A Final Piece of Math

I think the biggest thing I learned this quarter is something all professors have made very clear, knowing your students.  Students have a wide range of mathematical abilities.  By knowing the range of abilities in my classroom will help me prepare lessons to reach all students…differentiation!  Oh yes, differentiation.  All the activities we did in class this quarter, including how to use manipulatives  in higher grades has influenced how I would teach a middle level math class and has helped me further see the many aspects of differentiated instruction. 

My focus is teaching in the primary grade levels, but I did get my middle level mathematics endorsement.  This class has helped me grow as a middle level teacher.  It would have been great to have this class last quarter when I was actually in a middle level classroom.  I would have loved to use the information we learned about integrating mathematics into other subjects, like creative writing, while at my dyad placement.  Nevertheless, I have the knowledge now that I can apply to lesson in the future…assuming I end up teaching middle level math.

This quarter was the first time I used Tangrams…love them!  I used to think manipulatives were something only elementary school students used.  I hadn’t thought about how they are still beneficial for the upper grades.

Thanks for a great math class, Robin!

Mathematical Identities

Recently, in science class, we have been discussing what it means to be an expert at something.  I have always been good at math, So am I an expert?  Far from it.  I like math, but I have to wonder if the reason why I like it is because I am good at it.  With this in mind and the article for this week, I thought more about the mathematical identities of the students in my class (well my MT's classroom).  There are a wide range of abilities and prior to class and reading this article, I thought I would have been able to pinpoint which students like math and which ones can't wait for the hour and 15 minute block to end.  Thanks to Taryn, I see that my thought process was very wrong.  I am grateful for her story of a student who is great at math, but informed Taryn she despises doing it.  I wonder how many other students I have been wrong about.  The idea behind learning the mathematical identities of all my students is that of getting to "know" your students; not just what they like to do outside of school, but also everything they like and dislike within school...not necessarily what subjects they are good at.

The activity the article mentioned was something Allison had us do last quarter.  It was surprising how many words I had not related to math prior to the activity.  The article states that "a greater awareness of our own beliefs about math, and of the range of different beliefs our students may have, can significantly influence classroom interactions and help us motivate students" (p. 227).  The activity did just that for me, it helped me gain a greater awareness of my own beliefs about math.  Know I hope I can take what I learned from the activity and this article and apply it in the classroom.

Who's to say this stuff isn't relevant?

In class, someone mentioned that this class is not relevent to them because it is a middle level math course.  At times, I feel myself heading toward that thought process.  I enjoy learning about the differenet ways, using manipulatives or technology, to teach middle level math nad on most days I try modifing the ideas to work with math being taught at the elementary level.  This can present a problem since the concepts in this class are far more advanced for my current 3rd graders (where I am currently doing my student teaching.)  I hope that I am able to lock all the information from this class in my brain and store if for another day; a day when I might be teaching middle level math.  Last quarter I was in an 8th grade math class for my dyad placement.  At the same time, I was learning about elementary mathmatics in Allison's class.  If only the math classes had been switched I would be able to apply what I am learning in the classroom.  Oh well!
I love math, but I am a kinsenthic learner.  I learn best when I can take what I am learning and apply it to real life...or in this case, to what I am seeing and doing in the classroom.  Even if my overall goal is to work in the primary grades, I did get a math endorsement to teach middle level mathematics.  So every time I get frusturated and feel my self heading in the "is this relevent" direction I think to my "yes it is!"

p.s.
What did I learn today?

Math teachers must have a jumper!-check
Math teachers must jump of desks and yell "to infintiy and beyond"- check

How can I apply this to my classroom?

Easy, wear a jumper while jumping off a desk!  The third graders will love this!! :)

Creative Writing....in math!

Last week we read the article Using Creative Writing and Literature in Mathematics Classes.  I really liked the idea of interdisciplinary teaching and this article gave a suggestion to do so.  I know this post is about an article I read last week, but we talked about it in class today....and I really enjoyed the article.  While the lesson is very creative and the examples of student work in the text was very good, I do have a few concerns.  My biggest concern is for the students who lack writing skills (such as ELL or SPED students.)  For students who love math, but not writing, this lesson might have them running in the other direction.  In our group we talked about the idea of allowing students to work on this particular assignment in pairs.  The thought of having students work in pairs brought up a good conversation.  Obviously we could pairs up students who loved math with another student who loves writing.  However, we would need some sort of control on how the students get paired up.  The highest student in the class should not be paired up with the lowest student.  Also, how do we group our students without the students really noticing and/or figuring out our methods?

