Family Communication and Student Success

7.1.4c Communication with families

There has been much research revolving around the topic of family engagement in a student’s education leading to higher performance levels of the student. For some families this may be obvious but for other families it may not be as apparent. Math can be a scary topic for families who may feel that it is not their strongest subject or have an aversion to mathematical content. Because of this, they will avoid trying to engage with their student regarding their math class and family engagement will be absent. For those families I will need to provide tools and resources to aid their involvement.

In order to engage families in their students’ schooling, I will send a letter home at the beginning of both semesters. A “First Semester Letter” is shown below. Included in this letter is a semester overview of the Algebra 2 content, student expectations for my class, how parents can engage with their students and my contact information. My “Second Semester Letter” will follow a similar format and will include an update on how the class is going, second semester content areas, I will ask for parent feedback through a short survey, and I will provide updated contact information. I will also provide more ways that parents can get involved in their students’ education.

School is not only a place to focus on academics but it is a place for students to grow socially, explore themselves emotionally, and learn how to be functioning members of society. Families are not with their students for the thirty-three hours a week that students are at school and if teacher/family communication is lacking then families may know very little about what is going on in their student’s lives because teenagers often despise talking to their parents/guardians. Family communication is important so that families are aware of how their student is doing not only academically but also socially and emotionally. Therefore frequent family communication and engagement is imperative to the success of all students.

Letter to Families

Differentiation and Coherent Instruction

4.3 Component 1e: Designing Coherent Instruction

During assessment review, I use what are called “review stations.” In this activity, students rotate through 4 stations, where they are given a review sheet addressing part of the unit of the assessment. They have approximately 10 minutes at each station.

“Review Stations” reaches a wide range of students for various reasons. If a student thoroughly understands the content at a certain station, they can practice it to solidify understanding. If a student is unsure about that same content, they can ask their fellow students for support or they can ask me for additional support. For all students, the things they understand or are confused on may be different so the group’s dynamic of stronger versus less strong will change at each station, allowing all students the chance to contribute. The short exposure to each topic reflects the idea of “Cognitive Load Theory” so as to not overload a student’s cognition with any one topic and to provide a plethora of instructional strategies. In this case, students get a feel for what they have a grasp on versus where they need more practice. We do not do review stations for every assessment so as to not bore students with the design of the activity. By the end of the activity, students have a 4-page review packet that they can utilize while preparing for their assessment. If I just provided them with this packet, students would get hung up on the first page or two and may not reach the later pages and their material.

Creating movement from station to station allows students to re-engage every 10 minutes and this pace keeps students engaged to get the maximum amount of work done in the 10 minutes they have. I have a student with anxiety and this kind of activity tends to be a trigger for her. She has the option to sit at a table away from the chaos of review stations and work independently if she begins to feel overwhelmed.The design of my classroom is below, which points out where students are rotating and where this student can go to opt out of the high social interaction. I was also able to provide more individual support for an underperforming student discreetly and minimize potential embarrassment. Since the students are constantly moving around and engaged in their work, they may not realize if I spend more time with a certain student.

I would use this activity in the future because I saw the level of engagement of my students increased dramatically and I was able to provide additional support to specific students (underperforming, behavioral anxiety, etc.). I will need to be more aware of my timing in the future because 10 minutes went by quickly when I got involved supporting students at any one station.

Academic Language and Encouraging it’s Use

3.1 Demonstrating Knowledge of Students: Teacher recognizes the value of understanding students’ skills, knowledge, and language proficiency and displays this knowledge for groups of – students.

Academic language is of high importance in all content areas, especially in Mathematics. With all of the new vocabulary, students and teachers need to be sure that it is being incorporated into every aspect of class time. While facilitating mathematical discussion with my students, I aim to encourage the use of this mathematical jargon in order for students to feel more comfortable using it.

Each day I make note of what math language I want to use and document it in my lesson plans as shown below. Using leading questions and verbal sentence stems, I have students either fill in the blank with the math vocabulary word or have them rephrase their thought incorporating the vocabulary. Similarly, I will explicitly ask students to “ask their question using the math language” rather than using phrases like “do this thing” or “that number” as is their tendency. In order for students to know how to use academic language, I model that usage. I ask students what they think they know or remember about a certain idea, making sure that I use the academic vocabulary when helping to define and explain the concept and I make sure that I make use of the vocabulary as well. Multiple exposures to new vocabulary and constantly defining and reviewing new academic vocabulary are going to be key strategies in allowing students to feel more comfortable using the new language (Daniels & Zemelman, 2014).

While teaching the lesson below, I noticed that initially, students were hesitant to use new vocabulary or to even ask questions because they did not feel comfortable with the math language. As we progressed through the unit though, student questions and their answers to my questions began to incorporate the new vocabulary. Perhaps in future lessons, I can create a word bank on the whiteboard that students can reference daily to see what math vocabulary is the current focus and utilize it on a regular basis.

