C4T #2

I visited the blog of David Wees, a mathematics teacher at Stratford Hall in Vancouver, BC. Wees's first blog post that I read titled "New Math Equals Trouble, Education Expert Says" was a rant about an article written by Michael Zwaagstra. Wees was particularly disturbed by the comments that Zwaagstra made attributing student's lack of understanding of math based on the fact that teachers did not correctly teach the "new math" and that students should know basic mathematical skills. Zwaagstra made many accusations without the necessary resources to back it up. Wees wrote that having a complete understanding of math was about knowing both basic computational skills, problem solving and understanding the subject as a whole. I agreed with Wees and commented that as a student, I believe it is important to be well-rounded and to know various aspects and skills in a subject, rather than just the basics.

In Wees's second post titled "Math of the Game Portal" and in this post Wees talked about a video game Portal , a game which used math in order to win. Wees discussed how he used algebraic equations, strategy, logic and puzzle solving in order to win each level of this game. I commented and expressed how wonderful this could be to use in a classroom because it would be fun and engaging for students, while also reinforcing necessary mathematical skills.