Mathematics education is about helping students who are falling through the cracks. As a tutor, my main job was to help the students who fell through the cracks of their various schools. We all strive to reach as many students as possible. I believe that through formative assessment throughout the lesson I can determine which students are not understanding what is happening and bring them to a small area where I can teach them in a more one-to-one setting which is definitely my strength of teaching. This differentiation of instruction allows the other students to work independently while I get the rest of the students caught up with the lesson. This is my plan to eliminate students falling behind as much as possible. I believe that students act out for a reason or reasons, and if you address those reasons you can manage your classroom better than if you just keep punishing them.
I would be a good teacher to hire for a number of reasons. First, I believe that every student can be reached. I believe that differentiated instruction can achieve this much more so than traditional instruction. I believe that any student can do math not just those born with the innate ability, they just need to work harder. I am extremely professional, from my dress to my interactions with students and colleagues. I would never belittle a student under any circumstance inside or outside of the classroom. I also focus on teaching when I'm teaching and do not worry about other things in my life while that is occurring. I am extremely patient. I can persevere through just about anything. Even though I am not yet a full-service teacher, I have a wealth of tutoring experience in every math subject that is offered. I believe in having a good working relationship with those around me. I believe in finding out why students are acting out instead of just punishing them to help them get past their problems. I am also very very loyal.
A lesson designed with specific accommodations for a specific student in the class who has an IEP in place. Domains: A,B,C,D,E,F
A running tally and description of all activities done in the pre-student teaching field placement at Salisbury High School.
Domains: B,D
An ongoing reflection throughout the semester regarding various discussions in class
Domains: A,B,D,E,F
Philosophy of Teaching Mathematics
A description of how I view teaching math and why.
Domain: A,B,C,E,F
A lesson centered around technology to help the students understand what is happening conceptually.
Domains: A,B,C,D,E,F
An assessment to measure what students learned throughout my unit arc and is to be done in their own way.
Domains: E,F
This is an outline of the unit arc organizing the whole unit.
Domains: A,B,C,D,E,F
This was a lesson in the unit arc on the topic of compound inequalities and absolute value inequalities. Domains A,B,C,D,E,F
For planning and preparation for this lesson, I created a lesson plan to organize everything. The plan had a step-by-step procedures list including the duration of each part. It also had a list of all materials needed to make sure I didn’t forget anything. I had the objectives listed on the plan as well. I created answer keys for all handouts. On those answer keys, I included all my questions to be asked during the lesson.
In the classroom environment, the students were all on task and paying attention. Everyone at any point was treating others with respect. I was kind and patient with all students and I also provided hints if they got stuck while answering my questions. I provided adequate wait time during each question. I treated them with respect as well. I answered any questions any students had throughout the lesson. Students were raising their hands during the lesson and not shouting out. The students were diligently copying work during the lesson. Everyone seemed to be well engaged. No students were playing with phones or laptops. No students had any earbuds in their ears. No students were causing distractions for other students. I think allowing for group work helped the students have a more engaging and fun class session. I wish I had more time with these students, I didn’t get to know them. I would have loved to have built solid authentic relationships with them.
For instructional delivery, I had a few reflections on this lesson. First, I would have liked to have felt more comfortable in front of the students. I would like for my humor to come out during the lesson. I did feel more comfortable in front of the students than at any other point in my field experience, but I’m still a long way away from being as comfortable as I am tutoring. As I stated before, I would like to include an alternative way for the students to understand how to set up absolute value inequalities. I plan to implement that during my next lesson in the small group setting. I do believe a vast majority of my students understood the compound inequality part of the lesson. However, once I started the absolute value inequalities, I think I lost a few students. I believe that suggesting an alternative method for setting up these problems will help greatly. I feel that the students understood what they did in the two parts of the lesson because of the multiple formative assessments I used throughout the lesson.
I would like to reflect on my professional conduct as well. I was extremely patient with all students. I never lost my composure while being in the front of the room. I was nervous but did a whole lot to keep it from affecting my work. I had everything prepared so the students were always working. I dressed professionally for the whole lesson. I never made any inappropriate comments. I was very positive and encouraging with the students. I was always doing something, I was never idle at any one moment. I looked at the students when they were talking to me and I gave them my full attention. I felt my professionalism was extended into the lesson by my following in my co-op’s ways. Had I not, I think the students would have become disoriented and confused. Again, I wish I would have had more time to get to know these students and build authentic relationships with them.
I had multiple formative assessments. As an extension of my time tutoring, I have developed a strong ability to read body language to identify confusion or frustration. I used that continuously throughout my lesson. It takes more work in the classroom so I’m going to keep working on developing that in a whole group setting. I called on a variety of students, not just those who raised their hands. However, I felt that I could have spread this out more than I did. I will address that in my next lesson. I was also able to get formative assessments by asking the students a variety of questions throughout the lesson along with having them explain what they thought should be follow-up steps to each problem. My main formative assessment was having the students give me a show of thumbs as to who was understanding and who wasn’t. I did this multiple times throughout the lesson. I plan on continuing these methods in the next lesson because I found them to be effective means of formatively assessing students.
