Reflections

I’m taking some time over break to reflect on my experiences so far in this first year. Technically the semester isn’t over yet (and I still don’t think it’s a good idea to have finals after break) but it seems like a natural time for a bit of introspection.

These are my realizations thus far:

I need to be more organized. I teach in three different classrooms and need to find a better way of keeping track of paper. Not that I’ve lost any papers (Temporarily misplaced? Yep). It’s just that I seem to be carrying around everything — just in case.

I need to find a way to motivate the seniors - especially as we move into second semester and their first experience with trigonometry. I’m not thrilled with the way this course is designed. First semester is primarily a review of what they’ve done before. It isn’t until second semester that they actually see new material.

I need to learn to say “no” to new projects. I think I’ve been spreading myself too thin.

I need to find a way to balance having high expectations for each student and not being totally devastated when my expectations aren’t met.

On a positive note: I think I’m doing a decent job of building relationships with my students learners. I think they find me approachable and feel comfortable asking for help.

I also think I need to have more realistic expectations for myself. As much as I want to be a great teacher every day, I’m not sure how possible this is during the first year. As I have repeatedly been reminded recently - progress is good.

Never Assume

Today in my first period class, I asked a student to interpret another student’s work on the board. She said she couldn’t as it was written in red. She then mentioned that she can’t really see writing on the whiteboard when someone uses red or green. The class agreed to only use black or blue from now on.

It’s DECEMBER. I couldn’t believe that a student would wait until DECEMBER to mention this.

As we were also doing board work in fifth period, I asked, “Does anyone have trouble seeing what’s written in red and/or green?”

TWO students raised their hands.

*sighing* Lesson learned.

Image: twenty six from 2inches via flickr.

The Three Conspirators

Sometimes students find a way to deal with peers who aren’t pulling their own weight. The recent discussion on group work reminded me of a remarkable instance of this happening about two years ago.

I was working as a special education assistant, that period in a freshman math class. On this day the students’ write ups of an extended problem were due. In addition, three students were presenting their findings. These were three of the strongest students in the class.

The first student presented his findings. He was wrong. He made a passioned argument for his answer. Passioned, but lacking in any sound mathematical thinking. The teacher and I looked at each other across the room. We were both thinking, Oh well, everyone has an off day.

As usual, after the presentation, we asked if anyone had any questions or comments. Sadly, there were none.

The second student presented his findings. Strangely they were also wrong. Even more strange, he had arrived at the same incorrect answer as the first student. His rationale was simply, “I know I’m right.” Again, that glance across the room. This time, What’s going on?

Again, there were no questions. A few students started to change their own write ups.

The third student presented his findings. He too presented the same wrong answer. His justification was vehemently delivered. Again, lacking valid reasoning, but he worked hard at convincing his audience. It payed off. More students began changing their answers. At this point the teacher and I had no idea what was going on, but with a series of shrugs we decided to see what would happen.

Finally, one student asked a question. It was a good question. The three presenters shot him down. No mathematical reasoning, just “We’re right.” The lone dissenter didn’t give up. He kept asking questions. Finally he put his own work up on the board.

More students started to join the conversation. A heated debate ensued. By the end of the period, the class decided that the three presenters were incorrect. They didn’t give in though. They defended their wrong answer until the bell rang.

On the way out the door, the students dropped off their write ups. One of the presenters showed me his written answer before turning it in. He had written up the correct answer. I gave him a puzzled look. I’ll never forget his response.

We decided the lemmings needed to learn to ask questions.

I’ve Never…

I was discussing a unit on logarithms with a friend today and he asked if seeing one of these would help my students’ understanding:

I had to admit that as I’ve never used a slide rule, I didn’t have a clue if it would help them or not. He seemed shocked (he claimed it wasn’t my age that led him to believe I would have used one). He thought it would be part of either my math or math ed coursework. Maple? Yep. Slide Rule? Nope.

So I’m wondering, am I the only math teacher who hasn’t used a slide rule?

Image credit: Slide Rule by Roger Smith