Math- Final Thoughts

Today was our last math class in the program and I can’t help doing some reflection on what I have learned.

While I could make a long list of all the things I have learned thus far, that would be too time consuming and difficult. It is true that we learned many ‘academic’ things, but we also learned about our teacher’s experiences as a teacher, and those (which I consider the most valuable) would be difficult to retell and wouldn’t protect her privacy. Therefore, rather than list everything I have learned, I’d like to talk about the main ideas that resonated with me the most.

As teachers, it’s important to make connections to our students’ prior knowledge. Students are not empty vessels. They come into our classrooms filled with valuable academic and cultural experiences that we should build on. We want to encourage students to use their long term memory. This way, they make connections to the knowledge that’s already in their heads. It’s not simply about teaching kids procedures, but about getting them to build on knowledge. We should encourage students to walk us (the teachers) through what they’re doing because this will allow them to evaluate their own procedures on their own.

With this in mine, it’s important to remember that our classrooms are systems. The students in our room bring many things along with them. They, along with the teacher, bring their personal lives and everything that’s going on into the classroom. This is what makes it challenging for teachers. She has to be able to work with the students, show them that she cares, and still get through the curriculum.

Finally, through one of our teacher’s personal experiences, I learned the true value of taking the time to ‘research’ your classroom. She talked about a situation where she documented data on her class for a certain amount of weeks, keeping track of who she asked questions to and what she asked them. This allowed her to get raw data as to why her students’ test scores were so low. This story blew my mind. Despite all the things teachers have to do while they teach, she took the time (she cared enough) to gather this information because she was determined to find out what she was doing wrong, as well as find a better way to teach her kids. This story exemplifies what a good teacher is: one who is dedicated, persistent, and caring. This was a great class.