Oberservation #1 at Mount Pleasant Story

I arrived at the school for 8:15 and nervously began to look for the main entrance. I had my boyfriend drive me because I heard that you had to parallel park and that made me very anxious.  As I entered the high school, I looked around. The school felt like it was very dreary, but that was due more to the architecture of the building than anything else. I believe that others felt that way because as I continued to walk through the school there were posters every few feet. The posters were colorful and motivational. I felt that they made very good use of the walls by hanging those posters.

After I had signed into the visitor’s log, and was given a visitor’s pass, I was told to go find the math department head. I was very nervous walking through the school since I am young and I felt that people would think I was a student rather than a soon-to-be teacher. Not only that, but the teacher told me to just drop by anytime and she would set me up with someone to observe. I approached the department head and was immediately relieved when she remembered my name from the email I had sent her. She had set me up with an Algebra II class to observe.

I walked into the classroom and as I looked around, I saw many handmade posters. The desks were arranged in rows. Overall, I felt that the classroom was homey, however I noticed that the clock didn’t work. I knew that if I had to be in that classroom all day I would be irritated since I look at the clock every three minutes or so. I decided to take note of the people around me. In total, there were twelve students, as well as the teacher, and myself. I noticed that it was a diverse classroom: about half of the students were African America, while the other half were Caucasian.
     Today, the class was learning about quadratic equations. Yesterday was the first day of their lesson, and five of the twelve students were absent yesterday. I’m not sure if this was the reason, but the entire period was a recap of what they went over yesterday. This caused those students who were here yesterday to be bored since the teacher had to spend most of her time teaching to those students who weren’t there yesterday. I looked at the agenda for today written on the board and noticed that we were supposed to review quadratics, do more quadratic problems, and then focus on real world problems involving quadratics. There was one student in the middle of the classroom who was answering most, if not all of the teacher’s questions throughout the period. However, the rest of the class was not paying attention at all. After printing the notes for those students who weren’t there yesterday, the teacher reviewed what they did in class on the SMART board. I found that this teacher did most, if not all of her teaching while incorporating the SMART board. After she did one example on the board to walk the students through the steps of solving a quadratic equation, the students still didn’t quite get it. She then walked them through another example. She referenced the previous example throughout her second example, which I think helped the students a lot. After she finished guiding the students through those examples, she had the students do two problems on the own. Those who had finished both problems first were able to go write their answers and steps on how they solved the equation on the SMART board. At the end of the period, the teacher reviewed what was for homework (which was actually last night’s homework that nobody did).

     At the end of the period, I found that we had never gotten to the last part of the agenda. We never got to solve any real world problems. The entire period, which was an hour and a half, was spent going over yesterday’s lesson. After the students left, I was able to talk to the teacher for a few minutes. I was told that this algebra class was a very low class and that most of the students had behavioral issues. I found this to be very evident since throughout the period, students were playing games on their phones, playing with a ball, and watching YouTube videos. After leaving the school, and explaining a play-by-play to my boyfriend, I realized how quickly your lessons could change in an instant due to issues like students not doing their homework, or too many absent students. The teacher’s entire lesson was out the window the minute the students walked into the room. I also came to the realization that this doesn’t just hurt your lesson, but it hurts the students who were here yesterday, did do their homework, and those students who had to sit through your lesson all over again. There was no differentiation in the classroom, causing many students to seem as though they have lack of interest. Many students were sitting with their heads down on the desk for whatever reason. Was it because they were bored? Did they have a bad night last night? Did they not sleep well? How can you tell what the issue is if you are too busy trying to teach those students who weren’t here yesterday, those that happened to be participating in class during that period?

     Overall, I learned a lot from watching the Algebra II class. I learned that you can use a SMART board throughout your lesson (which the students enjoy as much as you do because they can write on it). I learned that you should always have a backup plan for your lesson (because your lesson can change in the blink of an eye). And finally, I learned that I can do this: I can be the teacher.  This was a great experience to have and I’m glad that I was able to be a part of it.

