Several times in the past week I have perused the Math Forum at Drexel University website. On their homepage, they describe themselves to be "the leading online resource for improving math learning, teaching, and communication." This will be a helpful resource as I move into teaching for several reasons. First of all, it provides an authoritative resource for students to access outside of their textbook. Another instance when it might be helpful is if I am looking for additional problems to challenge more advanced students. There are also resources specifically for teachers in each age range. The section for high school math teachers includes lesson plans, interactive websites to use with your students, and advice from other high school math teachers.
On October 15, I subscribed to the Math Forum Internet News, which is an e-newsletter that is sent weekly. I have gotten two issues thus far and even though I'm not even teaching, I have already found relevant information. In the October 26th edition, there was a link to "Mathematical Moments," which are a series of flyers produced by the American Mathematical Society that describe how math is relevant in our daily lives. Examples that I chose to look at dealt with seeing how math aids the graphics in video games, that matrices help airplanes be boarded faster, and how music is stored on CDs using only the numbers 0 and 1. Even more relevant was a flyer on traffic, describing how mathematical models using partial differential equations and chaos theory are showing that building new roads may not help alleviate traffic. When I say that I am a math major, people often tell me that they don't like math because it seems like just a bunch of numbers and it doesn't impact their real life at all. Now I have a resource to help me refute those arguments.
On the Math Forum, there is also Teacher2Teacher and the Teachers' Lounge, which is are places for teachers and others who are interested in math education to discuss curriculum, specific teaching strategies, and other issues in education. One post that I read that was of particular interest to me was "factors that affect girls in math." Other helpful posts include "motivating secondary students" and "homework teams and classroom groups." I also looked for other teachers opinions on the CPM (College Preparatory Mathematics) curriculum, which was criticized in Teaching to Change the World by Jeannie Oakes and Martin Lipton. My school used the CPM curriculum from when I was in Algebra I to my Calculus course (grades 8-12). However, I was disappointed to not find any resources on this topic except as a link in the Internet Math Library to a short review of the curriculum on a website off of the Math Forum.
Another resource that I located within our very own Good Library is the book Tips for the Mathematics Teacher by Alfred Posamentier, Hope Hartman, and Constanze Kaiser. This text offers 89 tips for math teachers within the categories of instructional techniques, social aspects of the classroom, beyond the classroom, and developing positive attitudes about mathematics. Some tips are fairly obvious, but each tip includes research to support it, applications of the tip, and things to consider as you implement the tip in your classroom. Here is one tip that I found to be quite interesting: "Teachers should be tactical in their use of questions." (58) Then it went on to show that research has shown that it is helpful to address the whole class about half the time and to call on particular students the other half. I would imagine that I will be conscious of the manner in which I will call on students; however, I would not have realized that it actually might make a difference in how the students learn.
For the past several weeks, I have been spending around three hours each Tuesday in two different classrooms at West Noble High School. Each teacher implements different strategies in order for their teaching to be most beneficial to their students. I have paid particular attention to how the classrooms are set up and how each teacher deals with discipline. I have also spent sometime thinking about how my classes here on campus are set up.
At West Noble High School, both of the classrooms that I am in have all of the chairs in rows facing the front of the room. One teacher allows his students to move into groups when doing their homework or even work on the floor. That room has a much different environment than the other teacher who has his students work on their homework alone and would rather that they remain quiet. Even after completing almost 11 hours of observation, I have not seen many students misbehaving. The most serious infraction has been talking in class, which was simply solved by a simple intervention by the teacher.
Inclusive Schooling is set up in a semicircle which is appropriate for the interactive, discussion-driven class that it is, but the semi-circle still directs attention to the front of the room, generally towards our professor. Introduction to Women's Studies is set up in a similar manner, but we actually manipulate the tables and chairs into a full circle for most class periods. Class discussion is led by a group of students each week; therefore, our direction doesn't need to be directed to a centralized authority at the front of the room. A circle also just seems more conducive to sharing our thoughts, feelings, and experiences. Both of my math classes are set up with rows of tables and chairs facing the front of the room, focusing on the professor, the chalkboards, and the pull-down screen. In high school, my math classes were set up with desks grouped into four; this promoted group work and made it hard just to ignore the influence of our peers. I generally prefer math classes that are set up in that manner. My Oral Communications class is set up with columns of chairs all facing the presenter, although in this class, the professor does not play as big of a role because we are all presenters at various points in the class.
In talking to others about what kinds of things make a teacher effective, I have heard that teachers need to relate the material to something practical and show students that they are confident in their knowledge of the material. A good teacher should be flexible and have presence in the classroom that indicates a balance of concern for the students' well-being and authority over the classroom. An effective teacher is also able to exhibit connection with their students. In a study of characteristics of bad teachers, one resounding answer was when teachers are not prepared for class, which is most apparent when they read directly off of Power points and exhibit a poor knowledge of the material covered in that class period. Other answers included when teachers do not return assignments for a long time and those who are poor lecturers.
