Week 7 Portfolio Reflection- Manipulatives

Which manipulatives are good for Fractions and Decimals? Why? There are a
number of different manipulatives that can be used throughout the fractions and
decimals areas which include physical representations, pictorial representations,
verbal representations, symbolic representations and real world representations.
All of these manipulatives are good for students although the most effective type
of manipulative depends on their individual learning style. For example, physical
representations would suit a kinaesthetic type learner as it encourages more hands
on problem solving. Pictorial representations would be more suited to a visual
learner because they prefer using images, pictures and spatial understanding.
Verbal representations are connected with the linguistic type learner as they learn
best when using words, both in speech and in writing. Symbolic representations
benefit the logical learners who use logic reasoning and systems to learn best.
Real world representations actually combine a number of different learning styles
as students can see things differently with the use of real world representation that
can relate to them. These 5 manipulatives can all be used effectively in the
classroom if implemented correctly. Teachers must understand how their students
learn best and if applied properly, it can be a really useful method of learning.

Are manipulative always good? Why and why not? Manipulatives are best
used in moderation so that the teacher can understand how a student learns best
and how they do not learn best. Personally, I think that manipulatives are only
needed if a lesson needs to be injected with something different to increase the
engagement and also the enjoyment of the students. If used on a day to day basis,
I think the repetitiveness will begin to bore the children which will affect their
learning. Keeping them motivated to achieve optimal learning is a major factor
why manipulatives should be used in moderation.
A couple of reasons why manipulatives can have a negative effect on students
learning is it can cause distractions and it can get them over confident in their
ability and start constructing equations that are too advanced for their level.
Distractions, particularly in a physical representation can start students building or
making things that are way off track or irrelevant to what the topic that they are
meant to be learning. Over confidence and doing equations that are too advanced
for their ability are also another negative to using manipulatives for similar
reasons to the distractions, as well as slowing their learning process from trying
things that are too hard for them.