June 28, 2010- Coming to an end.....

When I first entered EDEL 433, I had very little understanding of student thinking when it came to mathematics. In order to teach mathematics effectively I now believe that teachers really have to value how their students think and why. It’s crucial to ask students how they got an answer to a problem because this allows teachers to understand more of how they thought about the problem and what kind of strategy they used to come up with their answer. When I’m helping my 1st graders with math in my practicum classroom, I catch myself asking my students how they got their answer to problems. It’s really neat to see what kind of strategies they use to solve problems now that I understand all of the different strategies. I really enjoyed watching all of the kid videos every class. I was amazed at most of the students and how they thought about math. I honestly didn’t think that 1st graders would be able to solve some of the problems that the teacher asked them. It was amazing to watch them. I really enjoyed this class and I’m sad that it ended but excited to go out into the teaching world and practice what I’ve been taught! Thank you Dr. Shih!!

My blog grade= 2 points

Monday-June 21, 2010

Today in my praticum class I worked with my small group of students. We worked on counting play money. The students that I am working on are having a really difficult time understanding the values of the coins. After I worked them for about 15 minutes, they seemed to have a better understanding. Tomorrow, I will be placing some coins on a mat and having the students show me a different way to make the value of coins that I show them. After they show me their value, I will have them count the coins that they placed on their mat.

Wednesday-June 16, 2010

Today we practiced for our manipulative performance test on Monday. I am nervous about taking it. I am most nervous about having to write the word problems. In my praticum classroom I am still working with a small group of students. We are still working on subtraction. Today we started working with double digits. We used unifix cubes and marker boards to solve problems. They really seem to be starting to understand!

Monday-June 14, 2010

Today we took two quizzes. One was about strategy solutions for addition and subtraction and the other was identifying multiplication and division problems. I think that I did well. I might have problems with the next quiz for multiplication and division strategies. I don't understand them as well as I did for addition and subtraction. I am continuing working with my group of students in my praticum classroom. We are still working on subtraction strategies. Today I played a subtraction game with them. They really seem like they are starting to improve. Next week, I'm going to work with them on counting money.

Wednesday-June 9, 2010

Wednesday's class was fun. Today we got to complete math centers that teachers might use in a classroom. I think that centers are a great addition to the classroom and I really think that kids like to complete them as well. It gives the kids an opportunity to get out of their seat and complete work with others in the classroom. In my praticum classroom, she conducts centers and it seems to run quite well. Right now, my class has a 4th of July theme so within their centers, they have activities that relate to math and english pertaining to the 4th of July. One of the centers involves the kids putting graphing fireworks and determining what kind of firework a picture has the most of. They seem to be having fun completing the activities.

Monday-June 7, 2010

Today we took our first math quiz of the semester. I believe that I did quite well on the quiz. The material is starting to make sense to me and I see myself thinking of math in a whole new light. In my praticum class, I am working with 4 individual students to help them with addition and subtraction. Today, I gave them unifix cubes to help them solve flashcards that I showed them. As I watched them solve the problems with the unifix cubes, it was neat to see that they were using some of the strategies that we discussed in class. 3 of the students used the cubes to direct model and one of the students used a counting strategy. I'm looking forward to continue working with these students and see if they show any improvement before my semester ends in the classroom.

Wednesday-June 2, 2010

Today's class was both interesting and meaningful. We have our first quiz on Monday and I feel like I'm prepared well enough to do well. We watched a 1st grade student perform a word problem. It took the student a long time to work the problem out but she finally got it. I think that it is very important to allow students time to think about the problem and work it out by themselves instead of simply giving the student the anwser to the problem. This allows the student to think about what they're doing. There are many teachers who give the anwsers to students right away when they see that the students are struggling. The students are not learning anything this way.

Wednesday-May 26, 2010

Today in class we found out the solution to the math problem squares we have been working on. The only problems that I put in order was the first problem. The solution suprised me. Some of the problems were ranked harder when I thought they were easier. When Dr. Shih showed us why they were ranked in the specific order that they were suppose to be, it started to make sense. As a future teacher, I'm going to have to pay attention to the wording of problems and understand that result unknown problems are the easiest and start unknown problems are the hardest.

Monday-May 24, 2010

Today's class was challenging. We have been working on putting word problems in order according to their level of difficulty. This process has really made me have to think about the way in which children might solve word problems. It made me think of word problems in a whole new way. I really had to pay attention to the wording of the problems and look for words that may confuse children. I like how our professor does not give us the anwser right away but instead makes us try to figure out the problem for ourself. This process frustrated me at first, but it really has opened my mind. In class today, we also watched short video clips that involved children solving word problems. I really liked the videos and they were very benificial to me instead of simply reading about the strategy that they were using in the textbook. I'm looking forward to watching more kids solve math problems this semester.

Wednesday's class-May 20, 2010

Today I got to meet my professor for my elementary math methods course. He seemed like a very interesting teacher with a well experienced background teaching mathmatics. I think that he will have a lot to offer to the course in a very short amount of time. I liked how he talked about his background and why he chose to be a professor. I also liked how he really made us think about ways to solve problems. This was hard for me because I never really think about the steps that I take to solve a problem. This is important because if I'm going to teach someone else how to do math, I need to first be able to learn how to explain how to solve a problem. I am very excited to begin the semester with our teacher and I hope to gain a lot of useful tools and information that I can take with me to the classroom this semester.

Math Autobiography

My name is Jenna Bobinchak and I am originally from Sheridan, Wyoming. I enjoyed math when I was in elementary and junior high school but began to dislike math when I entered high school. I like algebra more than I like geometry and I always struggled with fractions when I was younger. I enjoyed taking math 122 and 123 and I'm excited to learn how to teach math to elementary students. This semester I am completing my praticum 2 experience at Batterman Elementary School. I have a 1st grade class and my mentor teacher has been teaching for about 30 years! The kids are very well behaved and love their teacher!