Individual Reflection on Assignment 1

From this assignment, I had the opportunity to hear opinions from the perspectives of multiple teachers and students. This was a great opportunity and I had learned many things from this experience.

A few notes that I found really interesting from the students perspectives included:

1. Teachers need to bring his/her own personality to the classroom.
Though I already know that all teachers have their own teaching styles and they are can be equally effective, I forgot how crucial it is to a student's learning. I was surprised at how much emphasis the students had put on this point, and at times even stressing personality and enthusiasm was more important than the material itself! I'm glad many students think this way, as it strengthens my resolve to be a nurturing teacher that sincerely cares about them and is passionate about their future learning.

2. The speed of the classroom instruction should be slower.
I have a slight fear that I might teach too fast for all the students to keep up. In particular, I'm worried that I will speed up in my teaching because of the time constraints to finish teaching the curriculum material. But after talking to these students, I realize that I need to worry less about cramming all the material into their knowledge, but instead, focusing on pacing myself to make sure the students understand what is going on in class. And if necessary, I should making myself available before or after school hours.

Things that I found interesting from the perspective of teachers:

There were many tips that I had picked up from teachers during this assignment. One thing that I found useful was teaching by modeling. In particular, to show how we answer our questions by working through it in class, thinking out loud (in a clear and precise manner), and doing it that way instead of having the students copy things line by line. By doing it this way, there is an emphasis on how we can find solutions in mathematics and not just emphasizing the results. A second point that finally got ingrained into my head was the importance of being FRIENDLY but not being friends with the students. It's OK to be nice, but as teacher candidates, we need to be able to take control of the class and be responsible for them. As well, though I hear it often, I had never realized the value of lesson planning until talking to the teachers. Although a lesson plan doesn't set the lesson into stone and there are always adjustments to be made, it is really important to have guidelines. I had also want to make sure that as a teacher candidate, I treat the practicum not just as a practice run, but as a real job. Because it IS a job and we are responsible for the growth and development of the students. I want to be able to act in the students' best interest.

Although many of these points are things that I had learned or heard before, I had never made a personal connection with it. Though the facts were in my head, sometimes, it was not something that I valued as much because I did not make the concept my own. However, because of the interviews, I had the opportunity to talk and see the opinions of students and teachers firsthand, and as a result, I realized how important it is as teacher candidates to make sure that students and teachers have the same goals. These concepts will be a quite the challenge that I look forward to working on within a month!

On an added note, we had a few more presentations the following day, and I just wanted to remark on a few thoughts that came to mind. With Mike's presentation, they had interviewed teachers and students who had undergone the "Learn on your own Pace" math model. This was a very interesting concept and I believe that one should look into and consider this a great option. It provides flexibility to students who already know what they want to do with their lives and know that math is something they merely need to finish. It also allows students who strive academically to work ahead. It was an interesting proposition that shows other methods of teaching asides from lecturing in class. A second note that I want to reflect on is Jill's group and how they discussed the use of technology. I had found it interesting how many teachers view using technology as a hinder to the lesson. It is something to consider- will the students be able to learn mathematical concepts by using computers in mathematics or will they become distracted and lose the main point and purpose? There is a fine line that we need to be aware of and though technology can be a great aid and tool in working alongside mathematics, it is tricky to teach with technology and not have the students lose the focus and objective of learning a certain concept.