My Classes

Honors Geometry 5/9

This was the first class that I taught, beginning on week three of the practicum. I would observe my mentor teacher during first period geometry, and then I would reproduce the same lesson for this class. To make the transition between teachers as smooth as possible, I would try to resemble the style of my mentor teacher which the students were used to. For example, instead of reciting arithmetic to the students, "Four plus one is five, times three is fifteen," we would do a call-and-response pattern: "What's four plus one?" "Five!" "Times three?" "Fifteen!" My mentor teacher did this often with the students, and it was a low-stakes way for the students to interact with me before we knew each other well.

With only sixteen students, Geometry 5/9 had a more intimate learning experience. I thought that a smaller class would have more participation. However, this class was much quieter than the other. It was often difficult to get the students to participate verbally or engage in the call-and-response; sometimes there would only be one or two students responding back. But they were diligent workers— when they solved example problems independently, everyone was seen writing and thinking. Weekly quiz scores averaged between 80% and 85%, which is strong in an honors class.

The most challenging unit to teach covered circles and their properties. The main obstacle was the appearance of the circle constant which is not algebraic; its value cannot be expressed using integers, operations, and radicals. Instead, it is represented by the lowercase Greek letter pi (π). This is the first time that these students have seen a letter represent a constant number, as opposed to a variable or a unit. In homework submissions, students treated pi as a label, like centimeters or yards, instead of as a number. Clearly I had left out an important clarification during the lessons! Reflecting on this, I addressed the misconception in class, and the students made corrections and improved. This hiccup reminded me the importance of formative assessment and checks for understanding to reveal any discrepancies between my perception of the lesson outcomes and the actual student takeaways.

Honors Geometry 1/13

On the fourth week of the practicum, I began teaching both geometry classes. Geometry 1/13 was my largest class with twenty-one students. This class was much louder entering the classroom for fifth period. At first I was unsure if I would be able to get their attention, but once the bell rang for the start of class, they settled and prepared to work. When I tried call-and-response, almost the entire class responded back! Their participation fueled my enthusiasm, and it drove the lesson forward. I discovered after a few weeks that the students enjoyed working in small groups. I would say, "Turn to the people near you and compare your answers, or help each other out if you got stuck." I learned that it is important to set a time limit on these activities so that the students know when to stop talking and refocus their attention. One week, I experimented with a turn-and-talk for homework review: at the beginning of class, I said, "Take out your homework from last night. With the person next to you, pick a problem that went well, and share the steps you took to solve it. Let them agree with your answer or ask questions about your steps. You can also choose a problem that you had trouble with, and see if the person next to you can give advice to help. I'll walk around to check in with everyone individually and ask if there are any problems that you'd like to solve as a class. Let's turn and talk for three minutes and then come back together." This style of homework review was a huge success, and it became part of the class routine. When students gave feedback, they said that this style of review was better because they were more comfortable asking peers for help than asking a teacher in front of the large class. It also encouraged everyone to do their nightly homework because they would need to discuss it with a neighbor in class. It was also nice to hear students talking who were less likely to participate in a whole class grouping. Throughout the weeks, I kept this routine, and the students brought their energy to learn and participate. We produced a lively classroom environment together.

Honors Algebra II 10/11

I started teaching this class on week six. I repeated the set of lessons which were delivered by my mentor teacher on week five. There were eighteen students, and they had very little personality during class. After the previous years of remote learning with muted cameras and microphones, the students developed a passive role in the classroom, and they had not yet transitioned back. I noticed that all of the students were diligent at independent work with accuracy, but only a few were willing to respond and answer questions during the lesson.

This class taught me many things: first, silence is okay if the students are engaged. After asking a question, there can be a long pause which gives students time to think. A quiet classroom can still be focused and productive. I learned to read more subtle cues from the students, such as a head nod or a furrowed face, to determine whether they were engaged and understanding, or had questions but didn't want to ask out loud. Then I could choose either to continue the lesson or reiterate what I had just said with a more detailed explanation. In this class I also found ways to check in with students nonverbally, and ways for students to learn from each other in smaller groups or pairings. I hope to keep these strategies in mind for future classes.

Honors Algebra II 2/3

On week seven, I taught this algebra class for the first time. With nineteen students, this class was similar to the other honors class, except the students had much more personality and interaction. Often the challenge was to return the attention when students lost focus in side conversations with their friends! It was clear that certain students would be more productive in class if they were sat apart from each other. My mentor teacher and I planned a new seating arrangement, and it made a huge difference— the students held their focus without getting distracted in off-topic conversations.

The school scheduled monthly fire drills and a lockdown always during the same period, around 9:00am. This class lost time in multiple lessons and was interrupted during Friday quizzes twice. We learned to adapt to these unplanned disruptions, adjusting lesson plans to conclude in shorter time, and allowing students to return to finish their quizzes the following week. By showing preparedness as the teacher, the students could trust that these situations would resolve without worrying.

College Prep Algebra II 15/16

I began teaching college prep algebra on week twelve. This class was logistically difficult but the most rewarding to teach. College prep is the lowest level offered, so the range of students includes those who chose not to take honors but could've, those for whom college prep is appropriate, and those who have no interest in high school math at all. With this variety, the initial challenge for me was in meeting diverse needs. Of the twenty students on a given day, there might be six who can work on problems autonomously and will start the homework in class, six who will pay attention and actively participate in class by asking and responding to questions, and eight who have trouble focusing or choose not to pay attention, or have questions but do not ask for help. As the teacher, I found ways to balance the lesson's whole group setting with chances for one-on-one attention. My main strategy became to share a detailed and carefully explained example in front of the class, then post similar problems and ask the students to work individually or in small groups. The autonomous students would work independently, the attentive students would work with their friends and help each other when they had questions, and then my mentor teacher and I could walk around to the other students and give them individual attention. It was important that all students felt supported and valued in our classroom.

This class met during the last two periods of the school day. Many students would arrive feeling tired or worn out. To compensate, I made sure to save energy during the day and use it all during this class. Teaching lessons, I was animated and enthusiastic, I would move around the room to stand by different groups of students, and I made sure to keep the explanatory parts interactive with call-and-responses or turn-and-talks. I learned to switch the style of delivery in ten-to-fifteen minute intervals so that the students wouldn't lose interest. Some students would be quick to give up and shut down, but with some encouragement and individual attention, they would continue working. I really enjoyed working in this fashion because I made stronger connections with the students, learned to accommodate and cater to their work styles, and hopefully gave each of them positive math experiences.

A number of students in this class held very low scores in the gradebook. They submitted little to no assigned work. Having parent-teacher meetings with the school, we learned that these students were facing undesirable situations at home. From this, we planned how to support the students individually and help them succeed in class at a feasible level. This experience reminded me that a teacher may not know what happens in their students' lives outside of the classroom, so teachers must always be supportive and understanding.