Class Summary

Over the course of this class I have learned new methods and ways of teaching math, but more importantly the process of how to come up with the answers. The LPU's have really given me insight to new ways to help teach students, such as the use of manipulatives. The information learned throughout this course will help me as I teach math in the future because I will be able to share with the students the reasons for solving problems the ways we do.

Summary of the Class

Now that the semester is winding down, I thought a summary of the class would be appropriate. We have covered a lot of ground thus far. I can say my mathematical foundation has definitely become more solid. I have been challenged in ways that did at times make me feel uncomfortable only because I had never been exposed to learning/teaching in such a manner. I now appreciate the course and the ways the content was presented to me. (I only wish all my methods courses reached this level of depth).

New Insights and Their Implications

Watching my peers present their LPUs in class has been really helpful for my mathematical understanding. Each lesson provides a variety of different methods to teach a single concept. By observing these lessons I am gaining new insight of a concept; in addition, I am now better able to teach the concept. I realize not all of my students are going to learn the same way. Therefore, by knowing how to teach one concept multiple ways, I am preparing myself to better teach my students. I look forward to the rest of the lessons to come!

Summary and Synthesis

(I emailed this one too you in October and I am not posting it on the blog)

This course has also opened my eyes to a new light of math. After watching the first group present on Thursday, I can honestly say I am excited to see what the rest of the classes presentations are about. Although I felt uncomfortable in the beginning of the course, I am now becoming more confident in math than I have ever been. I can't believe it has taken 16 years of schooling before someone has opened my eyes to the processes behind math. My appreciation for math is definitely renewed.

Place Value

I thought the LPU for teaching place value was a fun and new way of learning place value. Though to be honest, I was very confused at what we were learning to teach our students in place value. I am confused on why we need to teach students the base 3 and base 5 values if we only really use base 10 to teach math problems. Maybe I am just confused on part of the lesson and don't remember being taught any of base 3 and base 5 in my elementary school days. However, I thought the using the manipulatives in the game was a fun way to understand addition and subtraction. It is a great visual and hands-on way to really show your students how to "steal" in subtraction and not "borrowing." I also think it is a better term to use "steal" instead of "borrow" so that students understand that the number column is not getting anything back. I also really liked getting to see using the unit blocks in one of the previous lessons for addition and subtraction. These are some learning manipulatives I would like to use in my future classroom to help explain math as it is very confusing for some students.

CGI LPU

I feel that presenting the LPU was a great learning experience. It is a great way to practice teaching new topics as well as to learn how to be a better teacher. I really liked engaging our "students" with including their names in our catchy poems. It was fun integrating language arts with the poems into our lesson. I believe this teaches students another fun way to play around with math problems. I wish we would have spent more time explaining the definitions of the different CGI problems to help everyone understand them better because I felt our lesson would be a better review lesson for CGI instead of the first time working with it. Also, this brings up the point that not everyone reads the homework readings to understand the just of the CGI lesson and as a teacher, you should be prepared for that.

Summary of the class

This class has been a whirlwind for me. It has been filled with determination, frustration, and success. It has challenged me to think outside the realm of what I have been taught and pushed me to be a better learner than I felt I have been in the past. In past classes, we have been taught materials based on the State Standards. I have never been told about the Common Core Standards until this class. The idea of the Common Core and the information I have learned about altering math instruction to fit those standards is something I will take with me into the classroom. If I had to pick, I would say that those standards are the most important aspects of this class that I will take with me. That doesn't mean there wasn't other aspects that will help me as well. The idea of working in groups is something that I have always preferred in a classroom, and this class has reinforced that idea. Using manipulatives is an idea that can help students understand in-depth concepts but I have also learned that it is important to create a "bridge" between the concrete work and the symbolic work (worksheets). Traditionally, I have been taught math based on worksheets and flashcards. This class has opened my eyes to the possibilities of better strategies and the need to step up the education that I want to give my students.

Summary of the Class

The major insights that I've gained from this class are: a glimpse at common core standards to promote understand for what is to come in the future, a deeper understanding of basic mathematical skills such as finding mean, exploring area, and rediscovering scale factors as well as gaining knowledge of algorithms and teaching through manipulatives.

Overall, I'm happy with my progress in mathematics as well as the grade I believe I've earned. To be honest I was worried about the test, being that it was very comprehensive and covered more material than I found manageable. I was happy to be able to use the internet as well as my notes. This was one of the more challenging classes I've taken this year, but I did learn a lot of new methods.

