Cant believe this semester has come to an end. Seems like I just started my student teaching and now I am saying goodbye to my great cooperating teacher and all of my students.
Makes me really look forward to having my own classroom and teaching in August!
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Week Fourteen Prompt (4/18 - 4/22)
Week 14 Prompt
Question 1: What strengths, skills, and characteristics do you have that make you a good secondary mathematics teacher?
Question 2: What aspects of teaching mathematics to secondary students still pose a challenge to you?
1. I believe I have several skills that make me a good secondary mathematics teacher. I believe every effective secondary mathematics teacher needs to have a strong base of content knowledge, but also be able to effectively communicate this knowledge. I think I possess this skill because of the feedback I have received from students, teachers, and colleagues. Without the ability to communicate the strong content knowledge, students would not be able to benefit from your content knowledge.
Another skill I believe I possess which makes me an effective secondary mathematics teacher is the ability to keep students engaged throughout the lesson. I am able to use my creativeness and content knowledge to create learning activities and opportunities for my students. These opportunities keep students actively engaged in the new material. These lessons help student build an interest in the concepts being taught.
2. A challenge I possess while teaching students in a secondary classroom setting is pacing. I find it difficult to find the correct pacing to move through the material. Some students require a fast pace through new material and others in the same classroom require you to move through material at a much slower pace. The difficult task is to find a pace that will accommodate both types of students. I feel with more experience teaching this process will come a lot easier to me, but right now I continue to have to make changes to my pacing to help students.
Question 1: What strengths, skills, and characteristics do you have that make you a good secondary mathematics teacher?
Question 2: What aspects of teaching mathematics to secondary students still pose a challenge to you?
1. I believe I have several skills that make me a good secondary mathematics teacher. I believe every effective secondary mathematics teacher needs to have a strong base of content knowledge, but also be able to effectively communicate this knowledge. I think I possess this skill because of the feedback I have received from students, teachers, and colleagues. Without the ability to communicate the strong content knowledge, students would not be able to benefit from your content knowledge.
Another skill I believe I possess which makes me an effective secondary mathematics teacher is the ability to keep students engaged throughout the lesson. I am able to use my creativeness and content knowledge to create learning activities and opportunities for my students. These opportunities keep students actively engaged in the new material. These lessons help student build an interest in the concepts being taught.
2. A challenge I possess while teaching students in a secondary classroom setting is pacing. I find it difficult to find the correct pacing to move through the material. Some students require a fast pace through new material and others in the same classroom require you to move through material at a much slower pace. The difficult task is to find a pace that will accommodate both types of students. I feel with more experience teaching this process will come a lot easier to me, but right now I continue to have to make changes to my pacing to help students.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Week Thirteen Prompt (4/11 - 4/15)
Question: What role do you think homework plays in learning mathematics? What type of homework policies and procedures will you put in place in your classroom? How will you grade homework and how will you use homework grades?
Homework is an assessment in a mathematics classroom. It assesses the students understanding of the topics and concepts being taught. The homework gives the students and the teacher feedback on what the class struggled with, what may need to be re-taught, and what things students should refocus on. I use the students feedback on their homework and their homework scores as an evaluation of my teaching. If the homework’s skill level is appropriate and students do well on it, I know I can move forward with new topics or challenge them with more applied problems. However, if the students struggled with homework that should have been relatively easy, I know I need to re-teach the material and find where the class is struggling the most.
During student teaching my cooperating teacher has a set homework policy. For homework from the textbook, I walk around the classroom checking each student’s progress on the homework and scoring them a 1 through 5 (5 being scored for a complete homework assignment, and a 0 for nothing at all). I am not a big fan of this strategy because I have noticed several students writing in random answers, or simply copying down work from other students as I walk around the classroom checking on their peers.
I like a homework policy my high school calculus teacher used when I was in her class. She assigned the homework the day before, and the next day she would have students write question problems on the white board. The rest of the class would then try to answer the problems on the board, and if they couldn’t then my teacher would walk through the process of solving each problem. If a student was able to answer the question, she would have the student explain the process or would explain the student’s process depending on what she had planned for the rest of the period. Once all questions were answered, my teacher would pull a bag out with five marbles in it. Three of the marbles were green and two were yellow. A student would pick a marble out of the bag and if they pulled a yellow marble everyone would pass the homework in and she would grade it for correctness. If a student pulled a green marble, they would put their homework in their folder and my teacher would continue with the day’s lesson.
