Blog Entry 2

1.

Initial Impression of the school: This middle school brings me back to my days in a middle school. The sizes of the kids I always find interesting in the middle schools. Some are tiny and others tower over me. The lockers and hallways are systematic and familiar.

What is on the classroom walls: My class has posters that remind students of classroom rules and consequences. They also have a multiplication table that the students refer to regularly.

What are the hallways like: There are four halls (A-D) and students are allowed to only walk on the right side of the hallways to help with traffic flow. It is clean and there are ample trashcans, water fountains, and bathrooms.

What is the culture like: The teacher’s are the leaders of the school and most students respect and enjoy following their lead. There are many different ethnicities at the school, but there is no feeling of segregation or hostility they all seem like they are on the same team which is nice.

2.

What is the classroom like during math: The class is largely based on worksheets, which is sad. There is a lot of time spent on warm-ups and homework. There is one teacher and 4-8 kids per class.

Teachers: There is one teacher in the room at a time. She teaches from a research based workbook program.

Topics covered: Place value, computation, prime numbers, GCF, LCM…

Students Engagement: Engagement varies between students, some are eager to learn and others have no faith in their own ability to do the work or otherwise seem not to care. I would say 50/50.

What am I doing?: I am assisting the teacher in any way possible as of now. I have been administering baseline testing and will begin teaching a small group next week.

3.

Teacher's belief about teaching mathematic?: The teacher seems very knowledgeable and has plenty of insight as to why her students struggle the way that they do. Some ideas are more negative than positive however. She believes that all students can learn if they put forth the effort. Education is a two-way street, she says I will do my best but they must meet me half way.

4. 

What am I wondering about my own mathematical teaching identity?: It is easy for me to say that I do not want to be like my CT, but it is easy to be judgmental when I am not in her shoes. I want to build on the good things that she does and be better in other areas. I value student rapport very highly; if I want a student to work for me then I need them to feel comfortable with and want to please me. It is also easier to get a student to open up to you that way and you can gain valuable insight to where a learning barrier is taking place.