Semester Refection on WMS Visits and In-Class Learning

It is hard to believe that my sophomore year is already coming to a close. It seems like just yesterday I was walking into my WMS classroom to observe and help tutor the middle schoolers. Now, I have a classroom nickname of “Tiger”, I have made so many lasting relationships with many of the students and faculty in the classroom, and I have learned so much about what it means to be a teacher both in the seminar classroom and through my placement.

In the seminar course itself, I have began exploring my first real teaching experiences and abilities, as well as learning and growing regarding how to be the best teacher that I can be. Within the lessons that I have taught, I have picked up on some strengths and weaknesses that I can build on in the years to come. I often talk a lot and run out of time which means I will have to work on how much content I should include in my lessons in the future, while also working on time management in the classroom. I also learned that I have a hard time relaying concepts to a full classroom, and need to work on slowing down and explaining difficult concepts efficiently, but thoroughly. Some strengths that I have seen in my teaching include creativity and enthusiasm. I am very far from being labeled a “morning person”, but lessons are much more effective and enjoyable for everyone in the class (including me) if I am upbeat and excited about the learning. I also think some of my activities (especially the graph shifting activity with the string and the masking tape, which is an area of my lessons that I am most proud of when I look back on the semester) are very creative and can foster some new, fun, and engaging activities in the future. I learned so much through the content in the course as well. One of the biggest takeaways is that math can actually be very fun, and erasing the stigma that “math is hard” or that “math is boring” in my future classrooms will actually benefit student engagement levels and overall learning. I also learned that teaching from the textbook is not that beneficial for students, but rather explaining where concepts are derived from and how things come about it essential for students to understand the problems they are given. This is something that I was not really taught in my experience (I could have never told my class why a negative times a negative is a positive), but can use in the future to ensure my students are understanding the concepts.

Although a lot of learning was done in the Monday morning class, I also learned a significant amount through my visits to WMS. These students were a lot more rambunctious than any class I had been in in my K-12 career, and I learned a lot from the teacher that I was assigned to as to some ways to refocus students and engage them in their learning. Some examples of these practices include: taking a break when I get frustrated to show students that I am overwhelmed and that they need to focus in on their learning (an extremely effective tactic that my teacher used), taking one day off from a challenging lesson to get students to practice skills such as problem solving and teamwork to refocus the class, and to have a variety of different activities. Having many different kinds of activities that can range from individual Khan Academy work, to investigation activities that involve students walking around the room and finding answers to different problems in teams, to individual problem sets and worksheets; all of these activities can benefit any type of student with any style of learning their mind favors. Finally, I learned how to be a friend and be there for students, as well as putting my foot down at certain times when students were misbehaving. I have not necessarily had a chance to practice this skill, but the teacher that I was placed with did an amazing job at this. Students often think that if they misbehave in class the teacher will not like them. This teacher, however, rewarded students’ good work with great kindness and gratitude that would make any student want to succeed. But, at the same time rather than yelling at misbehaving students, she would encourage them to take a break in the back of the room to refocus on the material. This is an amazing and effective tactic that allows students to take themselves out of the situation that they could be misbehaving in, and allow them to quietly refocus by themselves.

Overall, I am so glad, privileged, and humbled that I was allowed to have these experiences this semester, and I hope to return to WMS or WHS one day to see what these students will achieve in the coming years!

My Final School Visit!

During my final visit to WMS, I was told soon after I had arrived that the students would be taking a field trip to VPR (Vermont Public Radio and Vermont PBS station headquarters), and I would help accompany the teachers as a chaperone. I was thrilled to get a different kind of experience with the students, and I was also anxious to see how the two combined classes (both the first and second sections of the classes I am normally observing) behave in a real world setting. Upon arrival, the students were brought into the broadcasting room where cooking shows, news segments, and other programs are normally filmed. There was a green screen set up in the room, a teleprompter, and a camera that all of the students took turns at using. The students were also brought into the tech rooms to see switchboards, TV monitors, and other behind the scene operations that occur at television networks.

Overall, the students were very engaged in the trip and asked questions frequently, raised their hands to ask questions instead of shouting out, answered the questions that the VPR employees posed to the students, and were very excited and engaged when analyzing, using, and playing with different types of equipment (cameras, teleprompters, green screen, etc.). The students liked the green screen in particular, and when one of the employees brought out a green towel for the students to use along with the green screen, the students were ecstatic to see that their bodies would disappear when they covered themselves with the green sheet (they then learned why this was occurring). Not only did the students learn a great deal from the experience, the hands on learning also got the students involved and interested in radio and television careers. It was especially nice to witness some of the students who were actually interested in going into the broadcasting field smiling, laughing, and showing an immense deal of intrigue and enthusiasm when they were learning about the station.

