EISNER: Three curricula all schools teach

     Eisner points out that values "are expressed in the kinds of illustrations that textbooks contain, in the language that is employed, and in emphasis that is given to the characters that constitute the stories that are read".  I find this interesting and I connect it to something I learned in psychology in terms of schemas.  Growing up, to me, curriculum meant the topics and content taught in classrooms.  New information is funneled into the minds of the students and that is the end of it.  However, in psychology class, I learned that there are two types of learning related to new information.  There is assimilation and accommodation.  New information either gets categorized into existing schema and possibly changes it or new schemas are created.

    The BC curriculum is split into different components that relate to each other.  The curriculum is based around the core competencies and describe the intellectual, personal, and social and emotional proficiencies students need for deeper learning.  Content is only one part of the curriculum and describes what students will know.  In any good learning environment, there will be more that just content learned.  Eisner's point about the values learned in schools can be seen in the big ideas that students will understand and the curriculum competencies that show what students will do and how they apply the skills learned. 

Battleground Schools Reflection

   I am surprised that the reading mentions that "there is no shame" in being "incapable of doing and understanding mathematics" and that it comes with positive social valuation.  The article mentions that during the progressivist reform, the reputation of math was that it taught students procedures to get to an answer but provided no explanation about the "why".  Therefore, many people thought of math to be useless in real life.

    John Dewey believe that there is a "split between knowing and doing, or abstract and applied knowledge".  He states that students "must engage in doing mathematics as part of a reflective inquiry" in order to become more knowledgeable.  This was during the early 1900s and I am surprised that the idea of inquiry and curiosity in mathematics for school mathematics was examined.  I feel that the current curriculum has only begun to incorporate more inquiry and project-based approaches in math classes.  Therefore, it has taken a long time to integrate these practices into classrooms. 

Oct. 21, 2021 Pro-d-day + Reflection

    After doing the TPI activity in our 342 class, I noticed that I did not see strong connections between mathematics and social issues.  I was glad to see presentations on social issues in the BCAMT conference.  

    The presentation I watched was "Challenged Accepted!  Use Project Based Learning To Explore Social Justice" by Carl Oliver.  Carl shared various activities that could be integrated into math classes and presented different frameworks that made sense to me once they were brought up.  

    The general outline of creating a project-based learning environment encompassing social justice is situation, exploration, and presentation.  I found it interesting that Carl shared Gutierrez's framework of rehumanizing math through connecting students to math by ways of history and culture.  It engages students and encourages them to think about themselves participating in making math in the real world.  Next is exploration by means of describing accurately a situation, making a prediction, designing something, or creating a product.  Lastly is presentation where students are given choice and autonomy to inquire and be creative.  

    I am surprised that these types of projects, that I have only seen arts, English, or social studies classes, can be so applicable in a math context.  I am excited to learn more about it and potentially use these ideas in my classroom.

Probability Microteaching Reflection + Feedback

Feedback from peers

Reflection:

While doing the lessons plan, I found this teaching activity to be a bit confusing at times because I wasn't sure how much content we could fit into 15 minutes.  The BC curriculum has many big ideas and curricular competencies and just focusing on one or two was a bit of a challenge for me.  

For the presentation itself, it did not feel rushed- something that I was anticipating.  For myself, I could have spoken louder and take more time between thoughts and explanations to check if the students understood.  I could do this by asking more concept check questions.

Microteaching: Workplace 10 Experimental Probability

 Lesson Plan

Group: Alan, Do Hoon, Michelle

Rhythm Microteaching Reflection

Rhythm microteaching peer feedback

Reflection:

    I appreciate the feedback I received from my peers.  It helped me realize my strengths and weaknesses when teaching with a time constraint.  From experience, I know I have difficulty estimating how much time an activity will take and choosing a topic that I could fit into 10 minutes for this microteaching was a challenge.  With more practice, I believe I will be able to better gauge the appropriate amount of material as well as the appropriate difficulty of the material.

TPI Results + Reflection

 

Talk about any surprises in your results

    I am surprised by my social reform results.  I do believe in preparing students to be engaged in and participate in society.  I was thinking in terms of teaching in math and I couldn't see any connections between the two.

Write about any interesting questions the TPI results raise for you as a new teacher.

    I wonder about my results for social reform and how I can integrate that into my math teachable subject.  I will need to do research on what social reform is referring to and find ways I could address those topics in math class.

Microteaching: Rhythm in Music

Lesson Plan

Powerpoint