Week 3 Math

The reading I found most beneficial was definitely the student interview jigsaw choice. Since we are interviewing our students this week, I took special note of how they went about it, and how they got the most out of the students’ answers.  Action research is defined as the process of asking a worthwhile research question, collecting credible evidence to answer the question, and using the evidence to guide further improvement in a school. At the elementary school, Jefferson, in Oregon, the teachers were having issues with problem solving in their math classrooms. They found it difficult to teach and noted that the children were having difficulties grasping the concept. This was because the teachers did not have any knowledge of the student’s individual mathematical learning and understanding. The classes were too large and each student was different. I fear for this because how am I supposed to find enough time in 1 day to incorporate each student’s learning strategy in 1 lesson plan, especially in a larger classroom. I know it will be a bit of a challenge, but in the article they found a solution when they interviewed each student on which mathematical style of learning best suited them, and making teachers more aware of what individual children knew and what tasks they could perform with their knowledge. With that information the teachers began to increase their focus on meeting the needs of the individual students. Teachers met each student’s level by identifying who was able to move on the next level, and who needed more time. The teachers created their own story problems that best included the student’s in the classroom. The problems were more meaningful to the students, and they had an easier time understanding it. The teachers also made the classroom more of a discussion rather than one lecture. This helped the students learn the many different ways of solving a problem when they shared with their peers how they solved it, and witnessed the different ways the other students found solutions. Working together helped the students regain their confidence in math, and it was more interesting to them once they started to see results. The one on one time with the teacher was very beneficial to the students because it is rare to get that special time with one student. The teachers received immediate and specific feedback from each student, making the teachers more aware of what they needed to incorporate in the lessons to better accommodate all students. In my future teaching class, I will definitely assess each student one on one to see which ways they learn best, and incorporate each learning method in my lesson, showing multiple ways to solve the problem, giving the student options to find which one they prefer and understand the most. I believe its also a good idea to know which students learn best in which ways so you can match them up in the same groups or even different groups, so they can learn other styles from each other. Depending on what your goal is for that lesson, knowing who your students are will help you in the long run. The students will get the most out of your lessons if you can direct it at each of their different styles at once. It’s a challenge, but as long as you know your students, it’s worth it!

First math post

I found several interesting things in these readings. First off, I totally agree with Rosebery when he said, "Minority and working class children can succeed in school if classrooms are reorganized to give them the same advantages that middle class children always seem to have had; instruction that puts their knowledge at the heart of their learning." This makes so much sense, because of course a student will do better when their home life is Incorporated into the classroom like middle class students' lives are. It is not fair for teachers to expect the same results from these two groups of students when we treat them as though they are the exact same. Like Rosebery says, "Unlike children from lower class homes, children from middle class homes, where the funds of knowledge correspond nicely to those of school experience little discontinuity." We must incorporate funds of knowledge from all of our students, not only the middle class students. The second thing I found helpful and interesting was the Allsopp reading about why students with social needs have trouble with math. I made many silly mistakes in math as described in the article because I have ADHD. I would always skip over details, and this makes more sense looking back on it now. I found some useful tips for teaching math to students with social needs that I will incorporate into my future lessons. I will make sure to accommodate all my students by passing out worksheets, writing problems on the board while saying these problems out loud. I will also give my students helpful tips on remembering how to solve problems successfully. I really enjoyed all three of these readings because I got a lot of useful information on how to be a more effective teacher!