transferable to any age difference; another connection that expands my learning.
It's these connections that are exciting for me; when old experiences tie in with new learning.....and if I can share that with someone else who also gains understanding, then it's all the more exciting. Maybe that's why I want to blog my new learning and insights. Maybe I'm hoping to make connections with others who are also wanting to learn new things.
Then the birthday cake is displayed; half for Miley with a 1 and half for Zak with a 3. Immediately I connect to a math problem I gave my students for homework. They (and their parents) struggled to find the answer. I had struggled to even know which strategies to try. Here was a "real life" situation that connected for me........and instantly I am forming a word problem in my mind, before the candles are even blown out.
If Zak is three and Miley is one, in how many years will Zak be twice as old as his sister?
In the original problem, the children were four years apart and the oldest was twice as old as the other in four years time. If you were asked to figure out how old they were right now, could you do it? This morning I discovered a pattern that is transferable to any age difference; another connection that expands my learning.
It's these connections that are exciting for me; when old experiences tie in with new learning.....and if I can share that with someone else who also gains understanding, then it's all the more exciting. Maybe that's why I want to blog my new learning and insights. Maybe I'm hoping to make connections with others who are also wanting to learn new things.
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