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I was going to school at the Brooklyn Technical High School in New York City, and I enjoyed mathematics. I especially enjoyed the experience, when the instructor gave me
the opportunity, to present in front of the classroom. So, later, when I was a student at the University of Southern California, trying to decide what career to pursue, I reflected upon the pleasure of teaching and the joy of
mathematics and I decided that I would become a high school mathematics teacher.
Q: Hands-On Equations® (HOE) is described as "visual and
kinesthetic"—What does this mean for students? Why is it important?
The way much of mathematics, and algebra in particular, is taught at the high school level is so
theoretical and abstract, it involves memorization, and students are taught a series of steps to follow, and they're told if they follow these steps, they'll arrive at the right answer. But these set rules, and the symbols upon
which they operate, have as much meaning to the kids as Greek or Chinese symbols would have. And therefore, to the children, the process of getting the "right" answer, as traditionally taught, is often devoid of meaning.
Instead of using symbols and set rules to memorize, in HOE, we give the students a concrete representation of the algebraic symbols and algebraic processes. The symbols are represented by game pieces. The algebraic processes are
represented by physical actions upon these pieces. In other words, we have a counterpart for what's done on the blackboard, and it's done physically. As the equations are solved, the child can see what he's doing, can actually move
the pieces, so he's now using his whole brain, and not just part of it to solve the problem mentally. It turns out that doing algebraic equations this way, even though many of these equations would not normally be presented until
the ninth grade, is in fact easier than much of the curriculum we have in the elementary schools. So, a fourth grader can really be very successful in learning algebraic concepts presented this way, more so, for instance than in
learning to divide fractions or do long division. |
