For as relaxed of a schedule we had today, it sure was
exhausting still! We started the say assisting Dr Matney and Professor Yupadee
with their professional development for Thai secondary teachers as well as the
Thai college students. We worked with
pattern blocks and discussed the many pros to using them. We engaged the teachers and students in
different tasks they could use in their classroom to activate spacial thinking. I worked with a group of 4 Thai students and
1 teacher. Like usual, the tricky part
of the day was communication. Obviously
all 5 had the capability and intelligence to complete all the tasks very
easily. The struggle came when I had to
communicate the goals and directions of each task. My group did very well with the tasks and
even took them farther than what was asked.
This may have been from the communication issue, but I was very proud they
were able to figure out the higher level ideas without my guidance. They even came up with some ideas that I had
not thought of before. I enjoyed this
because I gained new ideas for the task.
I was very impressed with their level of thinking and completion of
tasks so quickly with the communication barriers.
In the afternoon, we watched the final rounds of grades 9-12
in 180IQ. It was amazing how fast these
students can compute in their head!
Yesterday, grades 7-9 took about 5 seconds, which I was floored by! But, today students buzzed in between .5-2
second. Yes, ½ a second! It was “freaking
incredible” to quote Dr Matney. As the
guest of honor, he presented the awards to both 180IQ and A Math winners
today. I was amazed by how well all the
students did in both competitions. I
really want to bring these competition ideas back to the states and try to do
something with them. Whether it be
hosting competitions at the college or high school level, or even just
incorporating them into my own classroom.
Both were great games to activate problem solving skills and practice
basic mathematical skills. After,
Teacher Nirutt, proper addressment in Thailand, presented a way of discovering
the Least Common Multiple and Greatest Common Factor of two numbers through the
use of fraction circles. This is an idea
he discovered that was very clever! I
really enjoyed learning and thinking about LCM and GCF in a visual
representation.
The rest of the day was spend hanging out with our Thai
friends. The more and more we spend time
together, the easier it gets to communicate.
I have grown very close with my 3 Thai friends. We have learned a lot about each other and
have found the most effective ways to communicate. They are all very funny and sweet. By the way they treat me, it is if I am not a
stranger anymore. I very much enjoy
hanging out with them.
Thai club life....SO MUCH FUN!!!!!! Lots of loud music,
laughing, and dancing. And…….I got there by moped! Riding of course J
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