Last week of class and I feel like I have learned some great new strategies! However, let me first talk about what we talked about in week 6 before wrapping it all up! This week we looked at assessment and the different kinds of assessments and how to use these assessments.
In-class Discussion
Let's start with a classic video shown off by Brock Education since year one, and it never gets old!
Assessment is something that should be taken seriously and is the way educators collect data on their students. This week we talked about how assessment's primary focus is on student learning - we track student progress. Discussing the three forms of assessment: For, As, and Of. I believe that some still do not have a complete understanding of how these forms of assessments work. This can lead to more confusion when talking about diagnostic, formative and summative assessments.
This video really helped me in my first year to understand how the assessment works and how it is seen in the classroom:
Assessment is something that is changing and educators need to learn how to differentiate our assessment for our students. There are many documents and videos that can help educators expand on their assessment portfolios.
Online Discussion:
The last math mindset module we looked at was making math real for students. The video showing how animals and insects use math to create patterns is something that can be shown to students to help improve engagement. I personally have used the sport of basketball in my previous placement while discussing angel - as this was a huge interest for my students. I love this video and want to use it in my upcoming placement:
Webinar
This last week's webinar focused on report cards. Tom and I facilitated this webinar. For me I personally felt unequipped teaching is webinar - I have no experience while developing report cards. I was comfortable talking about assessment. I think overall this was a good webinar but felt like the faculty needs to teach future Teacher Canadiates how to write report comments.
Reflection:
Six weeks have come and gone pretty quick. I had a good understanding of math and felt that my math pedagogy was pretty solid prior to this class from the help of last year's course and through my last two associate teachers. However, with that being said I feel like I picked up a few things that I will be trying to implement in my third placement.
1. SAMR
This was the first time I was exposed to this model and is something I will be trying in my placement and future classrooms! I am not afraid of using technology, however, I do not want to use technology just because it is convenient. Week 5 blog post is something I will be going back to read for resources and understanding about the SAMR model.
2. Rich Tasks
This is something I have seen in my past placements and is something I was unable to implement in my teachings. It is now something I want to do as a minds-on to help my students all join in the conversation.
3. Open-ended and Parallel Tasks
I knew about open-ended questions prior to this class. However, I feel like I did not implement these types of questions in a good manner. Parallel tasks are new to me and I want to give it a try next placement with my students! I will be utilizing the website provided by this course while developing questions going forward.
These were the big three things I pulled from this class! However, everything else was a good refresher or helped me better understand the concept even more! My favourite takeaway from the class was the idea behind knowledge vs understanding. That topic helped me reflect on my teachings and challenged me to think about ways to help students get a better understanding on both knowledge and understanding of the questions.
Sunday, 16 February 2020
Sunday, 9 February 2020
Hello and welcome back to my week 5 maths blog. This week we looked at how to integrate technology into our classroom!
In-class Discussion:
Technology is a wonderful thing and is now a crucial aspect for 21st-century learners and educators!
Here is a quick video that helps show how we can use technology in the classroom!
One of the biggest takeaways I took from this class was the SAMR model and how it something we should practice when trying to implement technology into a classroom. Here are two videos, one video describes what the SAMR model is and one shows how to use it in a math classroom.
As educators, we should be using technology to help students create pieces that were not possible with just paper. Previous placements I feel like this was not the case most of the time - I felt like the school was just substituting paper with a Chromebook. The question that should follow that is "so what?" Okay, that is awesome you are using the technology but students are only using like 5% of that technology's potential. The best use of technology I have seen in my past placements were using it to differentiate for students. Google Speech-to-Text was what all schools are using and with the recent development of Microsoft Immersive Reader, we see educators differentiate even more. As new educators, we are striving to include technology even more with the development of our units and lesson plans.
Online Discussion
This week's math mindset module looked at making sense, represent and understand ideas for mathematics. One of the biggest movements in math has been representing math visually. In past placements, I have seen teachers use arrays to help show math - though it was not for all students it is a good practice for UDL. Here is a quick video showing off arrays!
Strategies such as arrays help the student understand math - helps them make sense of the question; like last week's math blog when discussing "18x5". We push more and more for students to understand the main ideas of math. Some teachers resort to ideas such as arrays while others think the traditional "drill to kill" method is the way students will learn the key ideas of math. It comes down to your school classroom and what they respond to the best too. I have seen both be effective to students but I have also seen some students not respond well to the techniques. It comes down to use trying new strategies that fit best well for our students and make sure they understand the concept of mathematics.
Webinar
This week's webinar focused on Financial Literacy. This is huge and I think most educators, me included, do not utilize the document enough or implement it when developing a lesson. This was a great webinar and I learned a lot from it. It made me go to YouTube and other websites to look at videos and research on how to integrate it more into lessons (not just in math). EduGains has a great resource to help educators implement Financial Literacy into lessons (http://www.edugains.ca/newsite/financialLiteracy/teachinglearningexamples.html).
Last week is the last blog post!
In-class Discussion:
Technology is a wonderful thing and is now a crucial aspect for 21st-century learners and educators!
Here is a quick video that helps show how we can use technology in the classroom!
One of the biggest takeaways I took from this class was the SAMR model and how it something we should practice when trying to implement technology into a classroom. Here are two videos, one video describes what the SAMR model is and one shows how to use it in a math classroom.
As educators, we should be using technology to help students create pieces that were not possible with just paper. Previous placements I feel like this was not the case most of the time - I felt like the school was just substituting paper with a Chromebook. The question that should follow that is "so what?" Okay, that is awesome you are using the technology but students are only using like 5% of that technology's potential. The best use of technology I have seen in my past placements were using it to differentiate for students. Google Speech-to-Text was what all schools are using and with the recent development of Microsoft Immersive Reader, we see educators differentiate even more. As new educators, we are striving to include technology even more with the development of our units and lesson plans.
