Comments on Group Micro Teaching

Class comments

Most of the students commented that the lesson was clear, well structured with a good pace that was easy to follow. The instructors were able to grab the attention of the big group. The activities were engaging and participatory. One of the students commented that the use of card board as opposed to a diagram in a book or on the board was very helpful during problem solving. Some comments were also made regarding things that need to be improved. The class mentioned that the instructors should project their voice while explaining the lesson to the whole group. The class also thought that the introduction was too simple for grade 9 students and that more examples from real life situations or variety of problems would have been more helpful.

What I have learned

The activity was very beneficial for me as we are getting closer to the short practicum. I got the chance to work on a lesson plan and think about the problems, activities and the manipulative materials that I need to use for my lesson. I appreciate the opportunity to be able to present the lesson to a group of students and get their feedback. I also got the chance to experience the difference in instruction between addressing the whole class and working with small groups.

The feedback from the class was a major part of the learning process, mainly the constructive criticism, because it focused on the areas that needed to be improved. One of the suggestions was to connect the lesson to more real life experiences. I do agree with the need to practice that in our classrooms. Math would make more sense to students when it is connected to real life experiences as well as to other subjects learned at school. 

LESSON PLAN ON AREAS OF RECTANGLES,CIRCLES AND SQUARES

	What	How long	Materials used
Bridge	Review the definitions of rectangles, squares and circles. Take several responses to get an idea of what the students know.	2 min
Learning Objective	Students will calculate the area of a rectangle, a square and a circle. Students will solve problems involving the areas of rectangles, squares or circles.
Teaching Objective	Students will be able to solve problems individually and cooperatively. Students will be able to clearly and logically communicate a solution to a problem and the process used to solve it.
Pre-test	Ask the students about the formula of areas of rectangles, squares and circles.	2 min
Participatory learning	Ask the Students to solve a problem that involves the calculations of the area of a rectangle and a circle combined. Ask students to describe in words the steps that they will need to take to obtain the answer. Students will work in small groups to find the areas by using the formulas for the area of a rectangle and of a circle.	5 min	Rectangle shaped cardboards with a cut-out circle in the middle.
Post-test	Ask students to solve a similar problem involving many circles marked on a rectangle. Compare results with other groups.	5 min	Another cardboard with many circles marked on a rectangle

Summary

Give overview

1 min

Thinking Mathematically Chap2,3

There are many ideas from these two chapters that I would use with my students during problem solving. the authors raised a very interesting thought when they mentioned that, against what some people might think, using concrete materials when solving a mathematics problem do not make a student less of a mathematician. I do agree with this point and I would strongly agree with using manipulative materials whenever it is possible in a classroom. I support the belief that a student choosing the appropriate materials to help solve a problem is part of the process of finding the solution.

Another approach that I would like to share with my students is to make them feel at ease when being stuck and help them to be aware that being stuck is part of the challenge. I want them to understand that it is only when they are solving an easy problem, they don’t get stuck. That reminds me of Vygotsky’s ‘zone of proximal development’ which the space between what we know and what we are about to learn and how learning happens within that space. When the students realize that being stuck is part of the process solving a problem, then they will not get frustrated or discouraged and they will put more effort to solve the problem.

I also liked the idea of extension which is something we are already doing in our EDCP 342. I think working on extending the problem gives the chance for students to pose their own question and challenge themselves.

Another procedure I would like to apply in my classroom is having students reviewing the process they used to solve a problem by using a different method, if possible. I would like to add here that after reviewing their solution, I would like them to look at the final answer and ask themselves “Does this make sense?”

Who gave words their meanings??

Some words could have a good or a bad meaning

I CHOOSE the word divide and the word zero.

Divide could mean a separation or a split

But, it could mean sharing or generosity

The word zero could mean loss or failure

Yet, It could make one a millionaire on a lottery ticket

But what happens when we join the two words together?

I CHOOSE the sentence divide by zero

Is it double the bad or the goodness?

Or maybe neither

Divide by zero means neither good nor bad

And has no definition in any dictionary

Because simply

Divide by zero is undefined

time writing

Divide
divide between two country I accept it in a way and don't accept it n another. divide a pizza to eat it divide the number of candy among friends devision of labor that is applicable anywhere even at home where the mom is responsible to do things and play role and the dad play another role and the kids if they are older or younger even in classrooms or at work or a society now what else devision is like yes f course mathematics learning division in math classrooms with understanding or long division where students don't understand what they are doing just finding the right answer. if we start by understanding first it would work better for later classes and older kids.

Zero
zero could mean nothing but also could mean a lot zero when added to a number it is the number multiplied by ten so no matter how people might think that zero is nothing it could have a great value and that is why we should not judge people by how they look and we should not underestimate what they can accomplish because some things might go unnoticed however they might be crucial what else I like the number zero because its a subtle however very powerful number

My response to Simmt article

I do group tutoring for high school students and when I read the article I was surprised and excited that most of the suggestions the author has, agree with the way I teach my students.

In our group, when we are solving problems, I never mention anything about a right or a wrong answer. I ask one of the students to explain the process of their thinking and ask the rest of the group if they agree or disagree and leave it to discussion. Most of the time, when a student have a wrong answer, they end up correcting themselves while they are thinking about their thinking. At the same time, they share their ideas, listen to each others’ point of views and come to realise that the same problem could have different ways of solving it.

Another technique I use after discussing a lesson, is to ask students to pose their own problems and solve them themselves. They extremely enjoy the process and, most of the time, they pose challenging problems for themselves and for the group to solve.

I support Simmt argument and I believe that our role as educators is to help students develop into independent thinkers that pose and solve problems and are not afraid to share their ideas and justify them while listening to and respecting each other point of views.