This policy forces students to ask questions on their homework, and complete it for correctness in case they are asked to turn their homework in for points. It also helps the students explain their mathematical knowledge to others. I believe I would use this policy in my future classrooms and grade their homework assignments on correctness. Because different classes will be turning in different amounts of homework, I would make homework 10-15% of their final grade.
Homework is an assessment in a mathematics classroom. It assesses the students understanding of the topics and concepts being taught. The homework gives the students and the teacher feedback on what the class struggled with, what may need to be re-taught, and what things students should refocus on. I use the students feedback on their homework and their homework scores as an evaluation of my teaching. If the homework’s skill level is appropriate and students do well on it, I know I can move forward with new topics or challenge them with more applied problems. However, if the students struggled with homework that should have been relatively easy, I know I need to re-teach the material and find where the class is struggling the most.
During student teaching my cooperating teacher has a set homework policy. For homework from the textbook, I walk around the classroom checking each student’s progress on the homework and scoring them a 1 through 5 (5 being scored for a complete homework assignment, and a 0 for nothing at all). I am not a big fan of this strategy because I have noticed several students writing in random answers, or simply copying down work from other students as I walk around the classroom checking on their peers.
I like a homework policy my high school calculus teacher used when I was in her class. She assigned the homework the day before, and the next day she would have students write question problems on the white board. The rest of the class would then try to answer the problems on the board, and if they couldn’t then my teacher would walk through the process of solving each problem. If a student was able to answer the question, she would have the student explain the process or would explain the student’s process depending on what she had planned for the rest of the period. Once all questions were answered, my teacher would pull a bag out with five marbles in it. Three of the marbles were green and two were yellow. A student would pick a marble out of the bag and if they pulled a yellow marble everyone would pass the homework in and she would grade it for correctness. If a student pulled a green marble, they would put their homework in their folder and my teacher would continue with the day’s lesson.
This policy forces students to ask questions on their homework, and complete it for correctness in case they are asked to turn their homework in for points. It also helps the students explain their mathematical knowledge to others. I believe I would use this policy in my future classrooms and grade their homework assignments on correctness. Because different classes will be turning in different amounts of homework, I would make homework 10-15% of their final grade.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
16 Days Left...
With the end of student teaching rapidly approaching, I began my final chapter I will be teaching in my Geometry classes. This chapter is centered on polyhedrons, or three dimensional shapes. In this chapter we will focus on surface area and volumes of different polyhedrons and how to arrive at the several different formulas. I have found that many of my students have trouble forming the three dimensional objects in their mind or drawing them on their paper. I have been gifted with the ability to be able to draw many of the objects with ease, mostly because of my mom who is an art teacher at a local elementary school in our town. I have grown up drawing and increasing my drawing ability with the help of my mom.
This chapter presents a unique opportunity to incorporate my drawing ability and also technology to help students be able to visually see what these objects look like. I have been able to use a free program called Google SketchUp. Google SketchUp allows me to draw three-dimensional solids and rotate, zoom-in, zoom-out, create a cross section, label, measure, and manipulate three-dimensional objects. This helps students become engaged in the lesson and gives them an opportunity to see a model of the polyhedron. Google SketchUp offers a vast number of different tools that I have found useful to use during this chapter.
This chapter presents a unique opportunity to incorporate my drawing ability and also technology to help students be able to visually see what these objects look like. I have been able to use a free program called Google SketchUp. Google SketchUp allows me to draw three-dimensional solids and rotate, zoom-in, zoom-out, create a cross section, label, measure, and manipulate three-dimensional objects. This helps students become engaged in the lesson and gives them an opportunity to see a model of the polyhedron. Google SketchUp offers a vast number of different tools that I have found useful to use during this chapter.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Test Scores - Reflection/Goals
Yesterday I finished grading my recent test over Chapter 10. I was pleased on how the majority of the students did on their tests. It seemed like the students either really understood the material, or struggled with the material taught during this chapter. I wanted to see why this was happening and how I could help those students who needed the extra effort.
