I am the kind of person who enjoys watching movies more than I do reading the book. All of the readers look at me and say, "Are you serious? The books are so much better! A movie cannot do the book justice." To them, I respond, "That may be the case....but it also doesn't take me weeks to finish a movie."
That being said, I would consider myself a "good reader," and I do enjoy reading, if I can choose the book to read, and if the book is interesting to me. If you were to ask me if I enjoy reading sappy romance novels, I would say no. Do I enjoy reading about historical things? Not particularly. However, I enjoy reading religious books (from any religion) because I like to understand people's thoughts about how they view the world. For many people, their view of the world comes through the lens of religion. It is interesting to me that we can read words on a page, and gain knowledge. This knowledge can then change the way we see things and understand things. I also enjoy reading a good mystery novel every once in a while.
I am grateful for parents who encouraged me to read in elementary school. I can remember reading The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids, which were a series of mystery books for kids. I enjoyed reading these books at an early age because I enjoyed trying to figure out the mystery. My church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) also encouraged me to read religious text, which sparked my interest in out religious text from various religions.
When it comes to reading, there are many things I as a mathematics teacher can do to foster a climate in which my class is interested in reading texts about mathematics. (Please take a moment to re-read that last sentence...you heard me correctly...interested in reading texts about mathematics). That may seem like crazy talk to most people. Most people see math text as a 600 page book, consisting of definitions and rules that help you solve the five thousand example problems, all of which seem to be the same monotonous example problem, just fashioned in a different light. If that is your only idea of a math text, then I do not blame you for not liking to read texts about mathematics. I can remember at an early age, my dad bought me a book called The Grapes of Math. This is a book which teaches kids math with the use of fun riddles. I loved that math text. As I have said before, I also enjoy reading proofs, which is another form of math text. Reading an equation that you can deduce an answer to is another form of math text.
A lot of students struggle with math because they cannot read math. As we have mentioned before in this class, a lot of learning through reading happens in activities we can do before we begin reading. Teachers need to take the time to get students familiar with the language of mathematics. In a lot of my math classes growing up, the teacher asked us if we had any questions from homework, and then would dive right into another lesson that seemed more complex than the one before it. There was no instruction to get us familiar with upcoming terminology or vocabulary.
I really like your writing style. What you said about reading religious texts made me think about your minor emphasis (History, isn't it?), and I totally agree. Reading texts like that help us view the world through other people's eyes, and I think that seeing things from another individual's point of view is very important. I had no idea that there were texts about mathematics that were interesting to read. I will have to add The Grapes of Math to my Summer reading list. You have a lot of good ideas that I think will be very beneficial to your future students. I really enjoyed this entry, Kyle:)
ReplyDeleteI am not the reading type myself. I am right there with you about watching movies. Also I am not a huge math guy either. I feel that I can do the math I need to and get by, but putting the two together I really couldn't see myself enjoying it. Math and Reading are two things you would probably not see on my favorites list. I will also add it to my list of books to check out. I really like what you mentioned about the importance of what happens before the reading occurs. That is key to having students motivated to read.
ReplyDeleteThe more you write about your dad, the more I am filled with respect for him. That is so neat that your dad bought you a book that helped to hook you on math. Hopefully, when you do your text set, you will find some other good books, too. I will share "Crimes and Mathdemeanors "with you, but there are also great books about "Using Math to Do Extreme Sports" and other topics like that. There are great optical illusion books related to geometry. Thanks for your posting! You will be an influential math teacher!
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