Daniels, H. & Zemelman, S. (2014). Subjects matter: Exceeding standards through powerful content area reading, second edition. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Student Reflection to Guide Instruction

6.3 Designing Student Assessments to Inform Planning: Teacher plans to use assessment results to plan for future instruction for groups of students.

During the first four weeks of my internship, I was focused more on co-teaching and being an additional support in the classroom. As I began taking over the Algebra 2 content classes, I found that merely observing my student’s work and answering their questions was not enough for me to truly gage their progress and strength as well as their confusions. I decided that I was going to implement using a five minute exit ticket around 2-3 times per week. The exit ticket I have been using is pictured here:

In using the exit ticket twice so far, I found that I could use their feedback to guide my instruction for the next day’s lesson. I can tailor each class period to the specific questions and confusions they tell me and I can make note of what they are comfortable with that we may not need to focus on as heavily. At the end of each unit, I would like to hand back their exit tickets so that my students can reflect on their growth throughout the unit by taking note of their answers to the last question (numerical rating of their comfort level with material).

As mentioned in Medina’s book “Brain Rules” Reflective activities are important so that students can look back at their learning, discover things that work for them or don’t work for them and use this information to facilitate their future learning (2014). I believe that self-assessment and self-awareness of one’s learning is beneficial to both the students and myself. Students too often go through school one day at a time and neglect to realize that they need to be aware of what they understand and what they need more support in so that they can seek out help and focus their energy on the content that is confusing. I want to continue using this exit ticket throughout the semester and I plan on incorporating a reflection question focused on the Common Core State Standards Standards for Mathematical Practice.

Medina, J. (2014). Brain rules: 12 principles for surviving and thriving at work, home, and school. Seattle, WA: Pear Press.

EDU 6160 (Assessment Methods) Reflection

6.1 Designing Student Assessments around Criteria and Standards

EDU 6160 (Teaching Assessment Methods) provided a plethora of tools for creating and executing assessments that are effectively aligned with the Common Core State Standards. The most important takeaway for me was to always be sure that your assessments are accurately testing the standards that have been addressed in the given lesson or unit. In our “Traditional Assessment” assignment (assessment included below), this concept was put to the test. Using various question types and including student self-assessment, allows me to see the level of understanding that my students are achieving.

Traditional Assessment final

My first draft of the assessment aimed to cover math standard “CCSS-Math A-REI Reasoning with equations and inequalities”, namely solving systems of equations through various methods including algebraically (substitution and equation addition/subtraction) and graphically. When I first wrote the assessment, I was proud of the product and felt that it addressed the chosen standards. I gave my quiz to a friend and in watching them solve various problems, I noticed that certain sections did not get at the solving method I had intended students to use. From this feedback, I was able to revise the assessment questions in order to address the solving method more clearly.

This experience showed me that in order to be sure my assessments test what they should be testing, I should take the assessment myself and if possible, have peers take the assessment as well. Having to change and revise an assessment is not a sign of weakness but rather; it makes sure that we provide the most effective and useful assessments possible. The more effective our assessments are, the better feedback regarding student learning we can gather. Data about student learning and growth is the best way to tailor and change lessons to better accommodate students to be sure they are given the opportunity to reach their highest learning potential.

EDU 6942 (September Experience) Reflection

5. Learning Environment – The teacher fosters and manages a safe and inclusive learning environment that takes into account: physical, emotional and intellectual well-being.

Throughout EDU 6942 (September Experience) we discussed aspects of teaching that first year teachers may have trouble with. These struggles will inherently contribute to the well-being of our students so we need to be prepared for what lies ahead. In our second group blog assignment, one of my cohorts provided the following advice from a teacher, which greatly resonated with me.

While there is a lot of information there, each point is kept short, sweet and ultimately, realistic. The point that stood out the most was:

“Spend more time on knowing the kids, like really knowing them, then on their grades or what you “have to teach them.”  Some of them are not going to “get” anything you teach them from a content perspective, but they might learn social skills, organizational skills, how to be more compassionate, become more globally aware, end up with a higher level of self esteem/self worth, and they will remember how you made them feel.”

As new teachers, the focus lies on content, testing, grading and the logistics of running a successful classroom and we may lose sight of the reason we got into teaching in the first place: the students. If we take the time to focus on them, get to know them and their stories, interests and passions, than teaching our content will come much easier.

Creating that “buy in” from students by connecting on a personal level will make teaching and classroom management much easier. Students are more likely to cooperate and work hard for a teacher with compassion rather than a teacher who remains distant and uncaring.