Today I started the classes off by talking to the students to see what they thought about the test. I explained to them there seemed to be no middle ground on the grades, and I could tell who really understood the material and who struggled with it. I reminded them that I am always available before, during, and after school. As a class we talked about what they struggled with and how I could help them. I did not receive very much verbal feedback from the students, so I decided to change their Bell Work. I made a prompt for them to respond to and turn in to me once they finished.
"What can Mr. Wolfe do differently to help you understand the material for effectively?"
Here are some of the responses I received:
"I would like if you gave us more guided notes. It helps me follow along better."
"Can we review more for the test the day before?"
"Can you do more examples of the new stuff we learn?"
"I want more activities and projects on the stuff we learn. It helps me see how to use the things we learn in class."
I responded to the students individually and I took their feedback seriously. This chapter I will be trying to incorporate more of the suggestions they gave me in my lessons.
Today I started the classes off by talking to the students to see what they thought about the test. I explained to them there seemed to be no middle ground on the grades, and I could tell who really understood the material and who struggled with it. I reminded them that I am always available before, during, and after school. As a class we talked about what they struggled with and how I could help them. I did not receive very much verbal feedback from the students, so I decided to change their Bell Work. I made a prompt for them to respond to and turn in to me once they finished.
"What can Mr. Wolfe do differently to help you understand the material for effectively?"
Here are some of the responses I received:
"I would like if you gave us more guided notes. It helps me follow along better."
"Can we review more for the test the day before?"
"Can you do more examples of the new stuff we learn?"
"I want more activities and projects on the stuff we learn. It helps me see how to use the things we learn in class."
I responded to the students individually and I took their feedback seriously. This chapter I will be trying to incorporate more of the suggestions they gave me in my lessons.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Long Needed Update
Spring break has come and gone, and I am now nearing the end of my student teaching experience. After tomorrow ends, I will have 4.5 weeks left of student teaching at Muncie Central High School. My Learning Assessment Model Project is finished and submitted to Ball State. My next focus goes to my online portfolio where I will upload different artifacts that pertain to the INTASC principles. I have also began the long process of applying for jobs at different school districts. This has been a very exciting part of college and I cannot wait to see where I end up and what I will be teaching.
The first nine weeks have also come and gone in the second semester. I got to experience the hectic times of students trying to boost their grade and turn in mass amounts of late work right before I submit their final grades. I have learned how to be stern with them and stick to the rules that Jane (cooperating teacher) and I have set forth. It can be hard to stick to these because your tendency is to help them, but you must stick to the guidelines.
This has been a very rewarding experience for me as a student and future educator. I have enjoyed my time so far and have learned a lot about my students, teaching, and me. I cannot wait to see how the last section of student teaching shapes up. This experience really makes me look forward to the future when I have my own classroom.
The first nine weeks have also come and gone in the second semester. I got to experience the hectic times of students trying to boost their grade and turn in mass amounts of late work right before I submit their final grades. I have learned how to be stern with them and stick to the rules that Jane (cooperating teacher) and I have set forth. It can be hard to stick to these because your tendency is to help them, but you must stick to the guidelines.
This has been a very rewarding experience for me as a student and future educator. I have enjoyed my time so far and have learned a lot about my students, teaching, and me. I cannot wait to see how the last section of student teaching shapes up. This experience really makes me look forward to the future when I have my own classroom.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Week Nine Prompt (3/7 - 3/11)
• Describe one “teaching moment” from the past few weeks about which you are proud. In particular, think of a time in which you designed a task or an activity, gave an explanation, asked a question, or answered a student’s question with an example or explanation that really helped the student(s) to make sense of mathematics or to understand a mathematical idea more deeply. This “teaching moment” could have occurred when working with an individual, a small group, or the whole class. How did you know that your actions resulted in student learning?
