Final Blog Post

As a future math teacher, literacy is not often something that I think about or something that I have even thought about educating myself on. Even though you may do it subconsciously, we use literacy strategies every single day in our lives. Whether we are reading facebook posts, or solving math word problems, we are using reading and literacy strategies and applying them to the content that we need.

Before taking this LLED course, I never took the time to see the importance of different reading strategies that can be used in the classroom. One of the tasks that we did was taking a reading strategy and applying it to our content area. So, not only are we teaching our students math, but we are also teaching them a reading strategy that can also be applied in their other subjects.

Tweet to text strategy

The reading strategy that we chose to implement for our lesson plan was a tweet to text strategy. As the teacher, I typed up a document about PEMDAS (Order of Operations). After passing out the reading to the students, we then provided the students with a paper that looked like the image above with a math problem at the top. In only 140 characters (similar to a tweet) they had to describe the important steps in their order of operations that they took to solve the problem. I loved this activity because it brought literacy into the math classroom, while also giving them a reading strategy. Sometimes reading long passages and textbooks can be very overwhelming. If we teach students to limit their summaries of the reading, then they will become accustomed to picking out the most important parts and remembering those for the future. 

This task was a great way to get us to introduce a reading/literacy strategy into our classroom, while also incorporating twitter, which may commonly be used among the age of students that we will be teaching. Doing small activities like this with our students can go a very long way with them and create a better understanding for topics rather than just having them read paragraph after paragraph about a certain subject. 

The book club activity that we completed with our classmates also helped me develop reading strategies and literary strategies in a content area that was not my own. For the book club, I chose to do a cross-curricular book and read a book that best applies to social studies. For the book club we were each assigned a task when reading the book and took on that role when reading through the book. We made notes on post-it notes and came back to share our findings with our group. This was a great reading strategy in my opinion because you are not trying to focus on too many things at once. For example, I was the connector, while reading Troubled River I was constantly making connections to prior knowledge and sharing these with my group whenever we met. My classmate was the questioner, so the whole time she was reading, she was thinking of questions that would be good to have a discussion about. I really think that book clubs can be very effective in the classroom. They teach very good reading and literacy strategies and can be effective in a very cross-curricular way. 

Well yes, math is very cool. This course has taught me how to dig deeper into math and recognize the literary component of it that does often go unnoticed. I have learned many strategies that I can apply to my lessons and help my students in improving their literacy. Coming into this class I definitely did not think that it was a math teacher's place to be teaching anything about literacy. But, after completing some activities, my opinion has definitely changed and I cannot wait to implement these with my kids. 

Word Count: 646

Podcast!

https://soundcloud.com/mikesilver87/lled-podcast

Lesson Plan Blog

Our lesson plan was based off of the strategy "Text to tweet." To begin the activity, I typed up a reading about Order of Operations. Within the reading I provided examples of what to do and what not to do with clear examples. After giving everyone time to read the reading, we provided them with a problem for their group. We asked them to then solve the problem and sum up their method into 140 characters on the paper we gave them that looked like a new tweet.

A grow that I saw a few times for this activity was more organization at the beginning and giving a better explanation. I think that this was a very good point because I feel as though I was not totally prepared to explain the directions and explain how to properly complete the task. If I got to do this activity again, I would have something for me to read off of so I do not get nervous and miss a step or not explain something well enough.

Overall, I think that our lesson plan went well and it was enjoyable. If we were to do this with our students, I would have each group come up and explain their thinking and explain the steps that they used and how it related to the reading that they did at the beginning of class.

Word Count: 230

Resource Blog #5

Click Here to see my Resource!

While this resource is more guided towards younger grades, K-5, it can be a great resource for 4th and 5th grade teachers. The link that I have provided is to the 5th grade math page. This website provides great games online, as well as worksheets that can be printed out and given to the class. In my opinion, I think that games can sometimes be more effective than worksheets for homework. While it is important for the teacher to have a physical copy of their understanding of the concepts, it is a lot more thrilling for them to go home and play a game and may not even feel like work.

