Monday, June 29, 2015
Error Analysis Reflection
After looking and completing the error analysis of problem found in more errors I found it beneficial. I realized after looking into this, this will be something that I will be doing with my students. It is important to find the errors and common mistakes that students are making. Once you can determine the errors the students are making then you can help them fix the problem and explain to them why they are doing it wrong. It is important as a teacher to be able to do this because you want the students to have a valuable learning experience. If you don't catch the errors in the beginning the students will continue to make the same errors and get in a bad habit.
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Classroom Changes Reflection
As students move through the grade k-8 there are classroom changes. For one, the math concepts build on each other and get more advanced at each grade level. We can see that they continue to build off each other in the Common Core standards. At the younger grades, students are asked to use pictures and words to explain how they got their answer. Students are asked to do this because this allows them to demonstrate they know the answer. As grades builds students are asked to show their calculations and work. Students are then also have to apply what they know about math to the real world. Technology and manipulates is also used throughout the grades. Students start using basic manipulates and technology when they are young. When students get older they used more advanced tools such as a protractor and compass. Throughout all of the grades though, students are to be engaged and always being able to explain their mathematical thinking.
Technology Reflection
During this class I discovered that technology has really grown from when I was in elementary school. There is so many cool things that we can use as teachers to help students grow. The coolest thing that we worked with is the smart board. There are endless things that you can use on the smart board to enhance your lesson. I hope that one day that I have a smart board to work with. It is very interactive. Another thing we discussed in class is apps and applets. I realized that is an app for everything! I will definitely use apps when I am a teacher. Apps and applets allow for students to deepen their understanding through interactive games and supports. It is another more fun way for students to learn a concept rather than using paper and pencil. We used prezi, jing, and videos in the class. These are also nice things to use in the class. As a teacher I could create an interactive prezi with a voice recording like our first project to show to the class. It would be something differernt than just lecturing a class. Videos are also fun projects for students to create and use their creative and artistic abilities. It would show students understand a topic through video presentation. Calculators are also a nice technology to have in the classroom. Although, I would not have students use calculators until students knew how to do a problem and be able to explain how to do it. Calculators are convenient to use and most everyone has one on their cell phone. It is important that students learn how to use a calculator.
Manipulative Reflection
In class I enjoyed exploring the different types of manipulative in class. I discovered that you can use a manipulative in so many ways! All grades and different math concepts can be benefit from using the manipulative. I am a hands-on learner so I really understand why students like to use these. It is visually appealing and allows for students to deepen their undressing of a concept or use the manipulative to be able to understand a concept. I know that students are deepening their understanding of a topic if the student can transfer what they learned on paper and through lecture into the manipulative. For example, the student would be able to show what 2 times 4 looks like using snap cubes. You can assess their understanding by if the student uses a manipulative correctly and is able to show and explain what he or she did with the manipulative. When students work in groups I think the students will tend to want to play with the manipulative. I noticed that even myself wanted to play with the manipulative. So to make sure that students are accountable walk around the classroom making sure students are working and have the students complete a worksheet along with the manipulative so that you know if the student was working or not working. Working with manipulative allows for students to work on their problem solving skills because they have to solve problems using the manipulative. It allows for students to transfer what they work on paper on to the into a manipulative.
Journal Entries
Assessing for Learning
This article focuses on assessment of learning. With the new common core standards assessment are changing. To provide for meaningful assessment items it is helpful to organize expectations of students into learning levels. The learning levels are, construct a concept, discover a relationship, simple knowledge, comprehension and communication, algorithmic skill, application, and creative thinking. These levels describes the types of thinking that are required to learn mathematics. Each level progresses. Each level is assessed a little differently. The CCSSM standards call for a wider range of assessments. Teachers whole follow this model and create their own assessments will cater to the students as individuals.
I thought this article was very relevant and useful. I think that it is logical to organize assessments into learning levels. Each student might be a different learning level so assessing at their level would make most sense. It would help the student succeed in math. I also agree with this article that it is important for teachers to start creating their own assessments. If teachers create their own assessments they will cater to what the students need. And that is the most important thing to do as a teacher.
Area Beyond Formula
Walter Stark is a teacher that had his students explore a the Area beyond the Formula problem to asses the students understanding of the mathematical ideas. He started out with a discussion before giving the students the problem. Students were separated into groups. They were given a notecard and had to determine how many of the notecards would it take to fill up the poster board. Each group presented their strategies to the class. He found that some students had similar strategies while others had different approaches.
I thought this article was interesting. It was interesting to read the different strategies that the students came up with. There were some that I didn't even think of! This type of activity would be really beneficial to students because it allows them to think more deeply about the mathematical ideas. It goes beyond pencil and paper. I also liked that the teacher included many discussions. This allowed for students to generate more ideas. I would like to do something like this in my class one day. It is cool to read about how students are really engaged in an activity and like to learn.
This article focuses on assessment of learning. With the new common core standards assessment are changing. To provide for meaningful assessment items it is helpful to organize expectations of students into learning levels. The learning levels are, construct a concept, discover a relationship, simple knowledge, comprehension and communication, algorithmic skill, application, and creative thinking. These levels describes the types of thinking that are required to learn mathematics. Each level progresses. Each level is assessed a little differently. The CCSSM standards call for a wider range of assessments. Teachers whole follow this model and create their own assessments will cater to the students as individuals.
I thought this article was very relevant and useful. I think that it is logical to organize assessments into learning levels. Each student might be a different learning level so assessing at their level would make most sense. It would help the student succeed in math. I also agree with this article that it is important for teachers to start creating their own assessments. If teachers create their own assessments they will cater to what the students need. And that is the most important thing to do as a teacher.
Area Beyond Formula
Walter Stark is a teacher that had his students explore a the Area beyond the Formula problem to asses the students understanding of the mathematical ideas. He started out with a discussion before giving the students the problem. Students were separated into groups. They were given a notecard and had to determine how many of the notecards would it take to fill up the poster board. Each group presented their strategies to the class. He found that some students had similar strategies while others had different approaches.
I thought this article was interesting. It was interesting to read the different strategies that the students came up with. There were some that I didn't even think of! This type of activity would be really beneficial to students because it allows them to think more deeply about the mathematical ideas. It goes beyond pencil and paper. I also liked that the teacher included many discussions. This allowed for students to generate more ideas. I would like to do something like this in my class one day. It is cool to read about how students are really engaged in an activity and like to learn.
NAEP Reflection
I thought this assignment was very beneficial. It taught me that it can be difficult to grade students work when the rubric is so vague. It taught me that when you create a rubric that it shouldn't be a vague and that someone else that reads it would be able to grade the students work. Looking at all the students wok my group had a lot of discussion. We disagreed upon a couple of what we thought the students deserved. This shows that the rubrics could be interpreted a couple of different ways. I thought of differently than what my groups members thought. It was hard to come to an agreement on some of the students work. I noticed that I tended to give the students higher grades. This assignment also allowed me to stretch my mind to think how I could help the students that were not understanding the questions. As a teacher it is important to be able to help the students to understand what they are not.
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