Reflections

= Reflections =

**Week 9** November 22, 2010 Day 17 - Lesson Ideas Part 3 Christe and I presented our today. Here is some feedback that I would like to use to make the lesson better before teaching it, if I ever get the opportunity to teach it. -what if students all pick same value for box? - have them sign up for their value -more real life - make a cereal box and determine cost savings, etc

**Week 8** November 15, 2010 Day 15 - Lesson Ideas Part 1 The first group of presenters is done. There were some really great ideas which I plan to take into the classroom. Some points that Robin made which I need to remember in my next placement are:

An strategy that Chris and Samina used that I'd like to try in placement is getting the students into groups of 3 by giving each student part of a quadratic equation (e.g. 6x^2, 3x or 2) and letting them form their own group to create a quadratic equation. Brad and Mala had a lot of really great websites that they used in their lessons. I especially liked their take-home challenge. It was so enticing that I tried to get into the website as soon as they finished their presentation.
 * Make sure to answer: why do you need to learn this?
 * Easier examples first builds confidence.
 * 2-3 min videos are great to engage students, especially if they're a bit goofy

November 17, 2010 Day 16 - Lesson Ideas Part 2 <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Another set of great lessons! I definitely want to use Andy and Eddie's strategy for teaching arithmetic series. I remember hearing the story about Gauss (but not until grade 12), anyways, it would have been even more memorable if we had done the activity after. In fact, if we had I might actually remember the formula now.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 20px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">**Week 7** <span style="color: #f5296d; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 17px; line-height: 32px; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;">November 8, 2010 <span style="color: #ef890b; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Day 13 - Teaching Strategies <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">We watched a video that presented several different teaching strategies. Some of them I would use, some of them I would never use and some I could see myself using occasionally. One of the strategies that I particularly liked was how the teacher had the students teaching each other. They would take turns being "coach" and "player". He even demonstrated it at the beginning and let a student be his coach and explain a math problem to him. He also used a lot of appreciations in his class which I appreciated. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">One strategy that I really don't like is the use of choral responses or singing songs. I think that it promotes memorization and it may seem to the teacher that they have created an active and engaging class. The students, however, aren't doing any thinking for themselves. It’s an easy way to get everyone answering - ask very simple questions, with a lot of repetition. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">As a class we made a list of teaching strategies for high school.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 20px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">**Week 6** <span style="color: #f5296d; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 17px; line-height: 32px; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;">November 1, 2010 <span style="color: #ef890b; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Day 11 - Wiki Time! <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Robin started the Ontario Math Wiki and I think that it is going to be an amazing resource for high school. I'm overwhelmed with assignments right now and I know that we only have one observation day in high schools so it's a huge relief to have a running start with this resource (I'm really hoping I get to teach some math).

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 20px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">**Week 5** <span style="color: #f5296d; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 17px; line-height: 32px; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;">October 6, 2010 <span style="color: #ef890b; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Day 10 - Individual Differences <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Today we watched a video called [|How Difficult Can This Be?]. In this video Rick Lavoie did a workshop which taught the participants what it is like to be a student with a learning disability. I really liked this video; I thought that he used some great techniques to demonstrate to people what having a learning disability is like in the classroom and how as educators we need to be aware of what it really means to have a learning disability. He pointed out several times that having a learning disability does not mean that you're lazy or unmotivated. I particularly liked when he presented this picture and discussed perception. I also thought that the reading the participants did in which the letters of the words were on different lines, spaces were in different places than just between words and p, b and d were interchangeable was a great activity to experience difficulty reading in a classroom environment. The points that really stuck with me from the video and our class discussion afterward were to be fair actually means giving people what they need not everything equal and I think this was Nathan's point, motivation only allows students to do what they're already capable of doing. In the video he demonstrated the point on motivation by asking one of the participants to tell him what a particular picture was of and she couldn't. After she already told him that she didn't know he tried to motivate her by offering her $100 if she told him what it was. The motivation was there but that didn't change the fact that she didn't know what the picture was. To make learning accessible to all student's I have chosen my top 5 accommodations from the [|top ten list].

**<span style="color: #ef370b; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">My Top 5 Accommodations **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Simplify vocabulary when necessary (especially on handouts); pre-teach vocabulary at the beginning of each lesson and post important terms around the room.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Use visuals (diagrams, images, pictures, objects) to explain concepts.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Put daily/weekly agenda on the board.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Explain new concepts using concrete examples from real life.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">On worksheets: bold key words; use 12 point font (minimum); double-space text; provide adequate room for responses; remember, white space is good.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Write in black or blue and not orange!!

