Probability

THOUGHT

What is the probability that students will understand probability?

REFLECTION #1

Probability can be very difficult to teach, and is quite possibly undesirable to teach for teachers who do not have a firm grasp on the topic. This means that many teachers either do not explain probability correctly, or teach it too quickly and breeze through it.

REFLECTION #2

Probable ways to make probability more exciting for the students AND the teacher are as follows:

1) There are many games (e.g. using spinners and relevant topics for the students) and magic tricks that the teacher can bring into the classroom, that will help the students not only understand probability more thoroughly, it will also engage them more within the lesson. When my teaching partner in the first placement played probability games with the students, they became very excited, and wanted to compete with one another to win the game.

2) When you use tangible objects (such as playing cards), it is easier to explain to students what the probability is. For example, when a teacher holds 3 cards, and shows one to the student, so that 2 cards are left, and the student must pick the "correct" card, they have a 33% chance of choosing the correct card, and not 50%, even though they will be choosing 1 of 2 cards.

Some probability games and resources:

Johnny's Math Page
Basic Skill Practice Games
MrNussbaum
The Mathematics of  Magic