Keeping an Open Mind

I did have strong feelings about how that math session went -- the anxiety of being called upon, not having enough time to think a problem through, pretending to understand a problem for the sake of time or to save face.  But after observing my main placement's math sessions, I wish they did math differently (like the kind of sessions that I had once disapproved of).  This is what I witness every day:  a direct instruction from the teacher, the students working on their own white boards, the students instructed to work on practice sheets on their own.  I am pretty excited to try out this method that I've felt so uneasy about!  I want to put these kids into small groups so that they can talk to each other and support each other!  For the past few months, the kids have not been good friends to each other.  They hardly ever get a chance to be in groups in anything together during class.  I am interested to see if this beginning of splitting them into groups will help their relationships with each other.  If they can be put into groups for math, they can make sure each member understands the math problem (if they are unexpectedly called upon).  They are also responsible for supporting each team member if/when a member is called upon.  I am very glad I am opening up my mind to this method of teaching.  For this class, I think they would really benefit from working together.

iTouch Uses

In my main placement classroom, I have found a few instances in which the iTouch might really help out the kids.  Something that always has the kids hung up is story ideas.  I constantly hear kids saying things, such as, "I don't know what I wanna write about."  Or, "Nothing interesting has ever happened to me that I'd want to write about."

I understand their frustration because, for me, getting the first few sentences down on paper is the hardest thing to do.  I feel that every word has to be well chosen and used for a specific reason.  It all has to be perfect!  Then I end up staring at my blank page because nothing will do, nothing is perfect enough.  What I have learned to do is just free write and just write something!  I found an app called StoryBuilder, and the kids would use the exercises to start getting words out.  There are cartoons (comic book storyboards) and the first part of the sentence starts, then the students fill in the last missing part of the sentence.  They can record their voice narrative and replay.  Everything is recorded until the story is complete.  I think this app helps kids get over their frustrations of starting a story out perfectly.

Another app that I like is google translate.  With ELL students, I can use this with and communicate with them if there is anything that is unclear in conversations.  It is also an excellent tool to use in conferences with parents of ELL students.  One of my favorite apps!

I also saw an app called Fractions, and yes, it is all about fractions.  As the kids start to get into the idea of fractions, this app has so many images and exercises that explain how fractions are used and why fractions are used.  It can also be used as a game, as you can master simple fractions and answer questions about fractions.  You can take quizzes and test yourself, too.  It's not all about pizza slices and pie slices anymore!

Small Group Math Discussion

From this experience, I saw just how important it is to feel safe and welcomed with one another.  Our group completely forgot to make introductions, and I think it really threw our behaviors off.  For one, I did not feel comfortable probing the students further with their explanations because I did not feel a connection with them.  We hadn't put in the time to get to know each other, and we were kind of like strangers throughout the entire discussion.

One student did something very unusual.  When he gave us his thought process, as to how he counted the dots, he told us that he chose to group the chunks the way that he did (which was extremely random) because he knew no one else would count it out like he did.  I wondered why he would want to do that, be competitive like that?  I wondered what the class community was like in his classroom and if it was something that needed to be improved.  I know that our small group really needed to improve on community building.  I think it is really necessary to have a safe environment when we're talking about our ideas.  We need to know that our thoughts will not be rejected.

For ELL's

I was recently asked by my master teacher to administer a math test to some students who were either pulled out of class by specialists and couldn't finish, or absent the day the test was originally given.  I gave the test to two kids who were pulled out by specialists.  These kids speak Spanish at home, so these are ELL specialists that work with many of our students at least twice a day.

I know these kids need the extra help and work with specialists, but at the same time, I feel that they are missing so much that happens during class.  When it comes down to taking these tests, like the one I had to give to them, I don't see how they could realistically succeed because they missed so much time that was spent teaching the lesson because of getting pulled out of class.

In any case, I was instructed to read only the directions for each question.  As I read these questions, I was thinking in my head, "I'm not sure if they understand this in English?"  I wanted to either restate this question a different way so that the language may be more simplified or try to translate it in Spanish.  I don't know if I was wrong to do it, but I eventually said it in Spanish or restated the question with words that these ELL's might be more familiar with.  I just didn't think it was fair that they were being tested and asked to solve math questions when the make-up of the questions and words were too complicated to understand.  The one question that one of the students answered correctly happened when I was able to translate the question in Spanish.

