Field Experience Reflection
For this class I was placed in a second grade classroom for the first five weeks. I was able to observe the math corner within the classroom, give assessments, and help students produce math talk. For this field, I was anxious to go into a math classroom without experience. I found myself to be extremely math anxious and it held me back from helping people with their own math misconceptions. My first day, I was able to see that students were willing to learn through real world problems. I was impressed with the use of the flags to connect the real world to math problems in the classroom. Students were excited when the teacher would ask them to use their own math knowledge to answer her questions. Overall, I learned how to encourage students to utilize math talk.
I have discussed Bridges curriculum through another reflection, but I wasn't able to persoalize it. The use of Bridges was amazing in my cooperating teacher's classroom. The students loved using real world examples within math when solving a problem. Many students ask the question, when will we every use this in real life? I often ask myself the same question. Students can see the use of math when it is introduced into their lives. When students saw the flags, they immediately started making comparisons to the American flag and other countries. They then discussed the equal parts of the flags and connected it to fractions. Students were able to see math in the real world through the math corner.
Throughout my field experience, I was also able to see behavior checks. The teacher had carpet rules that were discussed and she made sure students were reminded each day about them. Students were remined to choose a safe seat where they wouldn't be distracted and could easily listen to the teacher. One critique I would have is the behavior became distracting when it was addressed. I would have quickly moved on from addressing the behavior, but it was drawn out. In her classroom, I did sense that the students had a lot of respect for her and they enjoyed her teaching. Most students were attentive to her teaching and followed her instructions. She made sure students would feel comfortable in the classroom environment by letting them open up about their math ideas. Overall, I learned many new techniques from my cooperating teacher that were behavior and math related.
For this class I was placed in a second grade classroom for the first five weeks. I was able to observe the math corner within the classroom, give assessments, and help students produce math talk. For this field, I was anxious to go into a math classroom without experience. I found myself to be extremely math anxious and it held me back from helping people with their own math misconceptions. My first day, I was able to see that students were willing to learn through real world problems. I was impressed with the use of the flags to connect the real world to math problems in the classroom. Students were excited when the teacher would ask them to use their own math knowledge to answer her questions. Overall, I learned how to encourage students to utilize math talk.
I have discussed Bridges curriculum through another reflection, but I wasn't able to persoalize it. The use of Bridges was amazing in my cooperating teacher's classroom. The students loved using real world examples within math when solving a problem. Many students ask the question, when will we every use this in real life? I often ask myself the same question. Students can see the use of math when it is introduced into their lives. When students saw the flags, they immediately started making comparisons to the American flag and other countries. They then discussed the equal parts of the flags and connected it to fractions. Students were able to see math in the real world through the math corner.
Throughout my field experience, I was also able to see behavior checks. The teacher had carpet rules that were discussed and she made sure students were reminded each day about them. Students were remined to choose a safe seat where they wouldn't be distracted and could easily listen to the teacher. One critique I would have is the behavior became distracting when it was addressed. I would have quickly moved on from addressing the behavior, but it was drawn out. In her classroom, I did sense that the students had a lot of respect for her and they enjoyed her teaching. Most students were attentive to her teaching and followed her instructions. She made sure students would feel comfortable in the classroom environment by letting them open up about their math ideas. Overall, I learned many new techniques from my cooperating teacher that were behavior and math related.