Integration of Faith and Learning
Integrating my faith into my learning and teaching is important because my faith composes so much of my worldview, which in turn impacts much of what I do, especially in the classroom. I believe that God has created everything; he has created me, my students, and the knowledge that we learn in school, including fractions. When I first started thinking about fractions and my worldview, I was really struggling, because the question arises of how do fractions relate to my faith? The answer to that question is surprising as it relates in more ways than one might originally think.
The first way that fractions relate to my faith is that fractions help bring justice. It is just to share your candy equally with you brothers and sisters. It is just to share your pizza fairly with your friends. Understanding fractions allows a person to be fair and just with those around them. Fractions also bring a deeper understanding of mathematics that allows us to better appreciate the complex world that surrounds us everyday.
The next way that fractions relate to my faith is that God created fractions. There is a quote by Paul Dirac that says, “God used beautiful mathematics when creating the world.” Mathematics as a whole surrounds us everyday without us even knowing. God knew the exact number of parts needed to make a human body. He knew that almost ¾ of our body was going to be water. God knows the number of hairs on our head. He knew that money would be created to act as our currency. God created mathematics for its beauty and for our benefit.
I have talked so far about how fractions have related to my personal faith and worldview, now the question becomes how will my worldview shape how I teach my students about fractions. My faith affects my teaching in that I realize the importance of the concept and knowledge of fractions. Fractions are important in our everyday life, and they help us become a better member of this world. My worldview impacts my teaching in that an emphasis will be placed on the importance of knowing about fractions rather than writing them off as unimportant. My worldview impacts my students in that I desire for every single one of my students to understand fractions. I know that God created every single one of my students with the ability to learn. With that ability to learn comes the ability to understand fractions.
I also need to consider my students’ worldview, and how that impacts their learning. My students are coming from a variety of backgrounds, and from all different kinds of belief systems. My hope for my students is that they learn to appreciate how necessary fractions are in our relationships with others, in the world surrounding us, as well as in a deeper understanding of mathematics. One way that my students have the opportunity to express their worldview is through our fraction books that we are creating to see how fractions are in the world surrounding us. I also provide time in my lessons for my students to discuss as a class what they have been learning and how that can be seen around them.
In teaching my unit plan on fractions, I plan on using small groups to capitalize on my belief that relationships are important as well as the belief that everyone is valued. In teaching using small groups and small partner activities I am demonstrating my belief that my students are important, and it is important that they relate to those around them because the people surround them are valued, and it is important to have everyone share their thoughts and ideas.
I plan on considering my worldview, my students’ worldviews, and my school’s worldview in mind as I approach teaching my unit plan to my students. My hope is that every one of my students can come to understand fractions in their own way, and create their own understanding, as each student’s understanding will be slightly different, yet all style acceptable.
The first way that fractions relate to my faith is that fractions help bring justice. It is just to share your candy equally with you brothers and sisters. It is just to share your pizza fairly with your friends. Understanding fractions allows a person to be fair and just with those around them. Fractions also bring a deeper understanding of mathematics that allows us to better appreciate the complex world that surrounds us everyday.
The next way that fractions relate to my faith is that God created fractions. There is a quote by Paul Dirac that says, “God used beautiful mathematics when creating the world.” Mathematics as a whole surrounds us everyday without us even knowing. God knew the exact number of parts needed to make a human body. He knew that almost ¾ of our body was going to be water. God knows the number of hairs on our head. He knew that money would be created to act as our currency. God created mathematics for its beauty and for our benefit.
I have talked so far about how fractions have related to my personal faith and worldview, now the question becomes how will my worldview shape how I teach my students about fractions. My faith affects my teaching in that I realize the importance of the concept and knowledge of fractions. Fractions are important in our everyday life, and they help us become a better member of this world. My worldview impacts my teaching in that an emphasis will be placed on the importance of knowing about fractions rather than writing them off as unimportant. My worldview impacts my students in that I desire for every single one of my students to understand fractions. I know that God created every single one of my students with the ability to learn. With that ability to learn comes the ability to understand fractions.
I also need to consider my students’ worldview, and how that impacts their learning. My students are coming from a variety of backgrounds, and from all different kinds of belief systems. My hope for my students is that they learn to appreciate how necessary fractions are in our relationships with others, in the world surrounding us, as well as in a deeper understanding of mathematics. One way that my students have the opportunity to express their worldview is through our fraction books that we are creating to see how fractions are in the world surrounding us. I also provide time in my lessons for my students to discuss as a class what they have been learning and how that can be seen around them.
In teaching my unit plan on fractions, I plan on using small groups to capitalize on my belief that relationships are important as well as the belief that everyone is valued. In teaching using small groups and small partner activities I am demonstrating my belief that my students are important, and it is important that they relate to those around them because the people surround them are valued, and it is important to have everyone share their thoughts and ideas.
I plan on considering my worldview, my students’ worldviews, and my school’s worldview in mind as I approach teaching my unit plan to my students. My hope is that every one of my students can come to understand fractions in their own way, and create their own understanding, as each student’s understanding will be slightly different, yet all style acceptable.