Building Mathematical Literacy

in our Adult Learners

Shelly Corlyon, Principal of Teaching and Learning, UCDSB

October 24th,

2017

Learning Goal

We are learning

to build our

adult learners’

self-confidence

and efficacy

with

mathematical

literacy skills.

Minds On! Building Number Fluency

and Number Sense

Number Talks and Number Strings

Want to Succeed in School and Life? Science

Says to Instill This One Thing Above All Else:

How Gritty Are Your Students?

Tell students you love mistakes and that they will be valued at all times.

Dig into mistakes so everyone can learn from them to build conceptual understanding.

Tell them: “Great! That is how we learn. If we already know how to do it, there is no learning.”

Tell them: ”It’s OK, we all make mistakes – let’s see if we can figure it out by talking about it.”

Ask Good Questions:

Ask Open Questions

Provide Wait Time

Involve All Students

Use Verbs that Elicit Thinking

(justify, explain, compare,…)

What do you notice?

What do you think?

How do you know?

Tell me/show me what you did to solve this problem.

Effective Questions in Mathematics

Encourage visual mathematics

to build conceptual understanding

Encourage students to represent their thinking in different forms (concrete materials, words, pictures, graphs, equations, or tables, etc and to make links between them

Model different representations when students are sharing their thinking

Ensure students can identify their learning against the success criteria you have co-constructed with students through noticing and naming.

It is not about speed.

Efficiency comes with understanding. Tell

students you don’t

value speed

Don’t let the math

discourse be driven

by the fastest

students

It’s about the processes in

mathematics:

• Research

shows that

giving marks

stops the

learning

• Descriptive

Feedback is

essential

Vision of the Mathematics Learner

Cheques and

Balances

Improving Financial Literacy

The Need for Financial Literacy (from Financial Consumer Agency of Canada)

The current average

percentage of their income

that Canadians save is:

a)5 %

b)7.5 %

c)10%

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

Answer: a)

In 2013, the average household

debt of Canadians was:

a)$56 000

b)$96 000

c)$114 000

Answer: c)

In 2011, the total reported dollar

loss by victims of identity theft

was about:

a)$7 million

b)$9 million

c)$11 million

Answer: c)

The Need to Be More

Financially Literate

Help control their financial

future

Achieve their life goals

Provide for themselves

and their family

Avoid being victimized by

‘scammers’

Be a smarter consumer

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

Understanding Credit

• You buy a sofa for

$1,200 on February 21

with your credit card.

• Payment Due Date:

April 6th.

• You pay $1,000 April 1st

and then the balance of

$200 on April 10th.

• What amount will be

charged interest?

You’re thinking, fantastic, I’m only going to be charged interest on the $200 for the 4 days in which you carried a balance past the payment due date.

Because you did not pay off your balance in full, you’re actually going to be charged interest on the full $1,200 for the 52 days from your date of purchase to the payment due date.

Then, in addition to that, you’ll be charged interest for an additional 4 days on the $200 you paid off between the payment due date and the date you paid off your balance in full.

That’s $47.86 of interest instead of $0.61!

Paying your Credit Card Bills

How does a grace period work?

If you don’t pay off your balance in

full by the payment due date, you

will be charged interest all the way

back to the purchase transaction

date for the entire balance – even

if you make a partial payment!

Tackle Unexpected Expenses with

Ontario’s Choice for Same-Day Loans

Are bills piling up? Payday loan places

make it easy to get a personal loan to

pay them off-- no credit check.

*Maximum Allowable Cost per $100

borrowed is $18.

I took a cash

advance of my pay

cheque for $300. I

have to pay back

$354 on my next pay

cycle: i.e. in 14 days

You find yourself in a financial pinch. You are behind in bills. You reach out to this online loan company which can get you approved immediately and can send you the money in as little as one day.

They offer you a loan of $5 000 and say you only have to pay back $193/month for 5 years.

How much do you end up paying?

On-Line Loans: A

quick Fix?

Rent to Own

Imagine you are running low on

cash but your family needs a new

couch.

You are provided two offers:

A. $949.00 today

Or

B. $32/week for 156 weeks

Price: $949.00

What About Option #3:

Do not pay for 72 months?

If you don’t have the full amount

on the due date, you are

charged interest dating back to

the day of the purchase.

The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada:

https://www.canada.ca/en/services/finance/tools.html

This website has a variety of tools:

Budget calculator

Mortgage calculator,

Vehicle buy or lease calculator, etc.

It also has a link to a Financial Literacy Self Assessment Quiz.

http://www.practicalmoneyskills.com/teach/lesson_plans/grades_9_12

Fantastic resource complete with lesson plans and student activity

pages.

Avoid Being Scammed by Marketing

The Importance of Understanding Units

Minds On

What is

the

better

buy?

Grocery Shopping – Labels Give Unit Rates

Comparison

Shopping

Which would you rather?

Real Life Examples

Use your students’ real-life problems they

are currently facing at home or work:

Example: Replacing a refrigerator in a small

kitchen.

• Conceptual understanding of the

mathematics:

Measuring space, determining fit,

comparison shopping for sales & discounts,

finding the best financing options, finding

the best refrigerator at the best value, to be

able to evaluate and find solutions to the

problem. National Center for the Study of

Adult Learning and Literacy

Plan a Feast: From Plan to Execution:

Invitations

Venue – layout of the room/tables

Theme

Plan the Menu

Shopping List

Schedule – cooking, decorating, etc.

Expenses

…

Making and Keeping A Budget

50% of Your Income – Essentials

20% of Your Income – Savings

30% of Your Income – Personal

Simple Budget Worksheet