Yep, I have officially begun teaching my unit...
The first day went very well - much better than expected. That is not to say that I thought I was going to do terribly, I was just shocked at how well my students responded to my first day. We started off with a short warm-up activity that served almost as pre-test to the unit, which is: interpreting tables and graphs in order to make informed decisions. In addition to that, though, it allowed students to mentally prepare for the lesson... I gave two short table/graph interpretation problems and told them to think about why these problems might be difficult for them. I was more interested in that than any answer they might give, so I made that specifically clear when I gave them the handout.
Sure, there was some resistance by a few students, but most of them participated in some regard.
Then, I had them turn the paper over, and we focused on the lesson, which was essentially teaching them how to address the types of problems that they had on their handout. Class involvement here was probably the best it's been all year. I don't know if it's just because I left all the questions open, or what, but they were legitimately engaged!
After the lesson concluded, I had them return to their warm up worksheets and do a quick reflection on what they wrote to start the hour. I instructed them to make a note on the sheet if they felt more comfortable with the problems or if they still felt confused by them. I got some nice responses from these. Then, that night, I went through and wrote a short note to each of them, either asking them some extension-type questions (that they aren't expected to formally answer), or to invite them to talk with me personally, or a tip that might help them out.
I think they appreciated that personal touch, and I could tell that the couple of students who didn't turn one in were disappointed that they didn't get a note from me.
---
My second day wasn't as eventful or well done. They had a Friday remote quiz, which took much longer than expected. Then, I gave them time to discuss their homework with another student in class, and then the opportunity to review one question (of their choosing) as a whole. Sadly, when we ran out of time at this point, and I very nearly ran over.
Because of my poor time management, I didn't collect anything from them. I feel pretty bad about that, but I'll see if I can get something tomorrow (Monday).
---
In all, I think it went well. I just need to note the time and be more wary when I don't have any more of it.
I'm more nervous for tomorrow than I was last week. Also, I'm already behind.
:)
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Sunday, October 24, 2010
The Beginning... (about to take over)
So, week 8 contained the conclusion of MEAP testing (huzzahs all around!) and a few lessons from 7th grade. I finally got to see how my cooperating teacher uses the Connected Math workbooks in the classroom, so I at least have a basis for my own planning. And, speaking of planning...
I finally planned out my first week, which is really only three days (Wed - Fri), and I think it went mostly well. It took a while to get myself focused enough to actually sit down and plan, but once I got going, it wasn't so bad. I essentially planned all three days in one sitting (with a few internet breaks here and there...ha!). I have found the Teacher's Guide quite helpful in identifying objectives and suggested homework, but I find myself consistently diverging from their suggesting approach to accommodate the needs of my own students. This has been a tough balance thus far, as I am trying to differentiate to my students without selling short their abilities. There were a few problems that I nixed from the suggested plan because I thought they would be too intensive for my students.
In a perfect world, I'd have assigned them anyways, in hopes of the students struggling with them and actually getting something out of it. Thinking about my students' past actions, however, I decided that too many of them would give in at the first sign of a struggle - especially considering they were homework problems, and my students have a poor history of homework completion. I am consciously thinking about how I could differentiate to students within the same class, given their level of 'readiness,' but I'm not yet comfortable enough with exactly how to do that without singling out students (as in my case, it would be singling out the under-performers). That, and I don't want to kill myself over this as I'm just getting started.
Now, the biggest issue I have with starting this week is also the source of the first major disagreement with my cooperating teacher. He wants to take 10-15 (and sometimes 20!) minutes at the start of each day going over CPS remote questions which are ultimately unrelated to the lesson at hand. This means that I have less time for lessons, planning for warm-up activities is now complicated, and students are experiencing disjointed "lessons," which will only serve to dilute potential learning. It's downright frustrating, but it's his class, so it's what I am going to do.
So, yeah... I take over in three days, and I'm being observed in four days. I'm a bit nervous, but am confident that even if it goes poorly, I can learn something from it all.
:)
I finally planned out my first week, which is really only three days (Wed - Fri), and I think it went mostly well. It took a while to get myself focused enough to actually sit down and plan, but once I got going, it wasn't so bad. I essentially planned all three days in one sitting (with a few internet breaks here and there...ha!). I have found the Teacher's Guide quite helpful in identifying objectives and suggested homework, but I find myself consistently diverging from their suggesting approach to accommodate the needs of my own students. This has been a tough balance thus far, as I am trying to differentiate to my students without selling short their abilities. There were a few problems that I nixed from the suggested plan because I thought they would be too intensive for my students.
