From EuropaSur.es (08.11.2008)
Lo dice una organizadora de la Olimpiada de Thales para Primaria. Es de las que piensa que la persona que enseña es la que marca el espíritu de esta materia, con la que cree que hay que interactuar.
Teresa Valdecantos es de las que piensa que a la asignatura de las matemáticas hay que perderle el miedo. Es profesora y delegada provincial de Thales de Matemáticas, la que se encargó de organizar por vez primera una olimpiada para sexto de Primaria en Algeciras. Agradeció la respuesta de las diferentes administraciones. Fue una experiencia pionera que dio muy buenos resultados. “Estamos satisfechos. Yo soy feliz de cómo se lo pasan”.
Lo dice por los niños que no pararon de corretear de un lado a otro por la Plaza de Andalucía en busca de las respuestas a las cuestiones. Se trataba de sacar las temidas matemáticas a la calle. Ella lo llama matemáticas en el entorno. Cree que hay que interactuar con esta materia. “Hay que tocarlas, coger el triángulo y girarlo como si fuera un puzzle. Se trata de perder el miedo al lenguaje matemático”.
Está convencida de que el que enseña es el que marca el espíritu de la asignatura. Ha impartido clases en Secundaria y ahora lo hace en el instituto de adultos. “Allí es un placer enseñar porque va la gente que quiere”. También ve que muestran más interés porque los adultos tienen más necesidades de aprobar.
1) Who is Teresa Valdecantos?
2) What are her hypothesis about Maths Teaching?
3) What do you think? Give specific examples if possible.
1) Who is Teresa Valdecantos?
Teresa Valdecantos is a teacher and a provincial delagate of the Mathematics Thales, that thinks that we have to lose the fear to maths. She was the person that organized the first maths olympics for boys and girls of sixth of primary in Algericas. She was a secundary teacher, but now she is an adult’s teacher.
2) What are her hypothesis about Maths teaching?
Her hypothesis about maths are:
– We have to lose the fear to maths, and to maths vocabulary.
– The teacher that teach maths it’s the person that puts the spirit to the subject.
– She thinks that Maths have to be touch, and that we have to take the triangle and turn it like a puzzle.
– She thinks that the students have to interact with Maths.
– She thinks that maths at the street are easier and better for the students. (Like maths olympics).
– She thinks that it’s better to teach to adults.
3)What do you think? Give specific examples if it’s possible.
I think that some of Teresa’s hypothesis are right.
For example:
– She thinks that maths at the street are easier and better for the students (like maths olympics), I remember one time that I was at primary, that we did an olympics (gimcana) of maths, and one prove was that we have to calculate the are of one room of the school. I didn’t know how to calculate the area but this day I learned it.
– We have to lose the fear to maths, I think that this is true because I remember that one or two years ago I thought that maths were very difficult, and some time I didn’t try to do it, so I never understood some maths things. But now that I try the things, I think that it’s more easy.
– The teacher that teach maths it’s the person that puts the spirit to the subject, I think that this is true because always depend on the teacher if you like maths or not. In primary I liked a lot maths, but there was a year that I had a teacher that I didn’t like the way of teach that she had, so this year I hated maths !
Well, I can put more examples, but I think that this in enough
Clàudia
1) Who is Teresa Valdecantos?
She’s a teacher and a provincial delagate of the Mathematics Thales. She was the first person that organized the first olympic math for sixth of primary in Algericas. Now she’s an addults teacher of math, but she was a secundary math teacher.
2) What are her hypothesis about Maths Teaching?
Her hypotheris about teaching maths are that we have to lose the fear to maths, that the teacer puts the spirit to the subject, that math ahve to be touch( for example; if we want to know how to calcualte the area of a room, taking a meter and measure the room and then we apply the formula to calculate de area), she tinks that it’s better to teach adults and it’s better for the students that interact with maths like in the maths Olympics.
3) What do you think? Give specific examples if possible.
In my opinon the hypotheis of Teresa are good; let’s explain why with examples.
– One day when we were in primary we did a math activity that was to calculate a diamond that was on the floor of the school. We taked rules and pencils and one paper and we took notes about what we measured, and then in class with the measurements, we did the area and the perimeter of it. Tihs example has relation with what Teresa says about interact with maths.
-The third example of Clàudia is true becasue; let’s think that Carlota (our math teacher) is a math teacher that don’t put spirit to the subject, she is all the classes saying read this and then do this exercises and if you don’t understand something tell me, think for a moment Carlota saying to us this and we won’t never do any “think and discuss”, “math act”, “teamwork”… always reading and doing exercises without explanations. I put this example to arrive to the conclusion that if the teacher puts spirit( like Carlot does) the class can be a little more funny.
So, that’s all that I can say about this new. I know that some answers are similar as Clàudia answers but it’s impossible to answer different things because is the same answer.
Miquel!
1)Who is Teresa Valdecantos?
Teresa Valdecanos is a teacher and a ……. of Thales of Mathematics. She was the person who organize the fisrt olympic maths for six of primary students in Algeciras.
2) What are her hypothesis about Maths Teaching?
She thinks that we have to lose the fear to math and to math vocabulary, that the students have to feel math, to interac with math, not just learn and study from a book. Also she is absolutly convinced that the person that teach have to put spirit on the subject. And finally Teresa sais that it’s a pleasure to teach adults because they are more interested and they need to pass the subject.
3) What do you think? Give specific examples if possible.
I’m agree with Teresa’s hypothesis. For example:
I remember when i went to the priary school we do a “Math week”. During a week we talk about math and we did several things related to math like: we made figures of numbers, we made drawings with geometrical figures… During that week I think we saw math in another point of view, not like a boring and difficult subject if not like a interesting and soemtimes funny subject.
The second hypotesy was that the teacher has to put spirit on the subject. And I think the same as Clàudia and Míquel. Math class are not a very funny and super easy class, but think about the math classes without the Thinks and Discuss, the acting math… They will be super boring classes. And also that i think that the teacher has to put this spirit to encourage the class.
And finally i would like to say that it’s true that the adults are more interested because maybe they could’t learn this when they were kinds or maybe because they need for they work, or something like that. They think different to a child or a teenager, for them is more important to learn and to pass and for a teenager is not a important thing, they think: what is math going to be usefull for me in the real life?
I remember the math week that Anna is explaining in the third question I agree with her. I remember we did some games or some problems that were asked to us in a game way, also it was very useful the presence of our parents there because during the whole we did something extraordinary we discovered new things and new points of views to see the world of mathematics and after this week we have had to explain to our parents everything that means review all we had done and teach someone who has a different way to learn and a different way to see the things and your obligation was like open the windows to them to see the light and to see how hard we had work to understand it.
The worst thing I think that it was when everything finish and after one month the whole expirience was forgotten.
But I think that ot could be a good suggestion to do something like that once a year in the secondary school :).
About what Anna has said in the last paragraph I agree with her in some points but I think that the adults that are right now studyng mathematics are the ones who hadn’t got the oportunity in the past but they are not so much I think that It’ll be the same proportion that the teenagesr that are interested in maths or the ones that don’t say that mathematics are not useful.
That’s all I can write about, everything it’s answered…
See you!
Mariona.
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