Reflection on Number Sense (Jessica Shumway). Education Essay

Reflection on Number Sense
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Reflection on Number Sense
Jessica Shumway states that “As teachers, having a strong understanding of what number sense is and all its components and complexities will improve our ability to plan experiences that will develop and nurture our students’ number sense” (Shumway, 2018, p. 10). In other terms, the author means that teachers must first comprehend something before they share it with students. When it comes to number sense, educators hold significant roles in ensuring that learners acquire relevant knowledge. Shumway makes it clear that the primary responsibility of teachers is to nurture students in number sense. In my opinion, when Shumway refers to number sense, she means the intuitive comprehension of numbers, how they relate to each other, their magnitude, and how operations change them. As such, students know how to perform calculations and correct interpretations only after they obtain appropriate knowledge of number sense.
I think Shumway wants teachers to understand that they should plan their lessons well to foster proper comprehension of numbers. At this juncture, educators who do not know what they are teaching cannot nurture learners in building relevant knowledge about number sense. For example, by referring to Shumway’s statement, it would be appropriate for students to know numbers themselves before understanding how they relate to each other. Let us assume that a grade four teacher wants to teach learners about the difference between two and five. Based on Shumway’s perspective, writing these numbers on blackboard and describing them to students cannot make much sense to them. On that note, the most appropriate way would be allowing students to use beads. As such, learners will count two and five beads respectively. The beads might be of different colors to make sure that all learners can see why two is not equal to five. After using beads, s...