Summary of the class

I found this class very informational, but confusing and even frustrating at times. The material covered was interesting and was a great refresher of processes that I learned in elementary and junior high. The biggest issue I had with the class was only having one test. There were 120 pages of notes to go over and 32 questions on the exam. I didn't think that the knowledge I learned was well represented in the test. I am happy that you are trying to prepare us for the future, but it was really confusing.

Summary of the class

When I first came into this class I thought it would just be like every other methods class and I will not learn a thing. So I started the class by not really caring what was going on. The fact that this class challenged all of us I think took us all back a little bit too. We aren't use to being challenged and not understanding so much information like for this class. I have no realized how important this information really is when it comes time for me to teach. I wish I would have payed better attention in class so that I could be more familiar with these concepts and then be able to teach them to my students. I feel like these are important aspects to teach to students and very important ones too.

New Insights and their Implications

Looking back upon this course, I really feel that I have grown and progressed as an educator of mathematics. At the beginning of this course, I felt rather overwhelmed. I agreed with new reform based mathematical teaching, but felt like I would never be able to teach in this manner. I didn’t feel like my prior educational experiences had equipped me well enough to become a high-quality math teacher. Because I cannot change what has already been, so I decided to keep an open mind and a positive attitude about figuring “all this stuff” out. I have such a passion for helping students learn and be successful. As an educator, I want to provide my students with the best possible education that I am capable of providing. Students deserve nothing less than high quality, challenging educations, and it is my job as an educator to provide just that. I truly believe that as challenging and frustrating at times this course has been, I believe that I will become a better educator because of it. This course has really helped me see the importance of helping students develop problem solving and reasoning skills. I have learned how critical it is to develop cohesion for students so that they can continue to build, develop, and refine their knowledge about mathematics. When ideas are isolated and memorized, students can’t find purpose of meaning, but cohesion can help students continue to explore, build, and refine. Although I feel that I still need lots of practice with reform mathematics, I truly believe that from this course I have gained the tools to become an effective educator.

ELED 330 Test

We just recently took the ELED 330 portion test in this class. I can honestly say that I studied much harder for this tests than previous tests I have taken, but I could not become comfortable with the material. Even knowing that it was an open book/open notes/open internet test, I was still very nervous. Being that I am an individual that has severe test anxiety, I felt as though many of my "wrong" answers were silly mistakes that I knew exactly what I did wrong once I had the test back in front of me. Even though this test made me very frustrated with this class and my overall grade, I can appreciate why we as future teachers need to take this kind of test to understand the frustration that our future students will be feeling when they are being tested over the same material, and now I can better help my future students avoid feeling the way about the material that I am currently feeling.

Eled 330

Throughout this course, my thoughts about math have gone up and down. At the beginning of this course,  I didn't like the methods Dr. Reins used and I didn't feel as though I was learning anything. As the semester progressed, I was able to see a different side to those methods and I started to like the course more. This course all came down to one thing, "the test" To a lot of us, it was the hardest and most time consuming test that we have ever taken. I walked away from that test having no idea how I did but I hoped for the best. Am I satisfied with how I did, no completely. I hoped for an A but I'll settle for a B. This test challenged us in many ways that we have not been accustomed to. We are used to answering pretty basic questions that require no critical thinking or showing of the process we used to get to that answer. After taking the test, I realize the importance of this course. I realize that as future math teachers, we need to understand the processes that are required in order to effectively teach a certain concept in math. We must know how to explain this process and also be able to teach it so that if children are ever tested like we just were, they will be able to fully accomplish a task that we couldnt. I understand the methods of this course, and are they the most comfortable? no, but if this is what the math world is coming down to, we must accommodate and learn to like it. This course has definitely taught me many different strategies and methods to put forth in math and I can now feel accomplished for all the hard wor put towards this course.

ELED 330 Test

The recent test we took was at the higher level of thinking. I studied quite a bit for the test yet I did not feel 100% comfortable with the material. When the test was in front of me I seemed to struggle to come up with the answers. The part that was the worst for me was time. I felt very rushed even after staying fifteen minutes late before I turned in my test because I had to get to my other class. Even after turning the test in, I had no idea how well I did on it. This test did make me feel like a fifth grader who was getting overwhelmed while taking a hard test. As a teacher, we need to make sure the students are well prepared for exams by giving them study strategies as well as ways to use the resources that are available.

