Spring 2007 Journal

Spring 2007 Semester

Mr. Bruce Anderson's 8th Grade General and Advanced Math - North Branch School District (30 Hours)

Summary

This semester I was able to observe and help in four different 8th grade math classes. Two classes were general 8th grade math classes, and the other two classes were advanced algebra classes. I was able to observe the dynamics of a middle school class. This was my first experience in the middle grades, and I appreciated the chance to observe the differences in management and teaching style. This particular classroom was filled with humor and understanding for students.

My cooperating teacher was very good at building a rapport with the students and finding a way to make light of the everyday. I especially loved his ability to incorporate real-world examples into the math concepts he was teaching. I feel this is extremely important in teaching math as many concepts are abstract and a concrete representation must be presented to help the student grasp and internalize a particular math concept.

Overall this was an enjoyable experience, and I felt that I was able to connect to and help many of the students in their math class.

Journal

 

February 1, 2007: Today I found that humor is a large part of this class and the students respond well to this. They seem engaged and part of a community of learners through this technique. This was a fun day, and I observed many techniques in both teaching curriculum and personal approaches.

February 15, 2007: Today the general math had a test. I was able to make a key and grade the test. The Algebra students worked on compound interest and exponential growth as it relates to investing. The teacher made many real-world examples of how investing relates to these concepts.

February 22, 2007: : I was impressed today in the algebra classes to see that at least one student could see that going back in time on exponential growth is first division by the multiplier and then a leap to using a negative exponent to find the amount a back a certain number of years.
Allowing students to find the answers help them concrete the information instead of merely being told how to do it. This helps them build their own knowledge.
I was also able to come up with a few authentic learning projects that would go with this lesson in math.
Students were much more engaged in learning today compared to last week. The teacher attributed this to last weeks early weekend.

March 1, 2007: Today the general math student worked on order pair graphing. They repeatedly graphed with ordered pairs. Then they worked on finding what the ordered pairs were given a graph.

March 15, 2007: Today was review for a quiz to be given tomorrow. General math student covered geometry concepts including shapes and finding interior angles. Students were encouraged to remember that a triangle has 180 degrees and to count how many triangles are possible in each shape (number of sides - 2 *180). The algebra students were working on graphing parabolas and finding their axis of symmetry (-b/2a of a given equation). They practiced many examples and the terms skinny, fat or regular, open or closed were used to to determine what type of parabola they would have given an equation.

March 29, 2007: One of the things I wanted to summarize about today is how repetition and practice are used in this class. This teacher gives many opportunities for success. He always reviews the day before a quiz or test, and tells them what to study and what will be on the test. I think this is a very important thing to do with any grade level, but especially the middle grades. They have not yet developed the independent study skills needed to ascertain what the teacher requires of them in testing. This repeated practice and expectations of students is a necessary step in teaching the middle grades.

April 5, 2007: Today the students were review surface area. My cooperating teacher developed a mnemonic to help them remember the formula for a circumference. Mnemonics are great in math. They help the students remember, but I as observed the students I couldn't help to think that a concrete example was needed. He had them draw "nets" of a three-dimmentional objects. The students seemed confused and had trouble visualizing the two-dimmentional shape opened up. My thought was to show real objects like a toilet paper roll and actually cut them open or better yet have the students cut them open to help them be able to visualize what they were doing. To remember that surface area is circumference times the height may be memorized but will quickly leave the student's memory with out helping them understand and grasp the "why" of it.

April 12, 2007: Today their was a substitute so I was able to jump in and spend individual time with many students, tutoring them on their worksheets. I was also able to teach some concepts that help conversion between units easier to understand.