What Inspires You?
As I sit today wondering how to inspire readers, I find my mind straying away from the task at hand. I should be writing about the upcoming NCTM Annual Meeting coming to Boston, the anxiety teachers are feeling in regards to the Smarter Balanced Assessment, the continuing pressure on the continuance of the CCSSM, the middle school math contest, the recent state STEM task force report, and the question of whether STEM should become STEAM. Dr. Magnus provided so many suggestions but I just can’t focus on these topics. My mind keeps reflecting on the lessons of the week.
Eighth grade classes have been discussing relations and functions. They have ventured into determining if a relation is a function from a set of ordered pairs, and even via the vertical line test. A quick assessment and yes, they are getting it. We move on to identifying domain and range. A quick assessment and yes, they are getting this too. Continuous and discrete graphs? That’s a piece of cake too! These children are mathematical wizzes but then we move onto evaluating functions and they fizzle. Why? Students continue to struggle with the order of operations and manipulating integers. Even with the use of a calculator students struggle. How does one move on from this gap in understanding so as to lead the student towards success at the next level? A lack of mastery of previous content has become our roadblock.
Moving on, I reflect on the Algebra students. As a collaborative project, students are working on the case of the missing student. The excitement in their eyes as they encountered the mystery and learned of this assessment. “This is so much better than a quiz.” As I watched my students scattered throughout the room, I see their excitement in using math to solve the mystery. Students are collaborating, working cooperatively and managing themselves just as they would in a real-world task. As the teacher, I find myself walking around the room listening to conversations and smiling. Is this what STEAM is all about?
The week of teaching and learning had its highs and lows. Of course, I love the highs but I wouldn’t change the lows. As an educator, I take the lows as the opportunity to extend my learning as a teacher of mathematics. I reflect and look for ways to not only make the learning experience stronger for my students but also better understand the gaps in their learning. It is the gaps that provide me with the opportunity to create new lessons and bring about the “aha” moments in the classroom. Yes, the highs are wonderful and I love the adrenaline it creates but the lows inspire me to be more. What inspires you?
Eighth grade classes have been discussing relations and functions. They have ventured into determining if a relation is a function from a set of ordered pairs, and even via the vertical line test. A quick assessment and yes, they are getting it. We move on to identifying domain and range. A quick assessment and yes, they are getting this too. Continuous and discrete graphs? That’s a piece of cake too! These children are mathematical wizzes but then we move onto evaluating functions and they fizzle. Why? Students continue to struggle with the order of operations and manipulating integers. Even with the use of a calculator students struggle. How does one move on from this gap in understanding so as to lead the student towards success at the next level? A lack of mastery of previous content has become our roadblock.
Moving on, I reflect on the Algebra students. As a collaborative project, students are working on the case of the missing student. The excitement in their eyes as they encountered the mystery and learned of this assessment. “This is so much better than a quiz.” As I watched my students scattered throughout the room, I see their excitement in using math to solve the mystery. Students are collaborating, working cooperatively and managing themselves just as they would in a real-world task. As the teacher, I find myself walking around the room listening to conversations and smiling. Is this what STEAM is all about?
The week of teaching and learning had its highs and lows. Of course, I love the highs but I wouldn’t change the lows. As an educator, I take the lows as the opportunity to extend my learning as a teacher of mathematics. I reflect and look for ways to not only make the learning experience stronger for my students but also better understand the gaps in their learning. It is the gaps that provide me with the opportunity to create new lessons and bring about the “aha” moments in the classroom. Yes, the highs are wonderful and I love the adrenaline it creates but the lows inspire me to be more. What inspires you?
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