This website provides great games for so many different topics. One way that I would love to use things like this in my classroom is maybe having them take a pre-quiz in class, going home to play the game and coming back the next day to take another quiz. I want to try out this method and see if the game playing is actually effective to their learning and can help teach concepts in a different way that they may better understand. For students that are more visual learners, this will definitely benefit them and encourage them to do more math than they would normally have.

I know that doing homework can be a real downer and can often get boring. For students that are still in elementary school, it might be hard for them to go sit and focus for that long doing homework for multiple classes. This might be a nice activity for them to do once a week or so to get a distraction and break from worksheet after worksheet. It is more hands on and gives them something to look forward to and be excited about.

Word Count: 301

Synthesis Blog #5 (Chapter 9)

Book clubs can be a great addition to any lesson, or subject. While reading may seem like an easy task, it is difficult to some kids and definitely helps for them to discuss what they have read and gauge their level of understanding of the text. When being put into book clubs, it can help the students collaborate and better understand scenes and explanations that they may not have understood during their first time reading it. Having them pull out hard vocabulary words, and paragraphs that were hard to grasp, they can discuss these with a group and get other people's perspective on how they interpreted it.

However, "we cannot plunge kids into book clubs without their knowing how they are to operate" (SM page 244). This is crucial for students to understand the task at hand and understand what they are going to be getting out of each activity. As a junior in college, I still did not understand the purpose for a book club until it was explained to me. If students are aware that they need to come prepared, be respectful and use this book club to its fullest potential, then I can see a great benefit to them.



The only setback is students getting off-task, or students sometimes not completing their reading. If there are some over-achievers and some under-achievers in a group, then it can be hard for them to find balance and may often be frustrating. If each student has not done the reading and have things to talk about, then a book club may not be a very effective group-work activity. And that is why it is important to set guidelines and expectations before-hand so students can participate to the fullest extent.

Word Count: 289

Book for book club!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061229571/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0061229571&linkCode=as2&tag=cortlandcolem-20

Resource Blog #4

This is a website that I used to use when I was younger. Not only does this website have games, but it also has lessons about many different levels of math. One of my favorite things about this website are the printable flashcards. Growing up I have always used a lot of flashcards in all of my classes to memorize and better understand information. These flashcards can be used for memorizing basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division problems. If the students have these handy and in their binder, they can refer to the basic problems as they move onto harder equations.

While it is only aimed for Kindergarten- Sixth graders, I still think that this is a great resource. It can inspire teachers to use games in class and maybe assign games for homework rather than a worksheet. It is important for students to know that math is not solely crunching numbers and coming out with an answer. If they are given something interactive either in class or for homework, they are going to become more familiar with the content and more comfortable with the math as they see it somewhere else than a white sheet of paper.

Simply adding colors and games to class can encourage engagement. While this website cannot really be cross-curricular, I think that it can inspire teachers to use games and websites that are similar in their classroom. Lecturing with students this age can get really boring and it is easy to lose their attention. Keeping students participating will encourage questions and begin to limit confusion, which will expand knowledge.

Word Count: 265

Synthesis Blog (Science Article)

Summarize
- Cross-fertilizing with subjects can help students understand each content area in depth individually, as well as teach them how to make connections in the classroom between their subject areas. If students get in a habit of doing this in school, they are going to be more likely to apply the knowledge they have learned in the classroom to their real-life experiences.

Connections
- This article reminded me of an article that I read about math. In this article, it discussed how students often believe they are either good at a subject, or they are not. They have a tendency to believe that they cannot learn the material and are going to stay put at the place they are at. At then beginning of this article, this idea is mentioned and discussed.
- Like the math article that I read, I feel as though this article was written very laid back. When it came to the vocabulary and explanations, I felt very comfortable reading through it with no problems and could definitely talk to someone about what the article was about no problem.

Critique
- At the beginning of the section "Two kinds of writing: Science with literature, literature with science," it begins with way too many names and it is hard to follow. Overall, the article was an easy read and definitely was informative. But, this section in particular stuck out to me because it was confusing from the jump.