I've always wanted to explore my options to get an ELL endorsement, and this experience has definitely urged me to go after that goal.  I wish I was much more proficient in Spanish, too.  I wish I could have given the entire test to these kids in Spanish.  I guess that's something I'll have to make as one of my goals:  relearn Spanish.

Super Second-grader!

My second grade buddy is an amazing reader!  He reads with so much emotion, it's like I'm watching him read for a play.  I even asked him if he thoughts of being an actor.

I decided to conduct a running record with him for our last meeting.  I chose "Hi! Flyguy" and he told me he's read the book series before.  Not surprising, he read through the book with no problems at all.  He understood the story because every once in a while he'd stop reading, look at me, and laugh out loud, or tell me, "that was a funny part!"

He read so fast, though, that his substituted a couple of prepositions that didn't change the meaning of the story, they were just lazy mistakes.  Maybe if this was a more serious test, he would have read more carefully.

He seems to understand most of what he reads, except really difficult and advanced words.  I think I might try an activity that I saw in Fox that uses the meaning of Greek roots, suffixes, and prefixes.

Lesson in Kindergarten Math

What a great lesson!  For my observed lesson, I combined a read-aloud with a math activity.  First, I read the book, Elmer, by David McKee.  It's a cute story about an elephant who looks very different from the rest of his herd.  Instead of regular elephant color (gray), he is patchwork colors.  Elmer does not like that he looks different, so he runs away.  When he comes across some gray-colored berries, he decides to cover its juices all over his body to make him look regular elephant color.  When he returns to the herd, the rest of the elephants didn't recognize Elmer.  When it rained, Elmer's identity was revealed, and the elephants were so happy to see him again and laughed because they all thought Elmer was playing the greatest joke of all time with them.  They decided to name that day the "Elmer's Day Parade" and celebrated by painted their bodies with beautiful patterns and designs.

For the math activity, I decided to review the concept of patterns.  The class had been introduced to patterns recently, so I knew they would be able to understand how to create a pattern.  We looked at the last page of the book and described all the patterns that they could see.  Then, on an elephant coloring page, the kids were instructed to create their own pattern, of their choice, using shapes and colors.  Together, we talked about AB patterns, ABB patterns, AABB, patterns, and so on.  It was pretty evident that they (or at least the majority) remembered how to make a pattern, so I handed out a blank elephant to each student and told them that we were going to have our own "Elmer's Day Parade," and they made such beautiful elephants!

 Of course, there were a few that did not show to me that they knew how to make a pattern.  With those kids, looking back on it now, it would have been a good idea to give them the option of working with blocks or some other types of manipulatives.  Perhaps they just did not care to color?  Perhaps the concept of patterns was not fully learned yet?  I am not sure, but I think it would have been worthwhile to give another option to those students.

Math Anxiety

For the first few sessions in our K-5 math class, I have been relatively comfortable.  I'm learning new ways of thinking, and actually realizing what exactly I'm doing when I do these unusual steps:  carry the one, borrow a ten.  It's been eye-opening.

Ever since last class, though, I have been extremely anxious.  We had middle school math, and though I've always been extremely comfortable with fractions, I did not enjoy what I was feeling at all in class that day.  We also had a new teacher who had a very different way of teaching than our elementary teacher.  I felt so nervous the way she'd randomly call on us to give her answers.  Though this is nothing new to me, I've seen this done in classrooms all the time, I felt nervous experiencing it for myself.  I kept thinking, "this isn't very ELL friendly."  As an adult, I actually felt like not coming to next session!  If I was in high school, I most likely would have skipped if I knew there wasn't a quiz or test planned.  I'd just study hard at home and avoid the uncomfortable spotlighting in class.

In a way, this was an eye opener, too.  For me, personally, learning these new ways of thinking requires me to think longer.  In this new class, I did not feel time was a necessity.  She spoke quickly, explained quickly, and went off on tangents quickly.  It was easy for me to drift off if I could not keep up with her.  That, also, made me nervous.  If I didn't listen to her, she would probably call on me (with my luck), and I wouldn't have an answer.  How unprepared and embarrassed would I feel?  Today's second session with her will be interesting.  I'm very anxious about it.  I hope I will keep up and think fast!