85. Math-a-magic Revealed
Arts Integrated Education is a way of thinking; a way of life; it is an approach to just about everything! Before “teaching” anything, it asks the question of oneself: What is the value and relevance of this subject? It causes you to search for a meaningful context. Then you and your students have a motive for learning that is based in something REAL!
Why do we teach mathematics? Or, to quote from the song, “Why do I need a thing called math?” And as the song explores, there are so many good reasons. Why we teach math and how we go about it is everything!
Mathematics education in the ‘west’ is largely left brain hemisphere directed. And of course, a good part of abstract and symbolic learning is left hemisphere work. But this misses and inadvertently excludes more than half a universe of opportunity!
Arts Integrated Education involves both hemispheres of the brain working in alternation and firing simultaneously!
Mathematics is a brilliant media for this methodology. Consciously and deliberately combining math education with music, language arts, imagery, symbols and MOVEMENT opens doors inside and out!
Simply counting in various sequences or learning math concepts using the valuable mnemonic tool of singing in rhythmic repetitive verse magnifies learning capacity and amplifies learning capability!
It is all to do with how we train our brains!
How we train our brains and nervous system (by how we use them) is so important. It determines so much in regards to our quality of life and relationships.
And here’s the real teacher bonus: In working with young people we can re-learn, re-print and re-train our faculties, superimposing new neuro-pathways over old ones. It puts us on the greater pathway of becoming better educators (and human beings in training) in the process!
You can find Arts Integrated Education ideas in Math-a-magic here!
~PAZ
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