For Future Reflection

Looking back on my teacher assisting placement a year from now, I would like to remember each of my students and the learning styles that worked best for each of them.  I feel like one of the most important parts of effective teaching is being able to find how each different student needs to be taught.  If I can find can recall how the characteristics of each of my students this semester and which teaching strategies worked best for each individual, I feel as though I can better reach my "current" students.  Obviously, not every quiet student will learn the same for example, but there may be a strategy that happens to be effective with a lot of quiet children.  So, if I can find this, I may use this strategy first for a quiet student that is new to the class.  This is something that certainly comes with teaching experience, but I feel as though the sooner I can relate students' traits and characteristics to the way they learn, I may accelerate my growth as a teacher.

Cyber-bullying

Definition: Cyber-bullying is the use of electronic communication to bully a person, typically by sending messages of an intimidating or threatening nature.
Description: Cyber-bullying  is similar to physical or verbal bullying as the victims are more likely to:

• Use drugs or alcohol
• Skip school/ be unwilling to attend school
• Experience in-person bullying
• Receive poor grades
• Have lower self-esteem
• Have more health problems.

However, cyber-bullying is different as it may occur 24/7, day or night, even if the student is at home alone.  Furthermore, the bully may remain anonymous and may post images or messages to a very wide audience.  Furthermore, it may be incredibly difficult for a victim to delete harassing images or messages after they had already been sent.  Cyber-bullying may hurt students, disrupt classrooms, and negatively impact a school's culture.

Statistic: 15% of high school students were electronically bullied in the past year according to the 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey.
Teaching Resource:  This link will take you to a great website with plenty of teaching resources.  It includes lessons that may be taught to students about cyber-bullying, ethics courses, and specific governmental laws against cyber-bullying.

Organizations

I researched the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM).  I found my information at http://www.nctm.org but you may also learn more from their twitter, @NCTM.  Full membership costs $90 a year but it costs an additional $27 for their research journal.  Student e-membership is $45 per year or $60 with the research journal.  Members receive access to the latest research and exclusive resources.  Additionally, there are over 70,000 math educators connected in the network.  The closest conference geographically is this November in Minneapolis.
I also researched the Michigan Council of Teachers of Mathematics.  I found my information at http://www.mictm.org.  They are not on twitter or instagram and their facebook page appears to get very little attention as it only has 16 likes and I didn't see any posts.  Membership costs $35 or $17.50 and connects teachers with strategies and practices directly related to teaching mathematics in Michigan.  Their publications are limited to their newsletter and a workbook.  They are having a conference in Macomb, Michigan Monday, the 28th.  Furthermore, their website is difficult to navigate and seems like it could use a great deal of maintenance.

Number Line Activity

Last week I developed a lesson for the seventh grade math class I'm assisting.  I had to fit the lesson between homework review and a quiz so I only had a 20 minute window to improve the students' conceptual understanding of the addition and subtraction of integers.  I heard about a walking number line in class a few weeks prior and I was really excited about the concept as I liked the idea of getting the students to physically act out the process of addition and subtraction.  However, given my time restraint, I didn't think I could develop a meaningful activity for the students in which they could all get up and walk up and down a number line.  So, after searching online, I found a blog-post about a teacher who minimized the idea of the walking number line so each student could visualize it on their own desks.  She accomplished this by creating a desk-sized number line and providing a little stick figure man for each student.  I used this template to develop my own activity.
So, after the students went over their homework, I began by reviewing what they already knew about the addition and subtraction of integers by asking one student to give me an addition problem, and another to answer it.  After we did a couple of these to remind students of what they learned, I began my activity, offering that it would give them some extra help before their quiz.  I explained that the stick figure they all had could be used to walk up and down the number line.  The figure would start wherever the first number is and then face the positive side for an addition problem or the negative side for a subtraction problem.  Lastly, the figure would walk forward the number of steps indicated by the second number.  If the second number was negative, the figure would walk backwards.  The number the figure ended on would be the answer to the problem.  Once they were finished, I would go over the answers and ask the class if they had any questions on any of them.
What I learned from this activity was the importance of checking students' understanding as I taught.  I feel like some students didn't fully comprehend the concept of the walking number line.  A solution would be to have a couple students come up to the front of the class and demonstrate how to solve a problem using the method I described.  This would allow me to walk students through the process, explaining common misconceptions in a way the whole class may see.  Further, if students still had questions after I explained the process to the whole class a few times, I can call on students who seem to grasp the concept to answer these questions to develop a student-centered discussion.
Additionally, I felt like I could have improved my timing and clarity in teaching this lesson.  I felt like it was a great educational experience for me and I know the experience helped me as the lesson went more smoothly and effectively after each hour that it was taught.  Furthermore, it was a great way for me to see visualize where my strengths and weaknesses currently are in my teaching.

Technology in my TA Classroom

As I mentioned earlier, I am currently doing my teacher assisting at Oakridge Middle School.  The purpose of this post is to identify the kinds of technology this school has to offer its students. So, I will begin with the technology that is in the classroom and continue with what the rest of the middle school has to offer. 
In the classroom:

• One cart with 40 Chromebooks.
• Teacher's desktop
• Overhead projector (connected to teacher's desktop)
• Elmo (connected to teacher's desktop and displayed over projector)

In school:

• Two more Chromebook carts
• Computer lab in library (30 desktops)

What is listed above is the extent of the technology the students are provided in the classroom.  They are not permitted to bring their own devices into the classroom as even their phones must be left in their lockers while in class. 

In the classroom the students use the laptops to do Delta Math, which is an online assessment program.  For this program, the entire class takes the same test and students have either 1 minute, 45 seconds, or 30 seconds to answer each question.  After answering the question, the student must wait for the time to pass before moving on to the next question to ensure the entire class is moving at the same pace.  For each question, the teacher reads aloud the prompt on the students' screen and sets the timer.  There is usually close to 40 problems, so it typically takes about a half hour to take these assessments.  Additionally, these tests are required for all grades K-8 to identify which students need extra attention in math.

Below is the stated "Technology Vision" for Oakridge posted on their website here, 

"Oakridge Public Schools will integrate a technology-rich environment that transparently accelerates learning, enabling our students to flourish in a competitive global economy." 

I believe that a goal of the Delta Math program described above is to provide this "technology-rich environment" so that even the students who come from homes without computers may find themselves proficient in their use.

Classroom Layout

The classroom is laid out in a very typical fashion.  The rectangular desks are aligned in a 4x4 array with two chairs at each desk.  There is a whiteboard in the back of the classroom acknowledging the assigned homework for each period.  Also in the back of the room is a bookshelf full of star wars and super hero figurines and memorabilia.  The side of the room with the door also contains a student center, where students may find staplers, paper clips, and scrap paper.  There is also a shelving system for the third hour class to place their classwork.

About Me

Hello, I am Brian Normandin and I am going into secondary education with a math major and history minor.  I grew up in Holton, MI and graduated from Western Michigan Christian High School.  I am currently doing my teacher assisting at Oakridge Middle School.I have a passion for basketball and hope to coach it at the high school level.  I am a big fan of the Indiana Pacers and also root for the Detroit Lions and the University of Michigan.  The extent of my knowledge about planning and using technology in the classroom probably doesn't exceed what I learned in my "Teaching Middle Grades Math" class in which we learned about programs like geogebra tube that provide visual representations for geometric concepts.  Below is a picture of me with my siblings and baby niece.