Importance
- Connection between 2 content areas may not be easily noticed, or very evident. However, as a teacher, you need to try your best to "break the wall down" and incorporate other subject areas into your lesson plans. While it may be very subtle, and in some word problems or articles, it is going to allow students to understand the material better in both classrooms and they will have a more applicable mindset.
-This article is very important and I believe that it should be read by teachers of all subjects. I think that it is important for teachers to collaborate and try their best to incorporate other material into their lessons, allowing the students to make connections and learn material at a deeper level. If they are learning about something in science and read an article about it in language arts, they are going to quickly make the connection. The information that is provided in language arts can be beneficial in the science classroom and it is great to have teachers collaborating.

Word Count: 416

Resource Blog #3

Article!

The reason that I was drawn to this article so much is because it addresses formative assessments. When most students hear assessment, they get stressed out. This usually means that something is going to be graded and students often get test anxiety, hindering their performance. This article discusses the use of formative assessments that are not graded, and simply allows the teacher to see where the students are at with the material. To begin, teachers need to emphasize to their students that it is okay to be wrong, it is all a learning process. It is ideal to get to the point where students feel comfortable sharing their answers in class and sharing with one another their thought processes. While this may not be easy to adapt to, and may take some time for students to get used to, it is crucial and will improve their overall understanding.

I think that this article is important to read as a math teacher because there are often many different methods to solving math problems. If you give your students formative assessments, you can analyze their thinking process and figure out where they are making a mistake and how it is affecting their answer. While group work and class activities aid in learning, it is important to see a students whole thought process while working through a problem. If students are given the opportunity to show their thinking and even confusion before a graded test, I think that they will be more confident when the graded test comes around because they will understand what they did wrong and have an explanation for it.

Formative assessments are beneficial in every classroom, no matter the subject. Even if you aren't teaching math, this is an excellent article to read and I think will be helpful in all cases.

Word Count: 303

Synthesis Blog #3

Textbooks have always seemed to be "so important" in our classes throughout high school and college. We spend almost or over $200 each semester buying textbooks for our classes, but do the teachers really know how to effectively use them? I think I can confidently answer that question with 'no.' The quote that I picked out of the text to talk about is, "The material may seem easy to you, but it really may be Greek to the kids" (SM 182). I don't think there is a quote that I can relate more to. I often think that teachers forget that we are not masters in the subject being taught, and that we can't sit down with 30 pages of textbook reading and completely understand the topic afterwards. Splitting up readings, and having activities to go along with it is probably the most effective. Reading is not one of my strong subjects, and textbooks tend to use vocabulary that does not make it much easier to understand the material being read. I would rather have a guide, or questions to go through while reading so that it is more guided reading rather than me trying to comprehend 30 pages of history. It is important as future teachers, no matter the subject, to learn how to properly use a textbook to help us teach. We need to take time to create handouts to go along with their textbook so that it is not overwhelming for them. Also, it is important to keep in mind that we are going to have students that reading is not their strong suit. It is going to be hard to help them learn with a textbook if they struggle with literacy to begin with. The time that we take to extract important information, provide guided readings, and create powerpoints is going to help our kids out so much and allow us as teachers to use a textbook as a helpful resource rather than a useless book.

Word Count: 330

Resource Blog #2

Click here to read the article!

My favorite thing about this article is the fact that they emphasize the fact that math is not just about numbers. I fully believe that math can be learned by everyone, and that sometimes kids seem to downplay the importance of it, or think they are too dumb to understand it. One of the main points that this article makes, is teaching math in a variety of ways. Rather than just talking about negative and positive numbers, relate it to money or objects and watch as the students begin to understand it better. When kids especially can relate numbers to physical objects, they have a better chance at remembering how things work.

