Process Standard: Problem Solving

After reading the information on Problem Solving in Principles and Standards I can understand what a crucial part the teacher plays. So much of what students get out of problem solving is based on the teachers preparation and chosing the right problems. The more opportunities students have to work on problem solving they better they will be at it and understand it. Learning problem solving techniques is going to help students approach problems in multiple different ways and also help them in all aspects of school and life. Problem solving does not have to just involve math and the more topics that are covered in a problem the better. Students do not have to possess all the knowledge necessary for a problem. If the problem is chosen correctly students can learn math while solving their problem. If teachers can anticipate the value of the problem they are chosing before giving it students will be able to get the most possible out of the problem.

An idea that had never occurred ot me before involves young children's questions they ask. Students are always asking questions about why something happens or how something occurs and teachers can take these questions and turn them into mathematical problem solving. This way teachers would know the students are interested in the problem and would more then likely get the most knowledge from the problem.

With all the different kind of problems that can be used for problem solving it is important for students to know multiple strategies for solving them. The more strategies available to the students the more likely they will be able to solve the problem. I know from experience this is true because I am in a problem solving course right now. With all the different kinds of problems we get assigned not one strategy works for all of those problems. Sometimes it works better to draw a diagram, but other times it is best just to write it all out.

It is also important to make sure that students are reflect on their problem solving skills and strategies. If time is taken to reflect on what worked and what did not work, students will hopefully be able to avoid those strategies that can be misleading and get right to an effective way of solving the problem.