Initiatives in Teaching and Learning

Back to NIE today, 12th October 2010, 7.00pm
On the Math Menu:

• Salute
• Card Game - 'Magic Touch'
• Take 1, Take 2
• Multiplication

Was introduced to 3 really fun activities. Firstly Salute. This involved using using gaming cards 1-10. Played in groups of 3 or 4. Each player (except one) draws a number from a deck and places it on his forehead. He does not look at the card. Player without a card then totals up the numbers on the players foreheads. The other players then have to subtract the total from the cards visible to them on the other players foreheads and work out the number on their own foreheads.
I found this activity REALLY FUN. I will definitely try this out in school.
Dr Yeap then amazed us with his 'magic' act. He placed some cards numbered 0-10 in a special order. He spelled O-N-E, moving one card for each letter at a time to the bottom of the deck and revealed the card numbered '1'. He discarded the '1' and repeated the activity until the final card '10'. In our groups, we had to arrange the cards to work out his 'magic' trick. My group managed it first and each member was tasked to share with the other groups. (4 9 10 1 3 6 8 2 5 7 is the arrangement)
Next, it was Take 1, Take 2. This involved removing one or two paper clips at a time from a pile. The last one to remove the last 1 or 2 paper clips wins. We had to find out which number of pins to leave our opponent to ensure we win. Dr Yeap allowed a lot of interaction and sharing and never revealed the answers to us. He probed and prodded us to think of possibilities and was always encouraging. He kept highlighting to us that it was never about the solution but rather the joy of learning and discovery. I appreciate this delivery method and am actually enjoying my Math classes as there is always something to look forward to.
For the activity on multiplication, we had to find out the largest 2-digit value when a 2-digit number is multiplied by a 1-digit number (given only digits 0 to 9, with no repeat numbers). We worked out different permutations that arose and how the place value of the digit affected the final answers, etc. Again, Dr Yeap NEVER told us the answers but rather led us to think through the process through interaction with our peers and shared learning as well as reflection. The Message I get from all these activities - the answer to a problem is the end, the journey of discovery and enjoyment is part of the process, which is the more important of the two. He managed to successfuly infuse some of the core essentials of PETALS in his lesson delivery. Thoroughly enjoyed my learning. Thank you, Dr Yeap.