Taking students on field trips are inevitable when one wants to aspire to be a teacher. Taking a group as rambunctious as the WMS students could prove to be challenging, but field trips are a really great way to give students a break from typical textbook learning and investigate some opportunities that they can pursue after high school. It allows students to see the benefits of working hard in school to get a career/job that is enjoyable for them. Visiting VPR is especially nice for students because both college and high school graduates can pursue careers at such an institution. Field trips are fun, educational, and provide students with a real-world view into many different jobs within society. Although field trips can be stressful for teachers because they have to keep track of so many kids, ensure that their students behave, and also ensure that students are engaged in the trip as not to be rude to the employees; they are also a great educational tool for all students. I cannot wait to see some of my students in the future get so excited and involved in various field trips!

Strategy Log: Teaching Resources

Strategy or Resource	Description	Use	Link
(R) NEWSELA	Online newspaper with current events; ability to automatically adjust reading levels; built in assessments (quizzes), prompt questions and teacher tracking	Social Studies, English, Civics, current events, History, Sociology	https://newsela.com/
(R) ThingLink	Very similar to NEARPOD in that students can access the presentation on their personal technology. Uses more than just powerpoints, includes venn diagrams, charts, and other visuals which are crucial to student understanding of the material.	History, Art, English, Social Studies.	https://www.thinglink.com/
(R) Nearpod	iPad and iPhone app which allows students to have access to the powerpoint being presented in class, as well as offering interactive activities and assessments throughout the presentation.	History, English, Social Studies.	https://nearpod.com/
(S) Exit Cards	Great strategy to allow students to formulate their learning into their own words, while also allowing the teachers to assess how well students are understanding their learning. Exit cards can also be tailored to a variety of different activities and interests. Formative assessment and instructional reflection.	All subjects.	Can vary from paper cards to electronics.
(R) QR Codes	Helpful link for students to access information in a different way using iPads, different websites, and videos. Students scan a barcode which brings them to an alternative link that is created by the teacher.	Art, Math, Science, English, and History.	http://www.qr-code-generator.com/
(R) JIGSAW	Cooperative learning strategy. Takes complex information, breaks it down amongst a group of people, and at the end of the research all of the groups come together and teach each other.	All subjects.	https://www.jigsaw.org/

Second to Last WMS Visit

This visit was organized very different than the visits I have made in the past. The middle school class that I am typically assigned to observe were taking the SBAC testing, so I was placed in the math lab at the high school. Essentially, the math lab is either a full class or a study period dedicated to math projects that are presented to students via google docs. For example, many students were working on finding squares and cubes of smaller numbers in larger numbers. For example, 125 can be rewritten as 25*5, and 25 can be broken down into 5*5, thus 125 is equivalent to 5 cubed. In the google docs, students have problems and examples on topics that range from inequalities to trigonometry, and students are assigned roughly 20-25 problems that range from drawing diagrams, to fill in the blank, to short answer, to multiple choice. Students were given an hour in their block to work on their google doc projects.

It was very interesting to be able to observe a class who were working independently on math projects. Students seldom needed help on the problems and each student was encouraged to work at their own pace and ask their friends for help which they did often. These types of projects encourage individual development by going into immense depth such that students are able to highlight frequent mistakes that are made in their mathematical procedures. This also ensures that students are learning the math themselves rather than being led on and aided by fellow peers and instructors.

Although I am not a fond believer in hours of individual work on worksheets or projects within the classroom, in the field of mathematics it is inevitable that many students will need to utilize worksheets in order to get sufficient practice of various math topics. I believe projects and group work to be a more beneficial study habit because it allows students to reiterate topics in their own words to each other, they also amplifies teamwork skills, and promotes positive, fun ways of thinking and working. Worksheets tend to leave students feeling fatigued, bored, and disengaged. Although I understand the importance and relevance of worksheets in a math classroom, it seems like these students spend hours and hours per week in the math lab, and I will ensure that my students in the future experience a variety of mathematical practices and study techniques.

The Effectiveness of the Scavenger Hunt Activity: WMS Visit #10

Today the students had a scavenger hunt activity involving fractions. There were twelve stations set up around the room, and each student was assigned a number which correlated to the station where they were supposed to begin the scavenger hunt. Each student would rotate through all twelve stations before bringing their work to the teacher to check for correctness. The teacher would evaluate the students’ answers, and the answers that the students got incorrect would require another attempt at the problem by the student. They did this process until they got all of the answers right, or until the class period was over. What the students were solving on each card regarded how to apply all four operations to word problems that involved fractions. On their papers, the students were given three columns to answer each question. One column was for which operation the students thought they would use, another column was for their work, and the final column was for their answers.