Test

Throughout this class I learned how to teach mathematics differently. When studying for the test, I went over the entire study guide and filled it out. I also looked over my notes and tried to work out problems. Since I was gone for a week it was harder for me to figure out how to work out what I missed. Going to the review session was helpful. Going into the test I wasn’t a 100% comfortable with all of the material, but I didn’t know how else I could study. After taking the test, I was exhausted. I haven’t taken a test that made me think that hard before. It felt like I was taking the ACT again. Overall though this course, has helped me develop a better understanding of teaching mathematics.

Summary and Synthesis

In the last few class periods, we had groups of students teach us. I have never really learned from other students teaching, but these last few times I have learned and understood the concept. Also I feel like I understand these topics better than I have in the past. When peers teach each other, I feel like they are able to get on our level to help us understand.

Blog 4

After taking the test I felt like I had been deflated and I remember you said that this is what a student feels like after taking a standardized test and I completely agree with that statement. I want to be sure to help my students as much as possible so as not to feel this way after taking an exam.

New Insights and Their Implication

The double number line was a very interesting subject to learn about. It made sense to use it for something like shopping for the "best deal".

New Insights and Their Implication

CGI addition and subtraction was actually a lot easier than I thought it was going to be and I learned that I don't necessarily need to be scared of something I don't know about yet. I didn't want to get the CGI LPU because I had no idea what it was but it turns out it was relatively easy material.

Summary and Sythesis

After taking the exam I felt like I did the best I could. I had applied everything that I remember from lectures and interpreted it to the best ability I could. Some parts of this exam was challenging that definitely had me thinking hard. Then seeing the results of that exam hit me in a different place. Thinking that "wow" I felt completely different opposed to how I did when I finished the exam. I thought that I have done better than what I have received but that could have been true if I would have prepared better. I am still happy with the result because it could have been worse but I also believe that it is quite hard to study for math besides just memorizing equations. I also have a better view on the course and how it is taught. There is quite a bit of logic behind it all.

Eled 330-blog 2

Taking this class has been very frustrating at times and not so pleasant but I feel that I have learned a lot in such a short amount of time. Sometimes it is overwhelming, but I have remained confident and optimistic. The class has given me the opportunity to expand my thinking no matter how much or how little I already know we can always learn more. I think that the LPU's have been beneficial for me because it allows me to be engaged with others and gather information together with different input. I also feel that the presentations have been helpful for me because not only do I get the chance to present, but I get the chance to observe. I feel that this is important as a future teacher to take what I have learned and some how incoorperate into to my classroom.

#3

I thought that the test was at the higher level of thinking. I wasn't sure for the most part of the test if I was completely sure of my answers. I didn't like the feeling of not knowing a for sure answer on some of the questions. I am generally a student that feels confident when taking a test, however I didn't feel very confident when taking this test. I felt like I studied, but wasn't sure at times what I was really studying. I thought that the multiple choice were not at all hard in any way, but the other parts of the test were at times confusing for me and I wasn't real sure on what was expected of an answer. More times than not though I thought I was doing fine, but the reflection of my grade showed that I was more unsure than originally thought. As a teacher it is important that we make sure that our students are making connections with what they are being taught and as a teacher I plan to use plenty of strategies to help ensure that my students have all and any resources available for them to use.

ELED 330

After taking the exam, I feel that I have grown during this class. When the class first started, I felt as though the information was very abstract and difficult for me to understand. I did not think I would ever make sense of the way that Dr.Reins taught us. As the class progressed, I changed my state of mind and began thinking in a different way as the student. I also feel that through the LPU's I have learned a great amount on how to teach students in a way that is inquiry based and project based. This is definitely a class where I have learned from my peers. Before the test, I spent time with classmates going through the study guide and studying problems and concepts taught in the class. Although a lot of topics did not make sense to me at first during class, reviewing them with others and hearing my peers talk about these concepts really helps me to make connections I need to make. The exam we took last week was by far the hardest exam I have ever taken in the Ed School. I realized that by studying hard and conversing with peers about the content it was possible to succeed and grow. I cannot say that I have felt this way in any other class in the Ed School. Overall, I do not feel that I am super confident in my knowledge with how this class is taught, but i can say i have grown as a student through the challenges this class has to offer.