In a perfect world, I'd have assigned them anyways, in hopes of the students struggling with them and actually getting something out of it. Thinking about my students' past actions, however, I decided that too many of them would give in at the first sign of a struggle - especially considering they were homework problems, and my students have a poor history of homework completion. I am consciously thinking about how I could differentiate to students within the same class, given their level of 'readiness,' but I'm not yet comfortable enough with exactly how to do that without singling out students (as in my case, it would be singling out the under-performers). That, and I don't want to kill myself over this as I'm just getting started.
Now, the biggest issue I have with starting this week is also the source of the first major disagreement with my cooperating teacher. He wants to take 10-15 (and sometimes 20!) minutes at the start of each day going over CPS remote questions which are ultimately unrelated to the lesson at hand. This means that I have less time for lessons, planning for warm-up activities is now complicated, and students are experiencing disjointed "lessons," which will only serve to dilute potential learning. It's downright frustrating, but it's his class, so it's what I am going to do.
So, yeah... I take over in three days, and I'm being observed in four days. I'm a bit nervous, but am confident that even if it goes poorly, I can learn something from it all.
:)
Monday, October 18, 2010
MEAP Testing...
...has taken over our class.
It's really too bad. We have spent so much time preparing for the MEAP, whose math component starts tomorrow, that we covered almost no new content in either sixth or seventh grade. It's really quite disheartening. On top of that, I started reading the Teaching Gap in class, and the issues that are addressed in the text are picturesque of my classroom. We are consistently drilling-and-killing, focusing more on procedures and memorization than any notion of mathematical thinking. Nowhere are students asked to partake in any active, problem-solving tasks... they just sit there; mostly not listening.
I really need to do something to get them excited about doing mathematics and solving problems, but... what is that something? I have students who outright just occupy space in class, offering nothing in return. I can think of one student in particular... she is clueless; lost; spaced-out. She doesn't want anything to do with math, and refuses to let me help her. One can only lead a horse to water, right? We had a conversation today that went like this:
Me: Okay, is there a number that divides into both 5 and 15?
Her: Seven.
Me: Why do you think seven?
Her: I dunno.
Me: Okay, so tell me how 7 divides into 5...
Her: I dunno.
Me: Does it divide into 5? Can you divide 5, 7 ways?
Her: No.
Me: Okay, then can 7 divide into both 5 and 15?
Her: I dunno.
Me:...
Meanwhile, she would lose interest and look away, spacing out. I had to refocus her back to me every so often, but she just didn't want anything to do with the help. When we are going over problems, she is never tuned in, always looking somewhere else. It's to the point where I don't want to help her anymore, as she clearly doesn't want the help.
Hm...
---
On a lighter note, I had my first College of Ed observation today. I think things went pretty well. I didn't ever feel nervous, and thought that my interacting with the students was appropriate and meaningful. Let's see if the review comes back with the same sentiments.
Compher, out.
It's really too bad. We have spent so much time preparing for the MEAP, whose math component starts tomorrow, that we covered almost no new content in either sixth or seventh grade. It's really quite disheartening. On top of that, I started reading the Teaching Gap in class, and the issues that are addressed in the text are picturesque of my classroom. We are consistently drilling-and-killing, focusing more on procedures and memorization than any notion of mathematical thinking. Nowhere are students asked to partake in any active, problem-solving tasks... they just sit there; mostly not listening.
I really need to do something to get them excited about doing mathematics and solving problems, but... what is that something? I have students who outright just occupy space in class, offering nothing in return. I can think of one student in particular... she is clueless; lost; spaced-out. She doesn't want anything to do with math, and refuses to let me help her. One can only lead a horse to water, right? We had a conversation today that went like this:
Me: Okay, is there a number that divides into both 5 and 15?
Her: Seven.
Me: Why do you think seven?
Her: I dunno.
Me: Okay, so tell me how 7 divides into 5...
Her: I dunno.
Me: Does it divide into 5? Can you divide 5, 7 ways?
Her: No.
Me: Okay, then can 7 divide into both 5 and 15?
Her: I dunno.
Me:...
Meanwhile, she would lose interest and look away, spacing out. I had to refocus her back to me every so often, but she just didn't want anything to do with the help. When we are going over problems, she is never tuned in, always looking somewhere else. It's to the point where I don't want to help her anymore, as she clearly doesn't want the help.
