Laura Friesen – Grade 7 Algebra EDES 363 Penny Vollmin March 12, 2014
Math Exploration Conference – Mar 5 – Westpark Middle School. 1. Do you feel the lesson objectives were met? Yes, I do believe that we met our objectives. We worked with two different objectives as follows, explain the difference between an expression and an equation and evaluate an expression, given the value of the variable(s). To address the first outcome we created a Venn diagram with the students, so students could compare and contrast the differences. We also started to learn how to properly evaluate equations using opposite operations, and then moved into evaluating expressions when given the variable. To practice evaluating expressions students were given a scavenger hunt where the only way to solve the word was to evaluate the expression using the given variable. 2. Did your classmate(s) provide any feedback? If so, how could you use this information in planning future math lessons? Amanda Bjorge was my partner in creating and executing the lesson. After discussing our lesson we both agreed that it was presented well, and we were well prepared. Learning from this lesson we both realize that it takes time to create a great lesson and that it is even better when you have more brains to pull ideas from. 3. How was the timing of the lesson? We really wanted to make sure that we had enough content to fill up the full time period we were given. We had nothing to fear, we had prepared more than enough, which meant that we did not get to our closure. We had planned a fun mix-pair-share at the beginning of the lesson and then were going to close with the same activity, but change the discussion to reflect what had been taught. It would have been a perfect way to end the class and wrap-up what had been taught and learned. Throughout our schooling we have been learning that closures do make a difference for learning, so I think that making sure to do something is vital. Even though, we didn’t get to our ‘planned’ activity we were able to check students scavenger hunt worksheet to make sure they were doing the work and then reward them, which was a bit of formative assessment for us as teachers. 4. Were you well enough prepared? I did feel prepared, this was because Amanda and I met a couple of times between our Math class Wednesday evening and the teaching time on Wednesday afternoon. When we met we discussed exactly what we were doing and ironed out the wrinkles. Discussing it with each other solidified our knowledge for the topic and what we were going to say. We did not pick specific parts to present which meant that we had to individually know the whole lesson, not just your part. Knowing the lesson as a whole helped me feel prepared because there were no surprises of what was being taught. 5. Did anything unexpected happen that made you change the lesson? Were you able to accommodate the changes? How did you do this? One detail that did affected the first lessons activity of mix-pair-share was we could not get our music to work, because it was youtube video. The students were asked to mix around the room to music, and not having music made it less fun and engaging. The first time they ‘mixed’ students made their own music, which was more noisy than anything
else, but fun at the same time. Although, the substitute teacher in the classroom was very helpful for he plugged in his phone that had music on it, this created the desired mood we were looking for. Also, on our notebook presentation we had different animals to make noises, but they did not work, making it sillier than interesting to have them on the presentation, and many students questioned why we had animals. 6. What modifications would you make to the lesson plan to make it more effective? To make this lesson more effective we really had to stress that our examples were simple, but they had to understand the concepts such as the difference between an expression and equation; and how to use opposite operations. Another major point that would make this lesson effective would have been to actually have time to do our closing mix-pair-share, because it would have wrapped up the learning and solidified the vocabulary. 7. Please include any other comments that you feel are pertinent to the lesson. Team teaching is fun! I love the creativity two people can come up with in a short period of time for a lesson. The only hard part for me is that I am not the most outgoing person that will push to have my voice heard, and I will back down and let others lead if they are that type of person, which Amanda is. I am grateful that she was aware of this and would stop and make sure I was participating in the teaching, making it equal. It just meant that she was the leader and controlled the classroom more so. I know I have the confidence and ability to lead a classroom, but when I am in these types of situations I back down and it is hard for me to take initiative, expecting the other person to do so, because that is what they did in the past. 8. What did you learn from your first lesson compared to the second lesson? In the first lesson we actually introduced ourselves to the students, and in the second lesson, because we were hoping to accomplish everything on our lesson plan we just started. Not even realizing we hadn’t introduced ourselves. Also, in the second lesson we did not model solving equations right away. We both noticed that our second class seemed to be higher level than our first, which meant that they were more rowdy and rambunctious than the first group. They often questioned the validity of what we were teaching them because it seemed so simple. So, seeing the difference of types of students in a classroom was a huge learning experience, as well as, realizing to take things slow and do it right, like introduce ourselves. Give yourself a mark for out of 7 and justify your score. I gave myself a 6.5/7 because I believe that there is always room for improvement, but at the same time Amanda and I worked hard on our lesson and planning details so it ran smoothly. We did an equal amount of work and taught equally in the classroom. I would most definitely re-use this lesson with minimal adjustments if given the opportunity, which shows me that it was a stellar lesson.