In my classroom, I intend to learn about my students individually. Talking to them during passing periods and being available before and after school hours will help me to connect with my students in an extracurricular manner. I also hope to continue coaching swim when I begin teaching, which will allow my students to see me in a different environment as well. Students and teachers are all humans and we need to be sure to keep that human aspect in tact.

Math Writing Workshops

The writing workshop approach could work in a math class even though at first it seems like it may not work. One example that stood out to me was having students work through a content related problem either as a team or individually accompanied by a writing exercise. This would include a written explanation of their solution, what they learned and what might still be challenging for them. This example from the text allows for ten to twenty minutes of writing time. Not only does this help students to reflect on their methods for solving content related problems, it gives plenty of opportunity for students to practice using academic language and to practice writing clearly. As a follow up to writing reflections of their methods for solving, I would have students trade papers to see if they can follow the directions of their classmates. This would make students be sure to write clearly and give specific directions. During the writing process, I can work with students who may be struggling readers and writers. I can have them verbally explain their methods to me and then go back and write it out. I think the process of verbally explaining will help students formulate their thoughts and the progression of their method before having to commit their words to paper. I do not know how often I might use this technique but it seems like a wonderful tool to use at various points during the school year.

Daniels, H., Zemelman, S., & Steineke, N. (2007). Content-Area Writing: Every Teacher’s Guide (pp. 1-111). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Combatting “The Writing Crisis”

I think the two sides that Daniels et al. (2007) put forth about the idea of a “writing crisis” in our country are both valid. The argument for a writing crisis is backed by the idea that formal writing is becoming a lost art and students are no longer writing the way their teachers want them to. On the other hand though, students are finding various other ways to become “authors”. So much of our new technology is linked to writing and authoring, text, email, web design etc. just in a different format.

Writing to learn strategies are a great way to use writing and thought formulating to have students reflect on their learning. Two strategies that stood out to me included writing breaks and admit slips. Writing breaks would be useful in math classes for students to individually reflect on what they have learned, what was important from a lesson and to come up with questions to ask during the lesson. These can be used at any point during the class period, not just at the end of class. Similarly, admit slips or warm up activities would be a great use of time. I would have students come up with their own real world math problems, trade with another student and solve the new problem. From these problems, I could check for understanding at a “meeting standard” level (can they solve the problem) as well as an “exceeding standard” level (can they write a clear and effective math problem).

Daniels, H., Zemelman, S., & Steineke, N. (2007). Content-Area Writing: Every Teacher’s Guide (pp. 1-111). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

The Importance of Academic Vocabulary with Struggling Readers

Secondary students often struggle with content area reading because of a “slump” that occurs around the fourth grade. While secondary teachers cannot monitor everything that happens around this time, they can provide strategies for combating this slump and increasing the confidence of struggling readers. Some of these strategies include: activating prior knowledge, questioning, creating mental images and summarizing (Session 3 PowerPoint, Gritter). For a math classroom, constantly defining and reviewing academic vocabulary are going to be key strategies for me to include on a daily basis both for my struggling readers and for my grade level and beyond readers (Daniels & Zemelman, 2014). Tier 1 and tier 2 vocabulary will tend to be the dominant focus in my classroom as common, everyday words and words that span across various disciplines will be the most beneficial for struggling readers in the long run. Boosting their vocabulary a few words at a time, a “slow and steady” approach, will glean the highest results in improving their reading skills. Lastly, I want to incorporate content area reading and investigation that goes beyond just my lessons, textbook chapters and word problems. This may take longer to incorporate, as I will have to be creative in where I look for math based reading, but it will be a welcomed challenge to be able to really apply our classroom topics to the real world while boosting the reading level of my students.

Daniels, H. & Zemelman, S. (2014). Subjects matter: Exceeding standards through powerful content area reading, second edition. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Textbooks

Since textbooks were introduced into American classrooms, they have been the main focus and source of information for our classes. Using only one resource provides a one sided and narrow view of the world. I may not face this specific issue on a daily basis in my secondary math classes but an issue I will face is combating the specific type of thinking that textbooks fosters throughout the year. Each text has it’s own outline and structure, which funnels students into this “one way” mindset for solving problems. We need to allow students to glean “specific practical thinking strategies that help [them] to dig meaning out of a document in any content field” (Daniels & Zemelman, 2014, p.4). As a math teacher, I constantly want to be incorporating other content areas into my lessons so as to create real world connections for my students. While textbooks try to provide these connections, I would prefer to utilize other sources such as newspaper or scientific articles, literary texts and technology. Allowing students to find our math topics in their everyday lives will increase retention rates and help them draw deeper connections to the material.

Daniels, H. & Zemelman, S. (2014). Subjects matter: Exceeding standards through powerful content area reading, second edition. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.