Hm...
---
On a lighter note, I had my first College of Ed observation today. I think things went pretty well. I didn't ever feel nervous, and thought that my interacting with the students was appropriate and meaningful. Let's see if the review comes back with the same sentiments.
Compher, out.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Week 6 Workshop - Classroom Observation: Questioning
This blog post is terribly unexciting, I'm sure. Apologies for that... carry on. :)
My task for the day was to observe the questioning that occurs when my cooperating teacher cycles the room, assisting students. The focus for today was reducing fractions to their simplest form. Thus, the questions observed were along the lines of:
We sort of shifted gears from there to talk about the sum of the measures of the angles of quadrilaterals. There wasn't much exploratory learning here, and it should have been review. The questions asked were of the form:
As for the type of questions that I would like to ask in my classroom, I don't think they would be far removed from the first set of questions. There would be a few questions that check for understanding, some leading questions where necessary, and a mixture of open-ended questions. I do like asking students to explain their reasoning in an effort to get them practicing the use of mathematical language.
My task for the day was to observe the questioning that occurs when my cooperating teacher cycles the room, assisting students. The focus for today was reducing fractions to their simplest form. Thus, the questions observed were along the lines of:
- Can someone tell us a number that goes into 20 and 100?
- What did you do here, [Student X]?
- What happened down here to make the denominator go from 3 to 9?
- Is the fraction in simplest form?
- Can you tell me why you chose B?
We sort of shifted gears from there to talk about the sum of the measures of the angles of quadrilaterals. There wasn't much exploratory learning here, and it should have been review. The questions asked were of the form:
- How many degrees are there inside a triangle [sic]? Okay, then how many are inside a rectangle?
- But, didn't you just tell me that the sum of the measures of the angles in a quadrilateral is 360 degrees?
- Did you do this another way, [Student Y]?
As for the type of questions that I would like to ask in my classroom, I don't think they would be far removed from the first set of questions. There would be a few questions that check for understanding, some leading questions where necessary, and a mixture of open-ended questions. I do like asking students to explain their reasoning in an effort to get them practicing the use of mathematical language.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Week 6 Begins (along with the MEAP)
Ah, where to begin.
Last week ended with a bit of a bang. Our cooperating teacher was absent from school, so we had a substitute teacher. What this ultimately meant is that we got to take over the class for the day. I took seventh grade, which means I only got one class. Since it was also a half day, the whole of the class was spent doing their Friday remote quiz. I thought the day went mostly well. The only niggle was the fact that students tried to leave when class ended, not when I dismissed them. The following went down:
Students start to stand and gather their things
[Me] Hey, everyone, we know that nobody leaves class until dismissed by the teacher.
Students are still standing, one tried to leave.
[Me] Have a seat.
[Me] ...
[Me] Have a seat.
[Me] ...
[Me] Have a seat.
[Student] I'm sitting down.
[Me] Is that your seat?
[Student] No, but I'm sitting.
[Me] I said "Have a seat," and I think you know which seat I meant.
[Student] *groan*
Student moves to proper seat
[Me] Have a nice weekend...
A bit of a power struggle? Maybe, but I never raised my voice.
Looking ahead, this week should be another eventful one. MEAP testing is starting Tuesday, and there are rumors that we will be watching over a PE class. That sounds like a nice use of my time! My unit still looms on the horizon, but still no word on when I am taking over the class. Regardless, though, I have an observation time set up for a week from tomorrow. Hopefully we do something useful that day.
As an aside to all of this teaching stuff (sorta) my Math and Physics Certification tests are on Saturday. I'm a bit nervous about the Physics one, and I think some studying exists in my future. Math, I think I'll be alright with.
---
Lastly, this is a repost from a Discussion Board response for a class. The topic is the first chapter of The Teaching Gap. Normally I wouldn't do this, but I had some interesting thoughts that all [small number] of my readers might be interested in:
Now, the major points of the text followed along the lines of: The United States consistently under-performs in the area of mathematics on the global scale, the problem with math education lies on the teaching of math (not necessarily the teachers, but at least the process), and we seem to lack any sort of plan designed to systematically improve the state of math education (Circa 1999, of course).