I was able to address many diverse learners throughout this lesson. I did this through differentiation at the back round table. There I can conduct small group sessions with the students and explain concepts they are struggling with in a much smaller setting. This is a strength of mine. I will continue going forward with this skill because I feel I can reach so many students who would have otherwise fallen through the cracks. Since my strength is in tutoring from all my years of experience doing that, I might as well put it to use in the classroom to help students learn in a way that helps them.
Second Full Lesson of Unit Arc
This was a lesson continuing in the unit plan and finishing the absolute value inequalities and is also the last lesson before the assessment.
Domains: A,B,C,D,E,F
I incorporated several methods of planning and preparation for this lesson. I took the fact that my assessments from the last lesson indicated that some of the students were struggling to set up the absolute value inequalities. My plan in this lesson was to have those students come back to the round table for me to show them a different way of setting up the inequalities. I believe this would have been effective in helping the remaining students to understand what was happening during this lesson. I created a lesson plan with step-by-step procedures including the time breakdown of each. I had listed all materials needed for the lesson so I wouldn’t forget anything. I made sure to list the objectives for this plan as well. I created answer keys for all handouts for this lesson. Additionally to that, I wrote down all questions I was going to ask during the session on that key so I wouldn’t forget to ask important questions.
There was a structured and productive classroom environment. There were no disruptions in class. Students weren’t forming a line to go to the bathroom. I treated all students with respect and they followed suit with each other and returned it to me as well. Students were actively engaged and attentive and diligently working. I was kind and patient with students providing wait time and hint where appropriate. I answered any questions that students had. Students were raising their hands and not calling out. Students were not causing any distractions to other students or me. No students were on phones or their laptops nor did they have earbuds in their ears. I ran out of time and wasn’t able to provide my normal differentiated instruction during the classwork period. I also wasn’t able to let the students work in groups on the classwork as there was virtually no time to do so. I again wish I could have worked with these students longer to develop relationships with them. They seemed like a good group.
For instructional delivery, I had several thoughts. I need to continue to teach in front of students to get comfortable teaching in front of people. The more I do that the better I’m going to be. I was extra nervous today because I had two people watching me during the lesson. Again, the more confident and comfortable I get with teaching the more my personality will come through as it does in tutoring. I will interject more humor in future lessons. I was never able to have my small group instruction in the back so I was never able to provide the alternative method of setting up absolute value inequalities. This was a lost opportunity. I would have liked to have come out during whole class instruction and explained it then, however, my co-op thought that it would do more harm than good which was why that was handled the way it was. My assessments throughout the lesson showed more students were on board with understanding the lesson but several students still were not. This was another missed opportunity.
My professional conduct was where I shined in this lesson albeit the students will never know it. The day before my lesson, I got horrible news from a dear friend. I learned that she has a 4-inch tumor on her pelvis. She was in the hospital since Saturday and I didn’t know it until last night. She is currently unable to walk without assistance. She had recently celebrated her 2-year “chemoversary” from beating stage four cancer. She is extremely close to me. This was heavy on my heart today. The reason I brought all of this up was that I didn’t back down or give up. I persevered throughout the lesson. I don’t think anyone even knew. I think that is professionalism. I think the ability to turn off your problems in your private life while teaching is very important. I did that today and I taught a solid lesson. I think I exhibited strong professionalism today. I also dressed professionally during the lesson. I spoke professionally to the students throughout the lesson. I never lost my composure while teaching and I was very patient with all students. I did have the students on task the whole lesson. I did however not handle time management as well as I could have as a large portion of my skillset went unused during the lesson. I continued with the methods of my cooperating teacher to avoid confusion with the students.
I had multiple formative assessments. I used the reading of body language as a method of formative assessment just as in the previous lesson. I did that almost continuously throughout the lesson. I started out calling only on students who were responding but realized that I needed to broaden that. I started to call on all of the students so I would be able to get a better whole-class feeling of who was understanding and who wasn’t. I was having the students again explain the students rather than feeding them the answers. This is also another formative assessment that I used. My main formative assessment tool was to do quick whole-class checks by thumb gestures who understood and who didn’t. This was a quick whole-class method of checking on students to see who understood and who didn’t. Traditionally I would have followed up with the students who were confused by providing small group intervention, however, I ran out of time during the shortened period to do so. Unfortunately, my checks for understanding would have to apply to the next lesson and not my small group work. This was another missed opportunity.
My differentiation to reach diverse learners never took flight in this lesson. I didn’t manage the shortened period as well as I should have and therefore never had the time to run the group work. Group work is important because it allows me time to break off and work with struggling students. This was a missed opportunity. Additionally, my whole adjustment from the last lesson was centered around my small group instruction. So these were two missed opportunities. I have reached so many students throughout the semester in these groups. I know they make a difference and will continue to use them. However, as is evidenced by this lesson, if I don’t manage my time correctly, it is not going to matter how effective it could be because I’m not utilizing it. That was one area I wish Dr. Nolan could have seen my work. Still, the intent was there, I just ran out of time to implement it.
More artifacts are to come from my upcoming student teaching experience