• Describe one “teaching moment” from the past few weeks in which you felt particularly challenged. What mathematical idea/concept/procedure were you trying to help students understand? What was so difficult about helping them learn it? What obstacles were you encountering? Now that you have had time to think about the situation, what would you do differently the next time if you were in the same situation again?
This week I was teaching an introduction to area of a kite, rhombus, and a trapezoid. I found an activity that would guide the students to find the formulas for figuring the area of each of these shapes by having them cut out one of these shapes and rearrange it into a rectangle or parallelogram. If they did it correctly the base and height of the newly formed rectangle would help them arrive at the formulas because the diagonals, height, and bases were labeled before they cut apart their original shapes. I showed them how to do the first one and let them work together to figure out the other two.
It was great to see how the students worked together to find the formula. I heard several students saying they could understand where the formulas came from. This is why I wanted them to do his activity. They were able to see why the formulas were what they are and how they are formed. It was great to see students excited to “find” the formula. They were able to understand why the formula was what it is, and this gave them an idea of how other formulas might have been formed. One of my students actually used this procedure to show me how he would find the formula to find the area of a regular polygon, and he was correct!
One teaching moment that I was challenged by was when we were learning about the are of a regular polygon. I was trying to help them with the formula, which involved being able to tell the difference between a radius and a apothem (and know what an apothem is). This was a huge struggle because they were not paying attention and putting any effort towards the lesson. I tried to find an engaging activity to do with the students but I was unable to come up with one. This might have been the reason why some of them struggled with it as well. Unlike the lesson with the rhombuses, kites, and trapezoids, they were taking notes and completing examples with me.
Even though I gave them time to ask questions, nobody asked any. I had to change my daily plan and add a day where we worked on this section again. Another reason they might have struggled is because they needed to use trigonometry as well. Even though a majority of my bell work consisted of trigonometry, some students still struggle with this. If I would have done this lesson differently, I would have created an engaging activity, much like the one I used with the trapezoids, rhombuses, and kites. This would help the students see where the formula comes from. I would have also given them more examples to work with, and possibly given a sheet of examples for group work. This would have been something that would benefit their learning.
• Describe one “teaching moment” from the past few weeks in which you felt particularly challenged. What mathematical idea/concept/procedure were you trying to help students understand? What was so difficult about helping them learn it? What obstacles were you encountering? Now that you have had time to think about the situation, what would you do differently the next time if you were in the same situation again?
This week I was teaching an introduction to area of a kite, rhombus, and a trapezoid. I found an activity that would guide the students to find the formulas for figuring the area of each of these shapes by having them cut out one of these shapes and rearrange it into a rectangle or parallelogram. If they did it correctly the base and height of the newly formed rectangle would help them arrive at the formulas because the diagonals, height, and bases were labeled before they cut apart their original shapes. I showed them how to do the first one and let them work together to figure out the other two.
It was great to see how the students worked together to find the formula. I heard several students saying they could understand where the formulas came from. This is why I wanted them to do his activity. They were able to see why the formulas were what they are and how they are formed. It was great to see students excited to “find” the formula. They were able to understand why the formula was what it is, and this gave them an idea of how other formulas might have been formed. One of my students actually used this procedure to show me how he would find the formula to find the area of a regular polygon, and he was correct!
One teaching moment that I was challenged by was when we were learning about the are of a regular polygon. I was trying to help them with the formula, which involved being able to tell the difference between a radius and a apothem (and know what an apothem is). This was a huge struggle because they were not paying attention and putting any effort towards the lesson. I tried to find an engaging activity to do with the students but I was unable to come up with one. This might have been the reason why some of them struggled with it as well. Unlike the lesson with the rhombuses, kites, and trapezoids, they were taking notes and completing examples with me.
Even though I gave them time to ask questions, nobody asked any. I had to change my daily plan and add a day where we worked on this section again. Another reason they might have struggled is because they needed to use trigonometry as well. Even though a majority of my bell work consisted of trigonometry, some students still struggle with this. If I would have done this lesson differently, I would have created an engaging activity, much like the one I used with the trapezoids, rhombuses, and kites. This would help the students see where the formula comes from. I would have also given them more examples to work with, and possibly given a sheet of examples for group work. This would have been something that would benefit their learning.
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