My other concern is the assessment piece.  I think this lesson is great as long as teachers are being careful with the assessment piece; I wouldn't want to assess students' math skills based off of a writing sample.  This could possibly drop the math scores for those students who are not good at writing and vice versa if this lesson was presented in a literacy class.

Tangrams!!!  The article for this week was about using manipulatives in upper grades.  After using the tangrams in class this week, I have to say that I think it is a great idea....

Moving from assessment to Instruction

Getting to know Kendra (pseudonym) has been a delight.  Her excitement for reading and writing fiction has allowed her to write creative and interesting stories.  She currently loves to read fictional stories, particularly ones with an eye catching title.  Kendra is very aware of what material is at a "just right" level for her as she stopped reading a text I gave her and informed me the book was "too hard."  I witnessed her struggle through the first and agreed with her analysis.  The book I had brought for her was Agnes Parker: Girl in Progress, a 4.7 reading level.  On the 4th grade passage Amelia Earhart, Kendra scored below the 50th percentile.  She struggled at times with fluency and missed two of the comprehension questions; one explicit (which I gave the opportunity to look back through the text and she chose not too) and one implicit.

Based off of the informal reading conferences and assessments, I gather Kendra to be just below a 4th grade reading level.  I believe she needs to work on fluency  to get her to a 4th grade level.  If she were to increase her fluency she would be able to fully answer comprehension questions for materials at a 4th grade level, explicit and implicit questions.  Moving forward with Kendra, I am thinking about creating a lesson designed to help Kendra with her fluency.  I would like to work with her on multiple strategies that will help her to identify words and gather meaning.  This particular lesson would satisfy the G.L.E 1.2.1- Apply reference skills to define, clarify, and refine word meaning and G.L.E 1.4.2- Apply fluency to enhance comprehension.

Technology Update

The last time I blogged I mentioned a few ELL students I think would really benefit from using iTouch's in the classroom. I still think the Touch is a good tool to be used for differentiated instruction.  I have been thinking about the process of teaching the students how to use the touch.  The simple act of teaching a student how to use the Touch before allowing them to actually use it, can be very time consuming and even over whelming for a student who is having a heard time reading to begin with.  Not saying I don't think we should use Touches in the classroom, just that time needs to be taken into consideration.

These mini computers can be very useful for students and teachers.  They may not be a full computer, but they can still help students at different levels further their education, allowing them to use multiple apps designed for a specific learning target.  They are also useful for students to find a comfortable place in the classroom to concentrate on learning.  For teachers, they are a great way to assess a students learning and keep on going records of every student anywhere in the school building.

I haven't been able to physically use my Touch in the classroom with these particular students yet, so my opinion could change.  I have a great MT, but she doesn't use much tech.  As I slowly move into my full time student teaching, how can I incorporate more technology into the classroom without freaking out the kids and still respecting my MT's style?

Homework, Confidence, and Laughter. Math blog #4

Today was filled with a lot of good advice for teaching math.  Amongst them was the idea of doing all the homework problems prior to giving them to the students.  It a great way to be prepared for the questions students may have and to avoid giving the “problem” questions as homework.  If for some reason we don’t have time to do all the problems prior to discussing them with the students (we all know how busy teachers are), it is ok to let the students see us struggle to solve a problem.  It makes us more “human”, more real to our students.  It also allows for students to see that it is ok to make a mistake and struggle through a problem.  In class, we also talked about making students feel confident with math.  Allowing students to struggle and feel comfortable doing so will help build their confidence.  Building student confidence needs to be high on any teacher’s agenda.  The more confident students are the better they will perform, meaning they will be able to learn the material.  Giving positive feedback is one way to build confidence.  It is extremely important to give more praise than constructive feedback that can be interpreted as a negative comment to students.  I do believe the best advice today was to make math fun and create laughter in the classroom.  All bits of advice given in class today are linked together to prompt a safe classroom environment.  One will not do the job alone; all three need to work in unison to create the most effective learning environment.