Summary and Synthesis

All I could say when I finished taking the test was "wow."  The test was very challenging and required a great amount of deep thinking and sense-making.  I felt like I was prepared to take the exam because I went over the study guide countless times and read the chapters/readings that were assigned to us.  But after taking the test I realized that the study guide wasn't going to help me on the test because it was all about the connections and sense-making.  This was very different from every other exam and I believe that was a reason why I thought it was more difficult.  This test, however, taught me so much from simply going over the exam in class.  When I saw my mistakes, I could go over the thought process I took to find the answer and compare it to the thought process I should have taken.  This helped me because I can use the information I gained to become a better test taker and teacher.  As a teacher, I must require my students to use deeper thinking to develop a deeper understanding of the material.  I must also be able to show my students the connections that need to be occur in order to develop the deeper understanding.

Eled 330 Test

I thought the test was very challenging.  I remembered learning and at least seeing all of the information that was on the test, but it definitely challenged me in my higher order thinking.  In class today (Nov. 8) you mentioned a comment that this is exactly how a 5th grader would feel during a standardized test on material that was challenging to them.  This really impacted me.  It made me think back to when I struggled with math and how I brought that same math anxiety into this class.  I hope that I continue to remember this feeling when I become a teacher so that I can prevent any student from feeling this way.

Summary and Synthesis

Since we have now all taken the exam, I feel that it, as well as preparing for it, is fine to blog about. I usually have a pretty set routine when I study for exams. I read, complete the study guide and review the information until I know it backwards and forwards. I tried to use the same strategy with this test, but soon found that I would need a different approach. For example, I usually would rather do a study guide myself before asking for help, but for this study guide, I felt that collaboration was needed. I usually study alone, and for this test I was studying with other people. For me, and this material, it seemed like there were some questions that I needed to discuss with others to get their take on it. It was helpful to get others' perspectives to widen the way I thought about any one problem. Overall, I did think the test was a little more difficult, but I think I will retain the information that was on this test better than others because of the way I studied for it.

Summary and Synthesis

These past few weeks have definitely been an eye-opener for me. Math has always been my favorite and best subject, so I never really worried about having to teach math. It comes naturally to me and I feel comfortable with it, so I just always figured teaching it would come naturally to me as well. After spending this last few weeks talking about manipulatives and different ways to make students think less about the answer and more about the process, I am now developing doubts that so many of my peers (from college and high school) have experienced for so long. I understand the importance of the concepts we have been talking about as well as the necessity for teaching reform mathematics, but I am feeling more frustrated than ever before and I can feel myself shutting. I suppose this is beneficial in the long run because I can now understand how my future students may feel when they aren't understanding. I have full faith that I will get a grasp on this way of teaching eventually, it's just hard to think of math from a different perspective.

Summary and Synthesis

The past few class periods we have been discussing CGI and what that means to the teacher and to the student. It seems as though a teacher can be doing CGI and not even know it, if they do not know what it means. CGI can be very beneficial to the student and to the teacher. Group presentations are also beneficial to our class as a whole. Sometimes students learn more from their peers.

Summary and Synthesis

After doing research on my presentation for CGI math (addition and subtraction) I gained a deeper insight to the way students comprehend and mentally solve math problems. Students use a variety of manipulatives, drawings, and other hands on objects to help compartmentalize areas of a story problem. The videos that were shown of a classroom using CGI math were helpful because it is easier to see CGI math being done hands on rather than having the concept explained verbally in our class.

Summary and Synthesis

For this first section of the class, I had thought I learned a lot of useful information until it was test time. I put multiple hours of hard work into the study guide and had study sessions with my peers. I feel like I have learned alot from my peers during the LPU's. Their instruction is at my knowledge level and can teach me in ways that I can understand. I have learned alot about making connections and pointing out the process that got me to an answer. These past few weeks have been great and I feel like I am going to start understanding the concepts that will be presented these next few weeks better than I have the previous weeks.

Summary and Synthesis

This week we had a review session and a test. After the test, we had a group present and did very well presenting CGI. I felt that I learned more from group presentations in the class than ever before. The groups are doing a good job presenting the information in a way that makes sense to the whole class. I feel that class should always be like that. On days when groups are presenting I get nothing out of it. Class sessions feel like we are being talked at and not explained to. This is very difficult to learn from because nothing is explained properly enough for me to take the information and put it to good use. Some ways that could be changed is having the material presented in a way that all of us understand. I know this is a new concept to everyone but something needs to be similar so we have a basic understanding when we start. Another way is for the teacher to really help us with our questions. I feel that for me to be more successful in this class we need more help and better explanations of the material.

