How Can I Respond To My Reflection On Your Personal Growth?
Samantha Meyer
MATH 334
Reflection 5
Date of Observation: Friday, May 1, 2015
Grade Level Observed: 4th grade
Math concept covered: Multiplying fractions using a number line
Mentor teacher’s name: Jessica Ross
Intern (your) name: Samantha Meyer
Reflection 5: Reflecting on your personal growth
This semester I interned at Hawthorne Elementary School in Ms. Ross’ fourth grade classroom. Each week I observed the class for two and a half hours and participated in helping instruct the math lesson. While at my math internship, I have learned tools to help me become an effective elementary mathematics teacher. In my opinion, this internship has been helpful but I believe it could have been even more beneficial. Compared to my internship in level one and science, interning at Hawthorne has been much less involved and hands on. Before starting this internship, I was very nervous because I have never taught fourth grade before. I was even more nervous because math has always been my weakest subject and I was very nervous to teach fourth grade math. This internship has …show more content…
made me realize that it is okay to be nervous, but as long as you love to teach it is always a good experience no mater what subject or grade. This internship has taught me the importance of patience, classroom management, differentiation, and effective ways to teach fourth grade mathematics. Ms. Ross teaches the lowest level of fourth grade math at Hawthorne Elementary. This was definitely a struggle many days for her, the students, and myself. The students’ struggled with most topics and their bad behavior made teaching the class a lot more difficult. I believe all of the challenge this internship had made me a stronger teacher, more diverse, and I learned a lot. Ms. Ross taught me the importance of planning. She always planned her lesson from the beginning to the end in advance. This is extremely important because this helps the lesson run smoothly. Ms. Ross was always prepared and moved smoothly from one activity to the next. She always prepared her charts, flip charts, questions, and math stations in advance. Planning also makes sure the students know exactly what the objective and expectations are for the lesson. This internship has also taught me that effective mathematic teachers must know the content knowledge and be able to successfully instruct it to the students. I have learned as an elementary teacher, this is important in every subject. As a math teacher, the content can be confusing and difficult for students so as a teacher it is critical to be knowledgeable and confident on the content knowledge in order to effectively instruct the students. The students will not fully understand instruction if the teacher is confused and does not fully understand the content. Ms. Ross loves math and minored in math, so she taught me how to be confident and understand the material in order to teach effectively through my observations. Assessment is a characteristic of teaching that is diverse.
There are so many different types of ways to assess students and Ms. Ross has demonstrated this in her math class. I have learned it is possible to assess students in math through observation, group work, stations, worksheets, games, activities, tests, exit slips, and state exams. Ms. Ross has used all of these different types of assessment. I have learned it is important to assess students in a variety of ways. The students do not need to always know they are technically being assessed as well because it is important to not only test students under stressful environments (like a test). I have observed when students are told they are being grades and they are more stressed and nervous and sometimes do poorly. Assessment is definitely an important part of teaching, but I have learned a variety of ways to assess students in mathematics
class. After coming to end of my internship at Hawthorne Elementary School in Ms. Ross’ class there are still a few areas I wish I was able to focus on and learn about. These areas are diversity, differentiation, and classroom management. Hawthorne Elementary is a diverse school and I have never attended or taught at a school like Hawthorne. I would like to learn how to in the most effective way in a diverse environment. Another area I wish to focus on is differentiation. Compared to my internship last semester, my students at Hawthorne Elementary required much more differentiation when learning, working on assignments, and through assessments. I have not personally had a lot of experience with providing differentiation for my students during my lesson, so I would like to learn more ways I can provide differentiation that can help my students learn effectively. Classroom management is also another area I would like to focus on and an area that surprised me this semester. Last semester, I was interning at Franklin Elementary School and I learned so much about classroom management. Even though classroom management is not directly related to mathematics, it is an extremely important aspect of teaching and of the classroom. If a teacher’s classroom management is weak, then their students learning and their instruction are not as effective. I was surprised at my internship this semester because the classroom management in Ms. Ross’ classroom was very weak. The students were very misbehaved, which effects the classroom environment, instruction, and student learning. The poor classroom management led to students becoming distracted and unfocused. This was surprising because the classroom management never really improved as the semester continued, which was unfortunate. Overall, I had a great experience at Hawthorne Elementary School in Ms. Ross’ classroom and learned a lot about becoming an effective mathematics teacher.
