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.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
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.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Week Eight Goals (2/21 - 3/4)
Week Eight Goals:
1. I need to be more strict when it comes to classroom management.
I have one class that is a little too social during work time and during my instruction. I have cut back on the time that I give them to work on their assignment, and I have also implemented Bell Problems. I need to become more strict when dealing with the source of the problem because it is effecting the other students in the class who are trying to work.
2. I want to find time to go to extra curricular activities that my students are in.
I have had several students tell me they are involved in track and field, the school play, and other sports and clubs. I want to go to several of these events to connect with students. This will help me know their interests and what they do on their free time. I think the students will appreciate me taking time out of my schedule to see them perform or compete.
1. I need to be more strict when it comes to classroom management.
I have one class that is a little too social during work time and during my instruction. I have cut back on the time that I give them to work on their assignment, and I have also implemented Bell Problems. I need to become more strict when dealing with the source of the problem because it is effecting the other students in the class who are trying to work.
2. I want to find time to go to extra curricular activities that my students are in.
I have had several students tell me they are involved in track and field, the school play, and other sports and clubs. I want to go to several of these events to connect with students. This will help me know their interests and what they do on their free time. I think the students will appreciate me taking time out of my schedule to see them perform or compete.
Week Eight Prompt (2/21 - 3/4)
Week Eight Prompt:
Think about what you are learning from examining and grading students’ written work. (This written work can be homework assignments, quizzes, tests, or anything else in writing that students produce, such as a short response to a question you pose at the end of class.) Specifically,
• Identify and discuss (briefly) three things you are learning about students’ mathematical understanding from examining and grading their written work.
• Identify and discuss (briefly) three things you are learning about students’ beliefs and/or attitudes about mathematics and/or learning from examining and grading their written work.
• How has your planning and teaching been impacting by what you have learned from examining and grading students’ written work?
After grading my students’ homework, I have noticed several things about their understanding of mathematics. I am able to see what level of understanding they are at. I am able to see this by looking at their mistakes they are making on their work. I still have several students who are constantly making simple multiplication, division, and sign errors when multiplying positive and negatives. This has helped me to target these students who need the extra help an attention. I am also able to see the students’ thought process as they work through problems. I can see where they are making mistakes, where my instruction might need to focus more on, and how effect my instruction is. I use the graded material as feedback for my instruction. I find it very helpful to see how I can improve my instruction based on how the students are doing, and what I need to focus on during the next lesson.
I have found a lot about students attitudes towards mathematics by grading their homework and quizzes. Students tend to take the easy way out and don’t put forth as much effort as they can. I have noticed students do not complete their homework because they would have to do it at home and they do not want to. They will stop at problems that require them to apply their understanding in a different way (word problems, problems that require student to apply previous knowledge from different chapters to solve, etc.) The majority of the students want the easiest way out, and their work reflects that.
Like previously stated before, I try to use graded work and tests to evaluate how I am doing as a teacher. I will try to find common mistakes that students made and go back over my lessons to see if I covered them fully. This is something that I think will help me become a more effective teacher. Another way the graded work will impacts my planning is that it changes the types of bell work I do. I want to help them build the skills that they struggled with, so by looking at concepts they struggled with I can create bell work that focuses on these skills. This will help the students strengthen these skills that they may be weak on, and will help them recall the information to build upon.
Think about what you are learning from examining and grading students’ written work. (This written work can be homework assignments, quizzes, tests, or anything else in writing that students produce, such as a short response to a question you pose at the end of class.) Specifically,
• Identify and discuss (briefly) three things you are learning about students’ mathematical understanding from examining and grading their written work.
• Identify and discuss (briefly) three things you are learning about students’ beliefs and/or attitudes about mathematics and/or learning from examining and grading their written work.
• How has your planning and teaching been impacting by what you have learned from examining and grading students’ written work?
After grading my students’ homework, I have noticed several things about their understanding of mathematics. I am able to see what level of understanding they are at. I am able to see this by looking at their mistakes they are making on their work. I still have several students who are constantly making simple multiplication, division, and sign errors when multiplying positive and negatives. This has helped me to target these students who need the extra help an attention. I am also able to see the students’ thought process as they work through problems. I can see where they are making mistakes, where my instruction might need to focus more on, and how effect my instruction is. I use the graded material as feedback for my instruction. I find it very helpful to see how I can improve my instruction based on how the students are doing, and what I need to focus on during the next lesson.
I have found a lot about students attitudes towards mathematics by grading their homework and quizzes. Students tend to take the easy way out and don’t put forth as much effort as they can. I have noticed students do not complete their homework because they would have to do it at home and they do not want to. They will stop at problems that require them to apply their understanding in a different way (word problems, problems that require student to apply previous knowledge from different chapters to solve, etc.) The majority of the students want the easiest way out, and their work reflects that.
Like previously stated before, I try to use graded work and tests to evaluate how I am doing as a teacher. I will try to find common mistakes that students made and go back over my lessons to see if I covered them fully. This is something that I think will help me become a more effective teacher. Another way the graded work will impacts my planning is that it changes the types of bell work I do. I want to help them build the skills that they struggled with, so by looking at concepts they struggled with I can create bell work that focuses on these skills. This will help the students strengthen these skills that they may be weak on, and will help them recall the information to build upon.
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