Stepping into Teaching: Ashley Trevino

1.)  Passion and excellence were the initial impressions I received from the current school I am located.   The school is very structured and organized.  Students, parents and staff are involved with different projects that take place during the school year; and parents are not afraid to help out with these events.  Teachers and staff have warm positive feelings towards children, both in their class and outside their class.  These staff members however are not the only ones who encourage their students and peers. The principal here at this elementary takes time to greet the students of the schools and encourages his staff members to strive for excellence. 

a.     Hanging on the walls and in the halls are calendars with upcoming events, PTO meeting times and date, and school district information.  Students’ works are displayed all along the walls in the hallway and on the windows.  

b.     The school does try to be diverse and make the students culturally aware of other cultures present (both in and out of the school).  There are some culture holidays are celebrated by the school (such as a dinner or play) and other culture holidays or information is discussed in class. 

2.)  A normal math time would look like this: students come in and sit at the table to work on “Daily 4” or problem of the day.  “Daily 4” usually consists of one digit multiplication, four digit addition, three digit subtraction, and the last section is usually a question/problem over a topic discussed in the classed.  While students work, the teacher usually watches over and assists them in a questions or problems they may have by scaffolding or reminding them different strategies they have learned.  Sometimes “multiplication stories” are read and gone over with the students after “Daily 4” is finished.

a.     At this moment, the topics being discussed in class are: placement value, decimals, number order, multiplication, four-digit addition, and three-digit subtractions (borrowing). 

b.     Solving problems, on an individual white board for each student, and verbally explaining to the teacher how they solved the problem or why they did a certain technique keeps the students engaged.  When students try something new, the teacher encourages for them to explain their thoughts and uses a “yes, and” statement instead of “yes, but” or “no”. 

c.      During this time, I am usually around the students watching them work and helping them if they have trouble.  I also encourage students to explain and teach me how they solved the problems.  

3.)  My teacher will try to keep her students on the same levels as their peers or the curriculum level, however she will accommodate or modify the lesson if students are not understanding, or if re-teach needs to happen.   I agree and like her methods of teaching because if the students can work at the same levels as their peers or the curriculum, then we should push them towards that with accommodations and modifications as needed. 

4.)  I am worried about how to correct my students without shutting their exploration down. At times their methods or strategies may not work, and I don’t want to discourage them from trying again.  Explaining terms and assuming students know or understand what I am talking about worries me, especially if they do not have a clue as to what I am saying.  Sometimes explaining is difficult because even though the term, topic, or strategy may be a simple concept, I tend to use too many words to try and help someone understand. However, sometimes confusion instead of understanding is the outcome.   At this moment I feel like I am trying to find my own math identity and wonder if I ever will.  Then again, maybe I just haven’t realized that I do have a math identity and just need to time, like my students, to explore it.