I also interviewed my mother, who taught eighth grade for several years before moving on to teach high school, and now is the Director of Curriculum at Christopher Dock Mennonite High School. I wondered what kinds of things she concentrated on in order to be an effective teacher when she was teaching and if those things changed when she began to do more teacher observation in her current administrative role. She responded that she focused on knowing the subject material and one way that she increased her confidence in her knowledge base was to take graduate classes towards her masters' degree. Another thing that she still feels is important is to build relationships with students; she strove to find ways to engage students in dialogue both in and out of class. This made it easier to view students as a whole person rather than just a high school student and to respect their life journey. Now that her role includes more teacher observation, she has found that students respond well to teachers who are passionate about their subject material. She gave the example of a teacher who mainly lectures, but students can sense his passion, which in turn causes them to be more passionate about the class.
From the combination of my observation of classroom dynamics in my classes here and in my field placement and receiving input from peers and my mother on effective teachers, I am looking forward to being an effective teacher. I strive to set up my classroom so that students can learn most effectively and my expectations for them are clearly set out. I feel that I will be able to utilize the tools available to me so that I can be confident in my subject material and that I will be able to use my interest for math to show students how it is relevant in their lives.
This semester, I decided to take Introduction to Women's Studies because I had a bit of extra room in my schedule and it sounded like a class that I would be interested in. I was right; I have enjoyed this class incredibly. It is a very discussion driven class and I have enjoyed hearing the perspectives of my classmates. In this class, our professor, Carol Jarvis, often mentions literature which has been influential in the women's movement, but due to the time constraints of a semester-long class, we cannot even begin to read all of them. I decided to read one such book, Manifesta: young women, feminism, and the future. This book was written by Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards who are two Third-Wave feminists (Third-Wave simply refers to the most recent surge of feminism beginning in the early 1990s).
While the book wasn't quite as interesting as I would have hoped, I did enjoy the insight of the authors, particularly in the Prologue, entitled "A Day Without Feminism" and the first chapter, "The Dinner Party." As you might guess, the prologue highlighted just how different our society would be had feminists not been advocates for the empowerment of women in their relationships, in the professional world, or in education by describing the state of women in the year 1970. Here are a few lines that struck me: "If she gets a loan with her husband - and she has a job - she may have to sign a 'baby letter' swearing that she won't have one and have to leave her job." (7)
The reason that I enjoyed Chapter One - "The Dinner Party" more than the rest of the book is because it told about a dinner party that the authors had with six of their female friends where they covered anything and everything related to feminism. In the chapter, the authors related the stories and conversation from that night to surveys, books, and articles, exhibiting the relevance of feminism in our daily lives. Here is quote from the end of the chapter: "Manifesta is an attempt to open people's eyes to the power of everyday feminism right in front of our noses. We must see its reality if we are to corral that energy into attacking the inequalities that still exist." (49)
The final chapter of Manifesta is entitled "A Day With Feminism" and offers a view of the future in contrast to the prologue "A Day Without Feminism." I finished the book with conflicted feelings; I have so much hope because much of what they presented doesn't seem that far off, but there are still major strides that need to be made. The most astounding thing for me to realize was that regardless of how paychecks, legislation, or percentages indicate equality, much of equality still has to do with the attitudes of the people.
I think that an awareness of women's studies will help to make me a better teacher, particularly in the area of math education. Both in my class, Introduction to Women's Studies and in Manifesta, various sources have discussed why girls typically tend not to do as well in math. As a teacher, if I am aware of the issues that girls face particularly in a math classroom, then I might be able to help eliminate some of those dynamics. For example, some researchers think that girls would rather discuss a math problem and come up with different ways to solve it, while boys tend to find the most efficient way to find the answer. If I am aware of these dynamics, I can structure my class in such a way that both boys and girls can be successful in math.
Another thing that I have done periodically this semester is meeting with a study group, mostly for Linear Algebra, but also to study for our Inclusive Schooling midterm. For Linear Algebra, it has been especially helpful because I have struggled in that class this semester. By working through problems together, we are able to clarify things with each other. For me this is important because sometimes I can go through an assignment, thinking that I am doing everything correctly; only upon turning it in do I find out that I had misunderstood a crucial concept. As a teacher, it is also important to learn how to work in a group because you need to learn a balance of independence and dependence.
Another resource that I located within our very own Good Library is the book Tips for the Mathematics Teacher by Alfred Posamentier, Hope Hartman, and Constanze Kaiser. This text offers 89 tips for math teachers within the categories of instructional techniques, social aspects of the classroom, beyond the classroom, and developing positive attitudes about mathematics. Some tips are fairly obvious, but each tip includes research to support it, applications of the tip, and things to consider as you implement the tip in your classroom. Here is one tip that I found to be quite interesting: "Teachers should be tactical in their use of questions." (58) Then it went on to show that research has shown that it is helpful to address the whole class about half the time and to call on particular students the other half. I would imagine that I will be conscious of the manner in which I will call on students; however, I would not have realized that it actually might make a difference in how the students learn.