Math is definitely a subject that continues to build on top of itself. If something small is misunderstood or not fully grasped, it can cause the students to have less confidence in the future because they are going to have even more trouble understanding the new material. Math is definitely a hard subject, but it is important that teachers do not allow their students to feel defeated. Another important thing that we can do as a teacher is never assume that students know something, or have prior knowledge of a topic or strategy. I struggled in my sophomore year college math class because my teacher assumed we all had past knowledge of the content. If we continue moving forward with content that students do not fully comprehend, it is only leading closer to a breakdown and more misunderstandings.

I think that it is important for teachers to read this article so that they can get some tips about handling math strategies in the classroom and understanding it is not going to be easy for everyone.

Word Count: 287

Synthesis Blog #2

The concept that stuck out most to me about this reading is the passage about how students want the teacher to do the thinking for them rather than them doing it themselves. I feel like this is an important thought to have in the back of our heads as teachers because even we don't have the answers to everything. It is important to have our students think hard about the content they are learning and not give them all of the answers without them processing the information first.
They need to learn how to think deeply and figure challenges out on their own. We can help with that by giving them extra activities or deeper questions for them to think about and really consider if they completely understand the material or not. We need to encourage them to ask questions that are not just about the content, but their understanding of the content. Rather than just having them do worksheets and work individually, we need to encourage them to be able to explain their learning and thought process so they realize why the answers are what they are.
One way that this strategy can be used in a math classroom is teaching students the content, have them work some problems out on their own, and then going to the board and explain their thinking. Some students are going to do problems a little bit different than others, and it is important to show that they can be solved in multiple ways. Solving problems using different methods can encourage deeper thought and will also inspire students to ask more questions about the process rather than "Why is the answer not 4?"

Word Count: 280

Resource Blog #1

Click here to see the professional blog entry!

While this blog is titled "How to better prepare math teachers for success," I believe that a teacher in any content area can benefit from this good read. The main reason I think that math teachers should read this, is because learning how to explain math problems is going to be a lot more beneficial than just simply knowing how to do them. College students that major in math education focus a good portion of their time taking higher level math classes. While the knowledge of how to do this math is simply amazing, it has to be understood to a deeper extent in order to be able to teach others how to do it.

I believe that this blog is perfect because the tips that she gives can benefit almost every teacher, no matter the content area. One of the techniques that Dr. Baldinger gives to becoming a better teacher, is simply just to listen to your students. It is important to listen to what they have to say, and get a feel for their knowledge and thought process in the classroom. I think that sometimes teachers focus too much on teaching what they need to teach, without fully listening to their students and adjusting based on their knowledge and feedback. 

Listening and truly understanding your content area and how to teach it, are some of the most beneficial traits that a teacher can possess. Anyone can understand how to do math problems, but it takes a special person to be able to teach them. 

Word Count: 256

Chapter 2 Synthesis Post

There was a scenario mentioned in the text that stuck out to me the most. The text read,  "Have you ever noticed how you can drive your car across town to a friend's house, daydream all the way there and still arrive at your destination?" (Subject Matters 30-31). This hit home for me because it happens way too often. When going to a new destination, we tend to have GPS or directions that we are reading or listening to intently. Once something becomes routine, we tend to have our mind on other things and fail to pay attention to small details as soon as we get comfortable. The same thing happens when we read. If we are familiar with a subject or topic, we tend to skim and not read every single word and look deep into the meaning. If there is a reading about a subject we are unsure about, we try to pick apart the reading and make sense of it piece by piece, almost paying too much attention to it. Often times we read things, and nothing gets stored in our brain or memory because of the wording or the content being read. If we have no idea what topic a reading is on, like the cricket one at the beginning of the chapter, it is just in our nature to read the words and be okay with not understanding the context or what the reading says as a whole.

Word Count: 243

Hop on Pop

I read "Hop on Pop" by Dr. Seuss. I loved this book when I was a kid and definitely still do. The rhyming is great and it always makes me laugh. Dr.Seuss books are also so colorful and pleasing to look at which makes them easier and more enjoyable to read. The pictures and rhymes definitely keep people engaged, both the parents and the children.