September 7 Exit Slip

After reading the six controversial statements about math education, it seemed like the majority of the class agreed that these statements seemed outdated and incorrect. While discussing why these ideas are problematic, I thought that much of the discussion seemed pretty black and white. For example, it seems obvious that students can learn from their mistakes and that it would be beneficial to spend time reviewing them. I think that the challenge here will be actually applying the ideas we discussed in the real world. While it seems obvious that reviewing mistakes can be beneficial, in a real life scenario it may be easy to say "I don't have time to review my mistakes. I'll do it next time." or "It would be nice if I could teach proofs and math history but I don't have the time". I think it can be easy to get complacent or distracted and end up sacrificing quality for efficiency. That's why I believe that even if these statements do seem obvious, it is important to keep them in the back of your mind. I think that a teacher who is conscious of the importance of these ideas is much more likely to find creative ways to try and integrate them into their teaching, even under the pressure of time constraints. The class left me thinking about how important it is to be constantly evaluating yourself as a teacher and to always be thinking about the ways in which you can improve.

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