When WOW Becomes Of Course - Essay Example

When "WOW" Becomes "Of After reading Lisa Von Drasek's article d "The "Wow" Factor", my initial reaction was "Of. Teachers are perpetually confronted by the lack of classroom attention when trying to teach subjects in isolation. For a child, math by itself may be incomprehensible. Yet, when mixed with color, pictures, and a good storyline, it sinks in even without studying what we traditionally think of as math. We know children are more conducive to color, sound, story, and tactile sensations than to cold logic.

Von Drasek's article highlights the need to incorporate all these features into a mix of educational experiences. The themes that run throughout the article are interaction and a good storyline. These may not be revolutionary, but it reminds us of the possibilities we have to relate information to children. The demand placed on teachers to improve math performance at an early age has brought with it unique approaches. Learning the basic concept of numbers at an early age can greatly facilitate the mastering of math at a later date.

There is a need to incorporate math into the variety of other subjects that we present to children. A child develops an interest in a number when the number becomes a character. As the story unfolds, the number is presented in a scenario in that other numbers interact with, or present a problem that demands a solution. The child gets this intuitively and garners knowledge of the concept of numbers. When confronted with mathematics, they will have a mental picture and an understanding of the relationship that numbers have.

It will aid in their ability to format a problem in a context that makes sense to them, and gives them a foothold in creating possible solutions. This approach to how children learn places a responsibility on the classroom teacher to be creative in their approach to education. As teachers, we need to remain cognizant of the fact that different children learn in different ways. While one child may be rapt by the color and pictures of a colorful story, another may want to touch the characters.

Something needs to be presented to the children that will elicit a "Wow". Yet, the individual piece of the presentation that captures the child's imagination needs to be tied to an overriding theme that pulls the child into other areas. We capture them with color and pictures, and then we hold them with a story. Meanwhile, the main character, math, enters the stage and though almost unnoticed, becomes the leading part. This is not a new concept, advertisers and Hollywood have forever used this approach to plant messages in adults.

But for beginning math Of course. The foundation of mathematics rests on a firm concept of mental images of amounts, sizes, and their relationship. If this can be done with math, certainly we can transfer this technique to other subjects. Biology and the Earth Sciences would be open to teaching at a very young age.