Friday, February 5, 2010
Artifacts and Characteristics of the Novice Teacher #5
This fourth artifact I chose to discuss is a remedial fraction unit I have implemented into my fifth grade math class. They have been working on fractions for quite some time now; however, they have no idea what they are doing. I think the students did not understand fractions when the concept was first taught, and then all the build up of more information added to the confusion. This unit I have implemented is called the Rational Number Project. "The Rational Number Project (RNP) advocates teaching fractions using a model that emphasizes multiple representations and connections among different representations (Cramer, K., Behr, M., Post T., & Lesh, R., 2009.)" I think this unit ties in with characteristic #5, which states that the novice teacher should have in-depth knowledge of pedagogy. Since I am teaching this unit to students in a special education class, I have to be well aware of every step I have to explain so the students can follow along. I also had to look back at some simple fraction concepts that I have forgotten since my days in elementary school. Also, the RNP supplies various instructional models and teaching strategies to use during instruction, so the students can practice using different kinds of manipulatives and find strategies that work for them. So far, the students are responding well with the lessons, and seem to be catching on to what fractions actually represent. I am anxious to see how they will do when we get to adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing fractions, as these tend to be more difficult tasks for students.
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You know often times with math you see students that if they dont get the first step they are completely off for the rest of the time. I think we as teachers in the area of Math need to take that time to see if our students are grasping the idea instead of just moving on to the next lesson or the next step. Math is such a subject that is about steps so correct application of those steps needs to be done. YOu discovered a way to correct your students lacking the correct steps and I think thats great! I liked this blog!
ReplyDeleteI am specializing in 5-9 English and am terrible at math. That is why I feel it is soo extremely important that we, as teachers, have an in-depth knowledge of pedagogy. Also, so often as teachers, we think that certain concepts are so basic and have a hard time explaining them to students. It is hard for us to understand why they aren't getting it,which is why i think it is great that you took the time to go back to the basics and brush up on your own skills. I think it is wonderful to possess this characteristic of the novice teacher so early in your teaching career.Good job!
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