Week+4

Monday's Class:

This was an interesting class because it took me outside my comfort zone in terms of technology tools at our disposal that I am not very familiar with. I'm really looking forward to the other ideas that the rest of the class came up with for using those other programs, so that I can best maximize my time devoted to them, knowing their best capabilities. Even better than that, I can give my students assignments on learning how to use some of those tools, so that they can teach me how to teach other students. We have discussed in class how much more familiar and adept they are with technology than we are. Asking them to help me can also give a lead in to the respect that I have for their strengths and interests. I'm still kind of unsure about the use of tools such as the Kahn Academy and Google Videos. I feel that most of the concepts in the curriculum I have enough of a grasp on to be able to explain it step by step. My concern in lesson planning is much more geared towards making it interactive, engaging, and fun for the students. I will continue to look for some useful videos, but I have not found it very helpful thus far.

Wednesday's Class:

I feel that the activities we did today are very representative of what we will be expected to do as teachers. Coming up with a script to explain a concept is going to be several of our lessons, either to the class or a small group who needs some extra help. Luckily, I think is a strength of mine because of my strong math knowledge. While I recognize that in many situations my success in math can be a drawback, understanding the concepts thoroughly enough to be able to explain it in multiple ways will hopefully help me be able to reach a way to explain a concept to a struggling student. My multiple opportunities tutoring, both classmates and as a part time job has also given me lots of experience in this instance. The video we watched before coming to class was very enlightening. I think encouraging students to practice stronger problem solving skills will cement their math understanding because they will have to have the knowledge themselves to apply to the situation. If they are able to complete the problem, or at least demonstrate the ability to understand the steps required, they can be just as successful (if not more so) as a student who can simply apply the math to each basic, one-step problem presented to them.