MATH 334
Reflection 5
Date of Observation: Friday, May 1, 2015
Grade Level Observed: 4th grade
Math concept covered: Multiplying fractions using a number line
Mentor teacher’s name: Jessica Ross
Intern (your) name: Samantha Meyer
Reflection 5: Reflecting on your personal growth
This semester I interned at Hawthorne Elementary School in Ms. Ross’ fourth grade classroom. Each week I observed the class for two and a half hours and participated in helping instruct the math lesson. While at my math internship, I have learned tools to help me become an effective elementary mathematics teacher. In my opinion, this internship has been helpful but I believe it could have been even more beneficial. Compared to my internship in level one and science, interning at Hawthorne has been much less involved and hands on. Before starting this internship, I was very nervous because I have never taught fourth grade before. I was even more nervous because math has always been my weakest subject and I was very nervous to teach fourth grade math. This internship has …show more content…
made me realize that it is okay to be nervous, but as long as you love to teach it is always a good experience no mater what subject or grade. This internship has taught me the importance of patience, classroom management, differentiation, and effective ways to teach fourth grade mathematics. Ms. Ross teaches the lowest level of fourth grade math at Hawthorne Elementary. This was definitely a struggle many days for her, the students, and myself. The students’ struggled with most topics and their bad behavior made teaching the class a lot more difficult. I believe all of the challenge this internship had made me a stronger teacher, more diverse, and I learned a lot. Ms. Ross taught me the importance of planning. She always planned her lesson from the beginning to the end in advance. This is extremely important because this helps the lesson run smoothly. Ms. Ross was always prepared and moved smoothly from one activity to the next. She always prepared her charts, flip charts, questions, and math stations in advance. Planning also makes sure the students know exactly what the objective and expectations are for the lesson. This internship has also taught me that effective mathematic teachers must know the content knowledge and be able to successfully instruct it to the students. I have learned as an elementary teacher, this is important in every subject. As a math teacher, the content can be confusing and difficult for students so as a teacher it is critical to be knowledgeable and confident on the content knowledge in order to effectively instruct the students. The students will not fully understand instruction if the teacher is confused and does not fully understand the content. Ms. Ross loves math and minored in math, so she taught me how to be confident and understand the material in order to teach effectively through my observations. Assessment is a characteristic of teaching that is diverse.
There are so many different types of ways to assess students and Ms. Ross has demonstrated this in her math class. I have learned it is possible to assess students in math through observation, group work, stations, worksheets, games, activities, tests, exit slips, and state exams. Ms. Ross has used all of these different types of assessment. I have learned it is important to assess students in a variety of ways. The students do not need to always know they are technically being assessed as well because it is important to not only test students under stressful environments (like a test). I have observed when students are told they are being grades and they are more stressed and nervous and sometimes do poorly. Assessment is definitely an important part of teaching, but I have learned a variety of ways to assess students in mathematics
class. After coming to end of my internship at Hawthorne Elementary School in Ms. Ross’ class there are still a few areas I wish I was able to focus on and learn about. These areas are diversity, differentiation, and classroom management. Hawthorne Elementary is a diverse school and I have never attended or taught at a school like Hawthorne. I would like to learn how to in the most effective way in a diverse environment. Another area I wish to focus on is differentiation. Compared to my internship last semester, my students at Hawthorne Elementary required much more differentiation when learning, working on assignments, and through assessments. I have not personally had a lot of experience with providing differentiation for my students during my lesson, so I would like to learn more ways I can provide differentiation that can help my students learn effectively. Classroom management is also another area I would like to focus on and an area that surprised me this semester. Last semester, I was interning at Franklin Elementary School and I learned so much about classroom management. Even though classroom management is not directly related to mathematics, it is an extremely important aspect of teaching and of the classroom. If a teacher’s classroom management is weak, then their students learning and their instruction are not as effective. I was surprised at my internship this semester because the classroom management in Ms. Ross’ classroom was very weak. The students were very misbehaved, which effects the classroom environment, instruction, and student learning. The poor classroom management led to students becoming distracted and unfocused. This was surprising because the classroom management never really improved as the semester continued, which was unfortunate. Overall, I had a great experience at Hawthorne Elementary School in Ms. Ross’ classroom and learned a lot about becoming an effective mathematics teacher.