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 20px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">**Week 4**

<span style="color: #f5296d; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 17px; line-height: 32px; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;"> September 29, 2010 <span style="color: #ef890b; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Day 8 - Discussion & Problem Based Learning <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">I really like the [|Math Makeover Video] and unfortunately he described my physics and math education very accurately! I can "decode a physics textbook" very well but whether or not I understand concepts remains to be seen. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">I would like to try having students approach problems the way that he demonstrated. I particularly enjoying the shopping cart questions with the two lines, one having one person with 19 items and the other having 4 people with 3, 5, 2 and 1 items, respectively. I actually think this through every time I get in a line up. Even choosing to buy movie tickets from the ticket agent or the machine and then picking a concession stand line. Of course, I still don't have the right answer which makes it such a good question for students. Everybody can get in on this discussion and each comment has value! <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Samina and I made a problem today about painting the CN tower which leaves a lot of facts for the students to look up or estimate and then decide how complicated they want to make the problem depending on how accurate they choose to be. Robin also suggested that we use the third question of our problem and make it into a bidding war for the students and then have them decide if they made good bids. On a smaller scale this is a really relevant problem! I like it a lot!

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<span style="color: #f5296d; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 17px; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;">September 20, 2010
<span style="color: #ef890b; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Day 5 - Manipulatives <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">I love the manipulatives! The pattern blocks are my favourite! Although Nathan and I thought of several ways to use the linking cubes. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Examples: <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">· Ratio problems – make a shape that is ½ yellow <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">· Integers – use the cubes like algebra tiles and let the red cubes by positive one and the blue be negative one. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">· Graphing translations, reflections, rotations – create a shape and reflect it <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">· Probability (listing outcomes) – place cubes in a bag and select one and record colour <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">· Probability – now calculate probability of selecting a specific colour <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">· Solving equations (balancing) – place cubes into a box hidden from view (say 3 per box) place 5 boxes on one side of an equal sign and then 15 on the other and have students calculate the number of cubes in each box.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">I didn’t like the algebra tile application because it didn’t let you add zero pairs and then when you’re trying to represent 2 – (+5) and add the zero pairs the question will say 5 + (- 3). I would consider using the actual algebra tiles (non-virtual) so that students aren’t confused by the equation at the top automatically changing.

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<span style="color: #f00f5f; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">﻿September 13, 2010
<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">No, I do not plan to use punishment. I don't think that being punished will be effective in managing classroom behaviour. As we saw in the Alfie Kohn videos, children don't extract any sort of meaningful lesson from being punished. I would be more inclined to use discipline instead. If a student continually does not complete homework then I think a reasonable response would be to have them complete it during their own time (perhaps during recess) and also explain to them why it is important to have work done. However, I think that the very best approach I could use for classroom management would be a proactive approach - engage the students in the lesson by making it relevant for them, treat them with respect and have fun **<span style="color: #ff7a00; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">! **
 * <span style="color: #ff7a00; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Day 3 - Punishment **

<span style="color: #f00f5f; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">September 15, 2010
<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">I really liked the math stories. I love being read to and if I could find an interesting story for a topic then I would definitely use it. Being read to also seems to calm people down so I think it could also be a good way to relax students before a test or on a Friday afternoon.
 * <span style="color: #ff7a00; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Day 4 - Teaching Strategies **

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**<span style="color: #f00f5f; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;">August 30, 2010 **
===<span style="font-size: 1.1em; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;">**<span style="color: #ff8b00; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;">Day 1 – Bell Work and Getting the Class’ Attention ** === <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">I was worried coming in to the first class because I know that I've forgotten a lot of high school math, however, I found the atmosphere of the class to be positive and encouraging albeit quick-paced. I really like the idea of bell work. I think if the questions are well-thought out then it would serve as a great classroom management tool and could spark students’ curiosity. I had never considered how I would get a class’ attention before hearing different strategies from people here. I think my go-to strategy would be to say “let’s get started” (enthusiastically, of course). If that strategy doesn’t work with a particular class/a particular day I would next try waiting out the noise. I think I would feel silly trying the “if you can hear me, clap your hands” method in a grade 11 or 12 classroom, however, I have found that method to be effective in the classes here. <span style="color: #ff8b00; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;">**Day 2 – Motivation & Competition** <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">I thought that today's lesson on motivation was really interesting! I'm going to have to be very careful about when and how I use rewards in the classroom.I had actually heard of a study that relates to rewards some time ago. I don't remember who the study was by only that they found that kids who were rewarded for taking piano lessons were less likely to play the piano in the future.I searched for Alfie Kohn in Google and discovered that he actually has a very comprehensive website.[][] -At the end of this article he gives ideas on what to do instead of always saying "good job". I found it useful because I'm guilty of saying "good job" a lot and I want to acknowledge that the person has done something positive but was at a loss for ideas.
 * <span style="color: #f00f5f; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 17px;">﻿September 1, 2010 **

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> I was surprised by how negatively competition is viewed. I had thought that competition between teams would be beneficial to the students but Robin pointed out that the weaker students are just left behind. This had never happened to me in an academic setting but I can recall in my first year of university playing recreational intramural volleyball with my floor. Toward the end of the game it was my turn but we were losing and since it was assumed that I was not as good of a player as some of the other people my “teammates” requested that I sit out so that we could get a point. I wasn’t even given a chance! The result was that I never went back for a game. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> However, I do still believe that competition can be a great motivator for some students but I think that you have to be very careful about having competitions with defined winners and loser. There could be multiple mini-competitions so that each student can win. Or there could be competitions for different parts of the competition, in math it could be the most creative solution, quickest, most relatable to real life, etc.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> I'm really looking forward to learning more about these topics and how they apply in the classroom!

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