The first class focused on this task better than any other time I had visited. They listened and understood instruction, they cooperated together to derive answers for each question, and nearly every student was so engaged in their learning to the degree that almost every student in the class finished their worksheet. This assignment was a great way to get the students moving around the room rather than sitting in their desks, and that component took away from the restlessness that many students in this class feel after sitting for an hour. This assignment also allowed for students to work together, and I think this aspect of the task really helped students figure out ideas for the solutions that they might otherwise had not known if they were attempting these problems by themselves. The students seemed to really like this activity and take it very seriously, and I was very impressed to see how focused, engaged, and enthusiastic the students were towards their learning.

It is hard for me to determine whether the activity was genuinely engaging for students, or the entire class was having a good day behavior wise. I would like to assume the former to be true, and in doing this I can gain great insight into how I could implement an activity like this into my classroom. Getting the students moving around and doing real-world activities rather than doing worksheets helps students understand the importance, uses, and significance of mathematics. Also, the organizer that the teacher used gave students a clear path as to exactly what the teacher was expecting for answers. Also, allowing students to utilize different stations and work together was beneficial to maintain focus, but also come to some exciting conclusions with their friends. This class has shown clear advancements in teamwork due to the activities that the teacher has implemented, and I am stoked to see some more engaged students next week!

How Much is My Life Effected by Technology?

I have seen our society make vast advancements in technology throughout my years as an adolescent. In my childhood years my family owned a desktop computer that required a dial up connection to access the internet. In the last few years, what seemed to take hours of waiting to connect to the internet, can now be performed within a few button presses using a device that is fractions smaller than a desktop computer. It is incredible to see the technological advancements that have been made in my lifetime alone, but now our society is seeing a transition from utilizing technology for gathering information, to using technology for a variety of purposes. Social media has now transformed into a second identity for many people, it also allows different generations to connect to others that are in the same age group and that have similar interests, while Netflix and other media sources allow many individuals to escape the realities and stresses that are going on during the day and submerge themselves into a new reality through television programs.

In my experience and in reference to my technology log, social media is used as a form of entertainment that distracts me from the stresses and the reality of school. At the same time social media also gives me a sense of identity and connects me to the other individuals in my generation. I often search through my Instagram feed and YouTube to connect myself with other individuals in my generation as to different topics and stories that are trending. It furthers my connection to the youth culture that I am a part of. Netflix is used as a form of entertainment as well. I listen to a lot of music during the day, and music is a huge part of my identity. If I am feeling angry, there is a set of songs that I will play to help me cope with this emotion. If I am feeling sad, there is another set of songs that I can listen to. Music plays a huge role in how I view myself and my emotions in relation to the world around me. Through hard times, music is a huge help in allowing me to persevere through the difficult period. Thus, music plays a huge role in shaping my identity and how I cope with many situations. Technology has advanced greatly throughout the past few decades. However, with the great increase in daily technology use, it is becoming apparent that technology is beginning to influence many aspects of our lives both positively and negatively.

Nearing the End of the WMS Visits

The entirety of class today was a learning experience in itself. The teacher put the student aids under the impression that the students were just as misbehaved, unfocused, and disrespectful towards the teacher on Wednesday as they were on Tuesday. This being said, rather than attempt to continue with the lesson of dividing fractions, the instructor decided to take a two day break to focus on respect, cooperation, and teamwork as a way to not only further the students’ ability to act respectfully in the classroom, but also to advance their common core skills. The common core skills in math include teamwork, the ability to listen and understand direction, the ability to put their knowledge of the material into his/her own words, and to think critically. Keeping these ideals in mind, the teacher decided to do a team activity in which the students were divided up into groups of four. Within these groups, one teammate was assigned to be the builder and the remaining teammates would give the builder instructions. The teams were given twelve colored blocks and six instructions (two per instruction reader) for the builder to organize the blocks in a certain fashion. The only restriction is that the builder is not allowed to read the cards.

This activity forced students to cooperate with each other in a team setting. It also allowed the builders to listen carefully to what the other students are saying, and apply their instruction. On the reader side of things, these students had to read their card, understand precisely how the blocks needed to be organized, and then relay it to the builder in a way that makes sense. This is a great activity not only to further students listening, reading, and problem solving skills, but it also allowed students to develop multiple ways of stating information so that the entire group would be able to understand what he/she was saying. Besides furthering positive qualities within the classroom, this activity also gives students a few days of break from fractions so they can come back next week refocused and ready to learn.

I thought that this was an excellent way to address the disrespect problems that were occurring in the classroom. It takes a lot of courage for a teacher to take a break from the curriculum in order to give students a chance to work together and develop qualities such as listening and problem solving that they will need to use for the rest of their lives. Even the students that were getting frustrated learned that using different methods of explaining can actually lead to the correct answer in the end, so it was even a learning experience for those who seemed unhappy. Because of these reasons and my knowledge of how rambunctious these students are, this is an activity, even a mindset that I can see myself using in my classroom in the future.