Online Discussion
This week's math mindset module looked at making sense, represent and understand ideas for mathematics. One of the biggest movements in math has been representing math visually. In past placements, I have seen teachers use arrays to help show math - though it was not for all students it is a good practice for UDL. Here is a quick video showing off arrays!
Strategies such as arrays help the student understand math - helps them make sense of the question; like last week's math blog when discussing "18x5". We push more and more for students to understand the main ideas of math. Some teachers resort to ideas such as arrays while others think the traditional "drill to kill" method is the way students will learn the key ideas of math. It comes down to your school classroom and what they respond to the best too. I have seen both be effective to students but I have also seen some students not respond well to the techniques. It comes down to use trying new strategies that fit best well for our students and make sure they understand the concept of mathematics.
Webinar
This week's webinar focused on Financial Literacy. This is huge and I think most educators, me included, do not utilize the document enough or implement it when developing a lesson. This was a great webinar and I learned a lot from it. It made me go to YouTube and other websites to look at videos and research on how to integrate it more into lessons (not just in math). EduGains has a great resource to help educators implement Financial Literacy into lessons (http://www.edugains.ca/newsite/financialLiteracy/teachinglearningexamples.html).
Last week is the last blog post!
Sunday, 2 February 2020
Welcome back to my week 4 maths blog! This week we looked at developing concepts through rich tasks!
In-class discussion:
We looked at rich tasks this week. However, what is a rich task? Here are a few quick videos that help explain what rich tasks are:
During my last two placements, I saw some rich tasks that include estimations and "what does not belong". Both these tasks generated a lot of discussion and engagement - it allowed students that were not "good" at math an opportunity to join the conversation.
A guide to making rich tasks:
● Accessible to all learners (provide interest, motivation, and a challenge to all learners)
● Real-life connection (authentic, meaningful)
● Allow for multiple approaches and representations
● Allow for collaboration and discussion
● Engagement, curiosity, and creativity
● Not all tasks will have all of these characteristics, but the richer the task, the more it will fit these qualities.
● This list is not meant to be all-inclusive.
● Your description of a rich task will expand as you begin to recognize and use rich tasks with your students.
Online Discussion:
This week's math mindset module looks at number flexibility and how to solve questions using various strategies. The example of "18x5" reminds me of my first placement. My AT showed me the resource that Marian Small created - "number string", where students are provided many multiplication and division questions that were related to each other. Once we reached the "18x5" like questions we had class discussions like in the video. "How did you get there?" and "what helped you get there?" were questions we asked the students. What was amazing about this activity is the different ways students reached the answer. Once again, these tasks opened up the floor for all students. Students that struggled with multiplication would show off how they got to the solution using addition or using subtraction.
Lastly, another thing that my first placement teacher and second placement teacher did was making math collaborative. The use of think, pair and share was implemented so that students can discuss their way of thinking - it allowed students to see how other students found the answer. Lastly, making math applicable to real-world problems help students be more engaged with mathematics - rather than doing a math problem that does not resonate with them they would do math questions that they can relate to.
Webinar
This week's webinar looked at how we can differentiate in a math class. EduGains has a great resource when it comes to teaching and giving examples to differentiate (http://www.edugains.ca/resourcesDI/SchoolLeadership/Improving/KnowingandRespondingtoLearnersMath.pdf). Last week's blog had other great resources when it comes to differentiating, so check that out!
Until next week!
In-class discussion:
We looked at rich tasks this week. However, what is a rich task? Here are a few quick videos that help explain what rich tasks are:
During my last two placements, I saw some rich tasks that include estimations and "what does not belong". Both these tasks generated a lot of discussion and engagement - it allowed students that were not "good" at math an opportunity to join the conversation.
A guide to making rich tasks:
● Accessible to all learners (provide interest, motivation, and a challenge to all learners)
● Real-life connection (authentic, meaningful)
● Allow for multiple approaches and representations
● Allow for collaboration and discussion
● Engagement, curiosity, and creativity
● Not all tasks will have all of these characteristics, but the richer the task, the more it will fit these qualities.
● This list is not meant to be all-inclusive.
● Your description of a rich task will expand as you begin to recognize and use rich tasks with your students.
Online Discussion:
This week's math mindset module looks at number flexibility and how to solve questions using various strategies. The example of "18x5" reminds me of my first placement. My AT showed me the resource that Marian Small created - "number string", where students are provided many multiplication and division questions that were related to each other. Once we reached the "18x5" like questions we had class discussions like in the video. "How did you get there?" and "what helped you get there?" were questions we asked the students. What was amazing about this activity is the different ways students reached the answer. Once again, these tasks opened up the floor for all students. Students that struggled with multiplication would show off how they got to the solution using addition or using subtraction.
Lastly, another thing that my first placement teacher and second placement teacher did was making math collaborative. The use of think, pair and share was implemented so that students can discuss their way of thinking - it allowed students to see how other students found the answer. Lastly, making math applicable to real-world problems help students be more engaged with mathematics - rather than doing a math problem that does not resonate with them they would do math questions that they can relate to.
Webinar
This week's webinar looked at how we can differentiate in a math class. EduGains has a great resource when it comes to teaching and giving examples to differentiate (http://www.edugains.ca/resourcesDI/SchoolLeadership/Improving/KnowingandRespondingtoLearnersMath.pdf). Last week's blog had other great resources when it comes to differentiating, so check that out!
Until next week!
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