Constant Movement

Day Two- May 11th 8am-3:30

The day started with a cup of coffee and ended with a larger cup of coffee. This seems to be a theme on my senior project. Teaching is draining, but also fueling for me. I love the excitement of a kid understanding the topic, but the amount of time you spend on them comprehending it drains you if you are trying hard enough. This balance is something I am still working on.

Since this is day two I am still trying to get into the swing of things. From observing more today I have found the typical class schedule to look like this; start with homework grading and review, then re-teach concept to make sure they understand, then teach new concept, then give a little time for them to start homework and ask questions. This schedule is important for me to know because I soon will be planning and teaching a whole class on my own. If I want to succeed I should stick to what the kids know and understand. Structure is very important when teaching 7th and 8th grade students. Today the first group of 7th graders re-learned how to solve two step equations, but this time with a more visual approach.

What you are seeing here is what Mr. Sperling calls "Lab Gear". The sheet is separated in the middle by a line which is the "=" sign of the equation. The blue bricks are "X" or the variable you are solving for. The yellow cubes are the constants. This is a very useful tool in teaching these kids because it is visual and shows them why we can take one number and move it to the other side of the equation. This is difficult to articulate really, but what you are looking at on the sheet is the equation 2x=6. The answer they would get to is x=3. The advanced 7th grade algebra class continues to amaze me with their understanding of anything we throw at them.

Mr. Sperling and I decided that they were ready for the quadratic formula and learning about the importance of the discriminant. They both understood and quickly could put it into context. The 8th grade class had a quiz today on solving systems using the elimination method. During the quiz I popped over to the science lab to check in with the science teacher leading the trip to six flags. He wanted us to teach the kids about the law of sines, which is definitely not an algebra concept, but rather a trigonometry concept. Regardless, I managed to get dragged into teaching two of the classes the law of sines and how we will be using it on the field trip. It was my first real teaching experience at LFCDS and it went very well. I attended a math department meeting, which wasn't too interesting, but needed to be done. Then I came lunch where I had to monitor the kids as they ate, which was a very weird experience because I remember being in the kid's shoes and being frustrated with the teachers hovering over us telling us not to goof off. Ah, the memories of being a student here come to me almost every minute whether it be a story told by an old teacher of mine or just simply walking through the halls. After lunch we had the advanced 8th grade class, which consisted of showing them how to use completing the square when the "a" term is not equal to one.

The day ended with a meeting with Mr Bullard and Mr. Sperling talking about graduation speakers and speakers for the sports award ceremony. I unfortunately have some bad news for my few readers! I won't be going to six flags tomorrow because of the weather, but instead we will be going next wednesday. This is good and bad for Mr. Sperling and me. We had to rush to create plans for tomorrow's classes, but we do get more time to introduce the topic of the law of sines. Another great day at the school that taught me for 11 years of my life!