One of the attributing factors here is the method in which teachers are left to their own devices, on an island of isolation. This actually got me thinking about how much different my teaching experience will be when I have my own classroom, compared to what I experience now (read: with two professional teachers and a second student assistant). It's actually quite daunting. Left alone on this island, teachers are given very little opportunity to observe and reflect on their own teaching habits and methods. There is nobody checking in on the teacher's teaching (aside from a few arbitrary observations per year), so any professional development and growth becomes the responsibility of the teacher [alone]. We haven't gotten into it yet, but I'm am fully expecting to read about collaborative efforts among content area teachers in other countries, particularly Japan. Sure, there are likely to be departmental meetings from time to time, but nothing on the scale that really alters the way that we teach things.
Anyways, we were supposed to focus on assessment, so I should probably get around to doing that...
The big role that assessment plays with regard to this whole dilemma, the teaching gap, is that the purpose of assessment is to assess student learning. If students are learning, this should show up in assessment (both formative and otherwise), and teaching should be modified accordingly. If this is not happening (which is likely the case) one of two things is happening: either the results of the assessment are not being used in any productive manner, or, even worse, our assessment methods are not functioning as their intended purpose. This would mean that assessments are not properly assessing student learning.
This was hinted at briefly in the text when it was mentioned that teaching in the United States tends to focus on processes of computation, rather than mathematical learning. Thus, students are only "learning" to memorize formulas and when they should be used. Instead, students should be actively solving problems. Not problems as in "problem number four," but problems as in a questions needing an answer. Students get so caught up in the processes of doing computation that they fail to remember, or even realize, conceptually what it is that they are doing. This is very disheartening. The panda is thusly sad:
Ultimately, what this chapter did was sort of shake me up a little; both in terms of pointing out the elephant in the room, and actually frightening me a bit with the task that has been placed on mathematics teachers of the future. That's me! Halp!
Well, that's enough of a rant from me. My biggest concern with all of this is that the system cannot be fixed at one level by one teacher. It must be something that is addressed at every stage of a students' education. I can try my damndest and do everything possible, but if the damage is already done, what good would it do?
:) <--- the smiley face is to lighten the mood.
Last week ended with a bit of a bang. Our cooperating teacher was absent from school, so we had a substitute teacher. What this ultimately meant is that we got to take over the class for the day. I took seventh grade, which means I only got one class. Since it was also a half day, the whole of the class was spent doing their Friday remote quiz. I thought the day went mostly well. The only niggle was the fact that students tried to leave when class ended, not when I dismissed them. The following went down:
Students start to stand and gather their things
[Me] Hey, everyone, we know that nobody leaves class until dismissed by the teacher.
Students are still standing, one tried to leave.
[Me] Have a seat.
[Me] ...
[Me] Have a seat.
[Me] ...
[Me] Have a seat.
[Student] I'm sitting down.
[Me] Is that your seat?
[Student] No, but I'm sitting.
[Me] I said "Have a seat," and I think you know which seat I meant.
[Student] *groan*
Student moves to proper seat
[Me] Have a nice weekend...
A bit of a power struggle? Maybe, but I never raised my voice.
Looking ahead, this week should be another eventful one. MEAP testing is starting Tuesday, and there are rumors that we will be watching over a PE class. That sounds like a nice use of my time! My unit still looms on the horizon, but still no word on when I am taking over the class. Regardless, though, I have an observation time set up for a week from tomorrow. Hopefully we do something useful that day.
As an aside to all of this teaching stuff (sorta) my Math and Physics Certification tests are on Saturday. I'm a bit nervous about the Physics one, and I think some studying exists in my future. Math, I think I'll be alright with.
---
Lastly, this is a repost from a Discussion Board response for a class. The topic is the first chapter of The Teaching Gap. Normally I wouldn't do this, but I had some interesting thoughts that all [small number] of my readers might be interested in:
Now, the major points of the text followed along the lines of: The United States consistently under-performs in the area of mathematics on the global scale, the problem with math education lies on the teaching of math (not necessarily the teachers, but at least the process), and we seem to lack any sort of plan designed to systematically improve the state of math education (Circa 1999, of course).
One of the attributing factors here is the method in which teachers are left to their own devices, on an island of isolation. This actually got me thinking about how much different my teaching experience will be when I have my own classroom, compared to what I experience now (read: with two professional teachers and a second student assistant). It's actually quite daunting. Left alone on this island, teachers are given very little opportunity to observe and reflect on their own teaching habits and methods. There is nobody checking in on the teacher's teaching (aside from a few arbitrary observations per year), so any professional development and growth becomes the responsibility of the teacher [alone]. We haven't gotten into it yet, but I'm am fully expecting to read about collaborative efforts among content area teachers in other countries, particularly Japan. Sure, there are likely to be departmental meetings from time to time, but nothing on the scale that really alters the way that we teach things.