Observation Assignment #2 at Mount Pleasant High School

Lesson Plan Template for SED 406 and 407 part 1 = planning
Teacher Candidate: Ms. Math	Subject: Algebra 1	Grade(s): 9
Name of Lesson: Solving One-Step Linear Equations
Learning Objective(s), including Bloom's taxonomic level: (label A, B, C, *D) *optional The students will review writing linear equations using tables and algebra tiles.
Student Standards (GSE or/GLE or Common Core-in draft for math/science- list which): CCSS.Math.Content.HSA-SSE.A.1a Interpret parts of an expression, such as terms, factors, and coefficients. CCSS.Math.Content.HSA-REI.B.3 Solve linear equations and inequalities in one variable, including equations with coefficients represented by letters.
Teacher Standards (professional society and/or NETS  and RIPTS-list which): Standard 2: Teachers have a deep content knowledge base sufficient to create learning experiences that reflect an understanding of central concepts, vocabulary, structures, and tools of inquiry of the disciplines/content areas they teach. Standard 4: Teachers create instructional opportunities that reflect a respect for the diversity of learners and an understanding of how students differ in their approaches to learning.
Rationale: Why this lesson? How does it fit into the curriculum and context? Is this the introduction, conclusion, or somewhere in the middle of the unit of instruction? The lesson will help students visualize what it means to solve an equation and then relate it to solving equations without the use of algebra tiles. This fits into the introduction of teaching students how to solve linear equations algebraically.
Materials/Resources needed, including technology: Algebra Tiles, SMART board
Accommodations and Modifications (special needs and learning styles) For example:  Dr. Kraus has poor vision and needs written material to be at least 12 pt. font.  He also reads two grade levels higher and needs appropriate reading material.  I didn’t see any accommodations, however if there was a colorblind student there could be a set of algebra tiles that were black and white.
What content resources support this knowledge base? (list at least 2) Virtual manipulatives: http://illuminations.nctm.org/Activity.aspx?id=3482 http://www.glencoe.com/sites/common_assets/mathematics/ebook_assets/vmf/VMF-Interface.html
How confident are you in this topic as you start this lesson? Ms. Math seems very confident at the start of the lesson.

(Boxes expand as you type)   Lesson Plan Template part 2 = action
Bell-ringer: How will you get students seated, and ready for academic work? (without your voice) Do now
Anticipatory Set: How will you introduce the material, interest the students, show relevance of topic? Do now
Phase (change as needed)/Time	Teacher action	Student action	Questions/Assessments
e.g. Intro/5 min.	Take attendance. Get algebra tiles ready/make sure every student has their own set of algebra tiles.	Do now: Simplify expressions like 2+(-1), 3*(-1), -3*(-1), 2-(-1)
Presentation or Open-ended/	Walk around to help those who need it.	Work in groups to solve one step linear equations using algebra tiles.	How did you get that answer?
Guided Practice or Convergent/	On the SMART board, show how to solve one-step equations without the use of algebra tiles.	Follow along.
	Walk around to help those who need it.	Finish the worksheet algebraically (without use of algebra tiles).	What do we need to add to this side to get y by itself?
Closing/	Write exit ticket on the whiteboard/ help students with exit ticket if they need it.	Complete exit ticket.
HW/Application/	No homework.
Review and Reflection: How will you review for students who are still having trouble? Go over more examples on SMART board for students still having trouble.
Extension: What will you offer to students who have mastered this? Students who finish early can move on to do the algebraic method of solving equations.
*Closing: How will you review the material, and draw conclusions? (may be listed above) Exit ticket

	Lesson Plan Template pt. 3 = reflection
WHAT?	What went well?   The students seem to really understand how to solve linear equations algebraically.
	What area of weakness needs addressing? The students had a bit of trouble using the algebra tiles.
	Which objectives were met? What is the evidence? The students met the objective to solve linear equations using algebra tiles. This was evident because they were able to answer the questions on the worksheet using algebra tiles.
	Which students did not meet objectives? Those that decided to not use the algebra tiles, and just copied off of others did not meet the objectives.
	Was time managed appropriately? Yes.
	Did any teacher mannerisms or actions detract from the lesson? The teacher went over how to use the algebra tiles on the SMART board, and kids were supposed to follow along, however that wasn’t really happening.
	*What were the strengths and weaknesses of classroom management? The teacher did not notice that one of the students was copying off of another the entire class period.
SO WHAT?	Was the lesson engaging? I believe the lesson was engaging.
	*What did I learn from my peer observation (address at least one aspect)   N/A
NOW WHAT?	How will this experience influence your professional identity?  I now know how to teach using algebra tiles, and I know how to use both algebra tiles and algebra itself to teach students how to solve linear equations.
	How will it influence how you plan/teach/assess in the future? I have to be sure to pay attention to all of the students and try to notice if a student actually understands the material, or if they had just copied all of the work from another student.

Microteaching 1

Hey everybody! I made it through my first micro teaching and was hoping that those of you who were a part of my lesson/watched my lesson could give me some feedback on how I did.

Thanks,
Tiffany