Reflection
Reflection
In reviewing my lesson on ‘pizza math,’ I learned that using a familiar concept as a framework worked well to engage students in mathematical thinking. I should have used a dark marker to write on the enlarged graphic organizer so that students could better see the numbers.
Although I felt that I was conscious during my teaching practice to keep track of student learning, in reviewing my lesson, I did not keep track of every student as I would have liked. While teaching, I noticed that one student, in particular, was quiet. During the first task of filling out the price sheet in pairs, I directed Hannah’s partner to let her fill out the organizer. Look on video
While facilitating the group discussion about possible combinations, I purposely asked Hannah several questions about her choices of topping combinations. I must have thought that she was answering, but in reviewing my lesson, her partner was answering for her instead. I feel that I was so focused on hearing the correct answers to my questions that I did not focus on who was answering. Focusing on the process of student learning while enacting the lesson is something that I want to work on, in addition to deciding how to encourage each student to participate.
Establishing better norms for group discussion would be a key step in becoming more conscious of group discussion. Norms that I will establish for future lessons include asking students to not speak when their classmates are speaking, and not to interrupt both classmates and the teacher by talking out of turn during the lesson. My classmate who took notes for me during the lesson noted that I let students interrupt each other during the share-out discussion. Her anecdotal notes suggest that I remind students of listening behavior. I would reinforce this behavior by reminding students of the importance of raising one’s hand for questions and comments.
Structuring the discussion as a pair/share instead of as a whole group discussion would also promote student participation. The nature of a pair/share allows students to become more conscious of their roles as participants, and would help to encourage an atmosphere that more readily promotes respect for and listening to one’s classmates. In thinking about pairing, reviewing the lesson also reinforced the importance of matching students well. If one personality dominates the other, then one student has the potential for less than equal participation and engagement with the material. Watching my teaching practice allowed me to understand that it is critical to not only know one’s students but that observation rather than prediction is necessary in understanding how students interact while working together.
Another aspect of teaching that I am constantly working on is asking questions that elicit critical thinking. While I asked many questions that engaged higher level mathematical thinking, I would encourage students to start relying on each other for answers by asking, “Would you ask the rest of the class that question? Can you explain in your own words what your classmate said?” These talk moves would help to establish a sense of community in the classroom and accountability for one’s opinion. I would like to explore further how to structure conversation from a young age so that students can successfully develop the skills necessary for both pair/share discussions and group discussions.
I would also like to incorporate a structured conclusion into future lessons. I would ask students to apply the knowledge from their activity to a real life scenario. I would ask, “What are some things that you learned that you’ll be able to use in the future? Do you think this activity will help you with anything in the future, such as grocery shopping or ordering a pizza?” Concluding with these questions would enable my pedagogical focus of using representations to make mathematics meaningful. Hiebert writes that “Understanding usually does not appear full-blown, after one experience or after completing one task. This means that the selection of appropriate tasks includes thinking about how tasks are related, how they can be chained together to increase the opportunities for student to gradually construct their understandings” (Hiebert, 1997, p. 31). Asking students to think about making connections between numeric combinations in the activity and in their everyday lives would underscore my learning objective for students to increase their fluency through familiar frameworks.
In reviewing my lesson on ‘pizza math,’ I learned that using a familiar concept as a framework worked well to engage students in mathematical thinking. I should have used a dark marker to write on the enlarged graphic organizer so that students could better see the numbers.
Although I felt that I was conscious during my teaching practice to keep track of student learning, in reviewing my lesson, I did not keep track of every student as I would have liked. While teaching, I noticed that one student, in particular, was quiet. During the first task of filling out the price sheet in pairs, I directed Hannah’s partner to let her fill out the organizer. Look on video
While facilitating the group discussion about possible combinations, I purposely asked Hannah several questions about her choices of topping combinations. I must have thought that she was answering, but in reviewing my lesson, her partner was answering for her instead. I feel that I was so focused on hearing the correct answers to my questions that I did not focus on who was answering. Focusing on the process of student learning while enacting the lesson is something that I want to work on, in addition to deciding how to encourage each student to participate.
Establishing better norms for group discussion would be a key step in becoming more conscious of group discussion. Norms that I will establish for future lessons include asking students to not speak when their classmates are speaking, and not to interrupt both classmates and the teacher by talking out of turn during the lesson. My classmate who took notes for me during the lesson noted that I let students interrupt each other during the share-out discussion. Her anecdotal notes suggest that I remind students of listening behavior. I would reinforce this behavior by reminding students of the importance of raising one’s hand for questions and comments.
Structuring the discussion as a pair/share instead of as a whole group discussion would also promote student participation. The nature of a pair/share allows students to become more conscious of their roles as participants, and would help to encourage an atmosphere that more readily promotes respect for and listening to one’s classmates. In thinking about pairing, reviewing the lesson also reinforced the importance of matching students well. If one personality dominates the other, then one student has the potential for less than equal participation and engagement with the material. Watching my teaching practice allowed me to understand that it is critical to not only know one’s students but that observation rather than prediction is necessary in understanding how students interact while working together.
Another aspect of teaching that I am constantly working on is asking questions that elicit critical thinking. While I asked many questions that engaged higher level mathematical thinking, I would encourage students to start relying on each other for answers by asking, “Would you ask the rest of the class that question? Can you explain in your own words what your classmate said?” These talk moves would help to establish a sense of community in the classroom and accountability for one’s opinion. I would like to explore further how to structure conversation from a young age so that students can successfully develop the skills necessary for both pair/share discussions and group discussions.
I would also like to incorporate a structured conclusion into future lessons. I would ask students to apply the knowledge from their activity to a real life scenario. I would ask, “What are some things that you learned that you’ll be able to use in the future? Do you think this activity will help you with anything in the future, such as grocery shopping or ordering a pizza?” Concluding with these questions would enable my pedagogical focus of using representations to make mathematics meaningful. Hiebert writes that “Understanding usually does not appear full-blown, after one experience or after completing one task. This means that the selection of appropriate tasks includes thinking about how tasks are related, how they can be chained together to increase the opportunities for student to gradually construct their understandings” (Hiebert, 1997, p. 31). Asking students to think about making connections between numeric combinations in the activity and in their everyday lives would underscore my learning objective for students to increase their fluency through familiar frameworks.