Skills

Reflection
In order for a professional to demonstrate their skills in their area of
specialization planning is key. My area of specialization, Mathematics
education, is no different. I never take lightly the exchanges that take place
in the classroom and for this reason I believe I must always prepare before I
face students. In order to prepare the most basic tool is the lesson plan. For
every lesson each day a teacher should have a plan.
However, plans must not be in isolation they should be linked with each
other. Having a lesson plan has many advantages. One advantage which is
key to me is that plans allow me to be reflective of what is to come in the
classroom.

In deciding how content will be instructed teachers must cater

to the variety of learners in the average classroom. The class I was assigned
during student teaching had English Language Learners as well as special
needs students with IEPs. Every lesson plan I did had some form of
differentiation for example providing English Language Learners with a
translation of the lesson activities, class work, and homework.
When the time comes to implement a lesson most teachers rely on lecture as
the main form of interaction. I have been guilty of this practice. However,
exposure to research in the field as well as the student teaching experience
has encouraged me to adjust my strategies and rely less on lecture as a
means of interaction. I must admit, that students are a lot more receptive to

new material when the focus shifts from lecture. The teacher is not the focus
but students are at the center of the lesson. I employed activities such as
guided inquiry, think pair- share, and group work. The interactions which
took place during group work provided a lot of support for students. Both
struggling and proficient students benefited from these interactions. Most of
the students looked forward to these activities during my student teaching.
Group work had to be included in each lesson. I had to develop learning
tasks which had some element of group work. Most times I encourage
students to work in pairs. During classroom activities students did group
work while individual work was done as homework.
Technology is an important component of Mathematics education. The
graphing calculator is one of the main tools students use in the classroom to
help facilitate learning. The graphing calculator can be used in all content
areas taught in High school math. The calculator allows students to develop
the conceptual understanding without the frustrations of computational
processes they should have had as prior knowledge. In my student teaching
experienced I encouraged the use of the calculator. In the Algebra I course I
taught it was used in all my lessons. This allowed my lessons to flow
smoothly as students focused on the concepts to be learnt and not
necessarily on computations.
Assessment must be ongoing. In my experience, I focused a lot on formal
assessment. Usually in the form of an end of unit test. This course of study
has assisted me in developing my informal assessment skills as a teacher. I

no longer rely solely on my observations. I consider classroom tasks such as

Do Now and Exit slips provide invaluable information on students
preconceptions and misconceptions. I like the efficiency in such tasks. They
are about five minutes in duration and can guide a teacher on strategies to
employ to help improve learning. During student teaching I did utilize the
opportunities to develop my informal assessment skills but I hope to further
improve my skills over the years.
I have always promoted a positive learning environment in my teaching
experience. One main factor is mutual respect between teacher and student
as well as among students. With mutual respect students feel comfortable in
class and they are eager to participate and share their ideas in class. Mutual
respect also promotes a culture of error in the classroom. Such a culture is
essential for success in the classroom. Many students struggle with
Mathematics and lack confidence in the subject. A culture of error can help
change such attitudes. In my student teaching experience, I always
encourage students to make contributions in class. The focus is never on
having the right answer instead the focus is given your answer or
contribution explain how you arrive at it. Such a practice ensured that I
promoted a positive learning environment in my assigned class.
My student teaching experience allowed me to put in practice those teaching
strategies I did not really focus on in my past experience but are beneficial to
positive learning outcomes in the classroom.