"I don't get why we teach verifying trig identities. I can't think of a single purpose other to get students familiar with fundamental trig identities."
"I don't get why we teach proofs in general, but more specifically, proofs in traditional geometry curriculums. Like proving theorems that have already been proven in our curriculum."
"(this is going to sound bad) But I don't know if I'm fully convinced of the reason for me to teach Formal Proofs. Don't get me wrong, I understand that there is good logical thinking/problem solving skills that can be taught through proofs. I also know that there is great value in knowing how things are connected and why they are the way they are. However, if I set up my classroom in a way so that these underlying concepts/connections/reasons why are being discussed and illustrated in great depth, is it necessary to teach formal proofs and have students complete them as exercises, especially if they are not stressed in future high school courses?" |