New Insights and Their Implications

I have learned the more from my peers in this class then I have ever really experienced in a class before. The classroom discussion, the presentations, and group work have helped me to better understand the material being taught. I have learned through other people’s experiences what works and what doesn’t as well as what I need to do better. I have learned that in this class it is important to teach beyond the norm for students. Reaching out to students and having new ways for them to learn is a big deal in this class. I have also learned that being able to justify any mathematical process is a great way of checking your work. All these things are new items of interest for me in the world of math.

Summary and Synthesis

This class has been a very insightful time for me to learn about different ways of teaching kids, and helping them learn new ways to learn connections to different types of math. I've really enjoyed getting to learn all the new ways to help kids learn, and have taken a lot from the class with the different manipulatives I can use in the classroom.

Summary and Synthesis

After many hours filling out the review guide and a couple long nights studying for the midterm, I feel that I did well on the test. By truely learning why you do something and not just how I was able to recall more than normal becasue it was better established in my mind. This completely proves the idea that teaching towards the process and not the product allows students to retain a great rate of the information. hopefully I dont have to eat my words with a bad grade on the test.

Summary and Synthesis

This class has brought out new ways to do math and teach students. The hands on math lessons will help engage the students and allow them to apply knowledge and demonstrate comprehension. It is important that students enjoy learning so they will see math as a positive and exciting subject. Relating math to topics and real world experiences is also important. The way that Dr. Reins has taught this class will allow us to pass this knowledge and method onto our future students.

Summary and Synthesis

For the summary of this first class I would say that I learned alot. This class took alot of thinking, hard work, and more hard work. I feel that this class taught me alot about teaching math and will really help me become a better teacher. Before this class I thought that math was all about answers and steps that were set in concrete. I now know that Math is not about that, math to me is now about challenging students to achieve in their own ways, connect new knowledge, and share what you know with others to try and find new ways of doing things. There were many things that I learned throughout this class, there were alot of things that surprised me, and there were many things that I would not have known to do without this class. I am hoping that this will help me be a better rounded teacher not only in math, but also in other subjects.

New Insights and Their Implications

So far from this class, I have learned a great deal from my peers. I have learned from my peers during the LPU's and from group work and in-class assignments. I have also learned a great deal about making connections from education from my peers. I have learned how others personal experiences have shaped their mathematical understanding and how those can shape my mathematical experiences. From the instructor in this class, I have learned how to go beyond teaching students with an instructional understanding approach and move them to a relational understanding. The instructor of this course has taught me how to teach students not just the how, but the WHY behind mathematics. When we help students understand the why, we are deeming their understanding of the continent. From the readings, I have learned how students learn, and various activities and math experiences that I can use with my students to help the understand the content. I have also learned about CGI and how students need to be given authentic math experiences that provide them with opportunities to use manipulatives, find the answer, and show justification for their process that they choose. This class has taught me that in the past, I have learned a great deal about instructional understanding, but was never given opportunities for relational understanding. The teaching of mathematics in an elementary school classroom is not only important, but essential. It must go beyond the how, and combine with the WHY. The justification process of mathematics is important and gives students that relational understanding.

Questions and Answers

When going through the process of CGI. One question that came up was how is this any different that regular teaching? I understand that students have a variety of different ways to answer questions, but I as a teacher would have my students explain how they came to get answer. However, when I learned more about addition and subtraction. Now, I see how children will solve problems differently. I now understand how CGI, but I believe that I would use a mixed form of instruction and CGI.

Summary and Synthesis

On Tuesday of this week I participated in the study session instead of taking my test. I really feel like this benefited me. Almost everything we did in that study session I did not know how to do before. I'm not sure if it was because it was at a slower pace so that I was able to work through it better and understand or why I was better able to understand the information we talked about better after this study session. Hopefully the knowledge I gained at that study session will really help me receive a better grade on the exam on Thursday. I know what we went over was only a small portion and there is still so much I need to study and think about, but I think going to this study session really helped me. So I should also thank you for giving us the opportunity to have this review session and better understand the information and problems we will need for the test when I take it on Thursday.