I have learned a lot about myself these past few months as an educator.  Doing research and finding strategies that are backed up by research is truly life changing for a teacher.  I never would have thought that playing math games every single day would influence my student learning so much.  My students are now confident about multiplication and I am a lot more confident as an educator and truly feel like I can make a difference in my students' lives.  I also learned that keeping track of data and mapping student growth is not only rewarding for myself but for my students.  My students were so excited to compare their pre-test and post test scores as was I.  I was smiling from ear to ear because of how well they did and how proud they were of themselves.  The math games helped my students to achieve fact fluency because they were practicing the facts every single day in a way that was consistent.  They also were practicing multiple facts for an extended period of time. The students had such a good time playing the games that they did not even realize how much the games were benefiting them. My students also used the math songs and math rotations to help support their fact fluency. They were always singing the songs and using the songs to help them remember the facts.  My students definitely used their resources to help themselves achieve fact fluency.

 

For years to come, I will constantly be looking for research-based strategies and keeping track of data to ensure student growth and success.  If I could go back and do this all over again I would find more variation in math games and really find games that are unique and different. All my students enjoyed the games but it would have been nice to have more of a variety to peak their interest even more.  This whole experience has impacted my teaching greatly.  I feel so much more confident as an educator and truly feel like I can make a difference and teach my students skills that they will use every single day.  Math used to be an intimidating subject for me to teach but now I have grown and learned and feel like I am ready to take on any math concept and find a way to teach it to my students effectively. Math has to be a hands on subject for students so that they can really grasp the concepts.   I feel like I did my fair share in finding ways that got my students engaged and got them using hands on materials to practice and master their multiplication skills.  

 

Research and best teaching practices focus on getting students involved in their learning and making them feel responsible.  Math games did just that for my students.  They were involved, engaged and knew what was expected of them.  They knew there would be a quiz at the end of each week and that the math games were their way to study for the quiz. The INTASC standards focus on content knowledge and professional responsibility.  Those go hand in hand and relate directly to my use of math games.  Multiplication is a huge skill that has to be mastered in third grade. My students needed to gain that skill and use it appropriately.  It was also my professional responsibility to ensure that all students achieved that content knowledge on multiplication.  It is my job as their educator to teach them using the best practices and using strategies that meet the needs of all learners in my classroom.  According to 21st century skills, math games related to the idea of providing games that were appropriate for the students and their zone of proximal development.  The games were challenging the students and making them increase their knowledge and thinking.  The games were not too challenging for the students that they became discouraged.  The games took the content that needed to be learned and presented it in a way that was fun and engaging for the students.  

 

I am so proud of my students.  Now that they have mastered multiplication this means that math will be just a little easier for them down the road.  They will be able to dedicate their time to more complex math concepts and enjoy math just a little bit more.  As for me, I now feel prepared and accomplished as an educator. I am now ready to face any obstacle and feel confident in doing so.