Simple computation such as mean, mean, and mode is the type of math I enjoy. I like to add a ton of numbers up and solve equations WITHOUT letters in them. Growing up, I often found myself in the back seat playing with a calculator trying to
spell naughty words <---NO! compute crazy things. I would type in 556+43 and press the "equal" button hundreds of times until I hit a number with an exponent. I may have been
bored out of my mind slightly bored! Anyway, I have always loved calculators.
With that being said, I'm excited to teach my students about things such as mean, median, and mode. However, I picture myself doing it much differently. I may even delegate it out to P.E. class. Who knows, in a couple of years, I may BE the P.E. teacher. I must be prepared!
Here is an example of how I would teach something as simple as mean, median, and mode! I would have the class go outside and we would break into groups. We would complete simple acts such as running a lap or throwing a ball up in the air and catching it ten times. Every group would have stop watches and would record things. We would discuss converting seconds/minutes, minutes/seconds, etc. We could then decide the mean, median, and mode for each group as well as the class. We could work toward beating our record or we could change the activity up.
Does it sound like fun? I guess I always had more fun if we had class
outside. I would have the best of both worlds with this lesson. We could be outside and exercising, as well as learning the intended information. However, I think the most important fact is that the students would be engaged. After all, if all goes well, we will do it again!
