Election day is tomorrow and although I am excited to vote, I do not have the same thrill I did a few months ago. I think the work of student teaching has changed my feelings towards the election.
I do not want to be understood, I am going to vote and encourage everyone to vote. A lot of people have died and dedicated their lives for our right to vote. I just belief my drop in excitement in the election has been caused by my focus on teaching and understanding change through a classroom.
Every time I think about education in U.S. I get frustrated and overwhelmed. I grapple with the different issues that affect my students, their school, and community. I feel like I want to do it all and cover it all. Quickly I learned how overwhelming such practice can be. Yet, there are moments where you are just amazed and almost collapse in the learning that is made. (This past week I had a special ed designated student use the word charisma - very impressive). You teach with every ounce of effort you have, trying everything in the playbook, and when you think you are out of ideas, students seem to rise to the expectation. I had an idea of this program being intellectually demanding and although it is rigorous, I find this experience much more a emotional demand as one must have a genuine dedication & belief and growth in the power of teaching.
I can not address all social ills. I will leave that to policy makers and presidential candidates through the influence of my vote. What I can control and effectively address is my classroom. Thus, my focus is on being an effective teacher. I will vote and look forward for my candidate winning but at the end of the day, my mind, energy, and heart is devoted to the kids in North Philadelphia.
My feelings of my world around my classroom is reflective of the insightful words of Mother Teresa:
"One can do no great thing, just small things with great love."
VOTE!
Monday, November 3, 2008
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Math Lesson
This past Wednesday was the first time I held my first lesson, aside from the time I took over the class with a substitute.
The lesson lasted about an hour and I was charged with teaching math. More specifically, I was to teach conversions between fractions and decimals. I took the student math book home with me and went over the lesson and the book's example. I also reflected on my math class and how we should be teaching math. I wanted the lesson to be very open and discursive. I wanted students to explain their reasoning and have other students respond to everyone's strategies or beliefs about math. Over the last several weeks, and especially through our child study, we have learned how important it is to have a student orally explain their reasoning. Not only does it promote fluency but you get an accurate assessment of students' actual understanding of math.
Overall, the lesson plan went well but I received an unfortunate assessment that our students are behind. Although they are learning converting fractions to decimals and the reverse, they still do not have a good understanding of division. Aside from a small group of students, the majority had difficulties because they couldn't get passed division. Thus, I had to sit down and teach division. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to finish but I was at least able to get a better understanding of where my students stand.
It was difficult to see the students struggle and know how far behind they were. There was a lot of frustration but I was also thrilled by the opportunity to help them. Long division is a practical skill that not only can I teach but wold provide monumental gains in their testing.
I am now writing my lesson plan for part of my term 3 assignment and to no surprise, I am planning to focus on division. I hope to make considerable gains.
The lesson lasted about an hour and I was charged with teaching math. More specifically, I was to teach conversions between fractions and decimals. I took the student math book home with me and went over the lesson and the book's example. I also reflected on my math class and how we should be teaching math. I wanted the lesson to be very open and discursive. I wanted students to explain their reasoning and have other students respond to everyone's strategies or beliefs about math. Over the last several weeks, and especially through our child study, we have learned how important it is to have a student orally explain their reasoning. Not only does it promote fluency but you get an accurate assessment of students' actual understanding of math.
Overall, the lesson plan went well but I received an unfortunate assessment that our students are behind. Although they are learning converting fractions to decimals and the reverse, they still do not have a good understanding of division. Aside from a small group of students, the majority had difficulties because they couldn't get passed division. Thus, I had to sit down and teach division. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to finish but I was at least able to get a better understanding of where my students stand.
It was difficult to see the students struggle and know how far behind they were. There was a lot of frustration but I was also thrilled by the opportunity to help them. Long division is a practical skill that not only can I teach but wold provide monumental gains in their testing.
I am now writing my lesson plan for part of my term 3 assignment and to no surprise, I am planning to focus on division. I hope to make considerable gains.
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