Anyways, we were supposed to focus on assessment, so I should probably get around to doing that...
The big role that assessment plays with regard to this whole dilemma, the teaching gap, is that the purpose of assessment is to assess student learning. If students are learning, this should show up in assessment (both formative and otherwise), and teaching should be modified accordingly. If this is not happening (which is likely the case) one of two things is happening: either the results of the assessment are not being used in any productive manner, or, even worse, our assessment methods are not functioning as their intended purpose. This would mean that assessments are not properly assessing student learning.
This was hinted at briefly in the text when it was mentioned that teaching in the United States tends to focus on processes of computation, rather than mathematical learning. Thus, students are only "learning" to memorize formulas and when they should be used. Instead, students should be actively solving problems. Not problems as in "problem number four," but problems as in a questions needing an answer. Students get so caught up in the processes of doing computation that they fail to remember, or even realize, conceptually what it is that they are doing. This is very disheartening. The panda is thusly sad:
Ultimately, what this chapter did was sort of shake me up a little; both in terms of pointing out the elephant in the room, and actually frightening me a bit with the task that has been placed on mathematics teachers of the future. That's me! Halp!
Well, that's enough of a rant from me. My biggest concern with all of this is that the system cannot be fixed at one level by one teacher. It must be something that is addressed at every stage of a students' education. I can try my damndest and do everything possible, but if the damage is already done, what good would it do?
:) <--- the smiley face is to lighten the mood.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Workshop - Observing Instruction
For one of our seminar workshops, I was tasked with observing instruction. Since I was observing another teacher already for another course, I pulled double-duty and made notes for this class as well. This was in an Eighth Grade Algebra classroom, and they were working with Order of Operations.
Long story short, I will now reflect on a few questions I've been considering about teaching, and how I believe that I am working on them (and who I might be discussing them with):
1. How can we include all the benefits of using a remote/clicker system without the hassle that comes with it?
Jacob and I have been talking about this quite a bit. He has proposed a few things already, given that his unit is quickly approaching, but I'm still in the thinking stage. The immediate feedback on student performance is the biggest benefit of using the remotes, but many students get frustrated whilst using them. Technology should never hinder learning, and thus I have a problem with the CPS system.
2. Is being well-liked by my students something I should consider, or should I focus more on respect?
For the longest time, I had it in my mind that I should aim to be well-liked by my students, but whenever the subject is brought up, it's been emphasized that this is a slippery slope. Rather, students should respect you (me) as the leader of classroom. I'm torn. I need to find someone whom I can discuss this more openly with.
3. How much lesson planning goes into a unit?
I've posted this as a concern before, I think but I'm still not sure. I now have my unit material nailed down, so I need to start thinking about planning, but I really don't know how to allocate time. In all of my classes, we've been talking about lesson planning, so that's good news.
---
Otherwise, not much went on last week. We had a crazy few days, given the schedule changes, us missing school for a PD day, me observing two other classes on Thursday, and having a half day on Friday.
Unit plan = impending.
Long story short, I will now reflect on a few questions I've been considering about teaching, and how I believe that I am working on them (and who I might be discussing them with):
1. How can we include all the benefits of using a remote/clicker system without the hassle that comes with it?
Jacob and I have been talking about this quite a bit. He has proposed a few things already, given that his unit is quickly approaching, but I'm still in the thinking stage. The immediate feedback on student performance is the biggest benefit of using the remotes, but many students get frustrated whilst using them. Technology should never hinder learning, and thus I have a problem with the CPS system.
2. Is being well-liked by my students something I should consider, or should I focus more on respect?
For the longest time, I had it in my mind that I should aim to be well-liked by my students, but whenever the subject is brought up, it's been emphasized that this is a slippery slope. Rather, students should respect you (me) as the leader of classroom. I'm torn. I need to find someone whom I can discuss this more openly with.
3. How much lesson planning goes into a unit?
I've posted this as a concern before, I think but I'm still not sure. I now have my unit material nailed down, so I need to start thinking about planning, but I really don't know how to allocate time. In all of my classes, we've been talking about lesson planning, so that's good news.
---
Otherwise, not much went on last week. We had a crazy few days, given the schedule changes, us missing school for a PD day, me observing two other classes on Thursday, and having a half day on Friday.
Unit plan = impending.
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