I am currently taking Teaching Mathematics Primary/Junior Part 2, and am really enjoying the opportunity to further develop some new ideas I was exposed to in Part 1 last year. After teaching overseas in private schools, it was a bit overwhelming, but also very invigorating to jump into “Bansho,” “three-part lessons,” and “Big Ideas,” all terms I had never heard before! Now that I’ve been working with them and building on my understanding of how they enhance the classroom learning experience, I’m thrilled with the results. There are so many exciting ways to integrate different curriculum areas, and I always feel like I’ve cracked a code or solved a challenging logic puzzle when I find a fun way to address expectations from several subjects in one activity.

One of our recent assignments was to design a Virtual Field Trip to bring math to life for our students. I decided to integrate it with Language Arts and blend it with one of my favourite shows (and ways to engage children in business and entrepreneurship!) – Dragons’ Den! I put it together online, and it’s available here! I had so much fun designing it, and would love to have the opportunity to use it in my classroom some day!