IPT 301 Reflection 3 Observational Reflection

Observational Reflection

For my observational reflection, I decided to view a lesson performed by my cohort teacher Mr. Felt. The focus of the lesson was the "true" introduction of division: its sign, its number sentence, and what the number sentence means. I was told that the children had been working with division problem all year but was simply refereeing to it as grouping (which is accurate).
To begin his lesson, Mr. Felt put a math question on the overhead, which he does every day. The question stated, "You and two of your friends have 9 cookies. If you share the cookies evenly, how many cookies will each friend get?" Mr. Felt usually lets the children figure these problems out on their own and this case was no different. The children are allowed to use math manipulative if they choose but none felt it necessary for this question. After five minutes or so, the students are allowed to work with a buddy to check their answers, help each other out, etc. After about seven minutes, he called the students over to the "OCC," which is a sitting area the students gather to to share lessons, ideas, etc. After he had brought the students over to the OCC, Mr. Felt grabbed a portable white board and explained that this grouping question had a sign and proceeded to draw the division sign. Many of the students agreed with him because many of them knew what division was. He asked what the sign meant and about one third of the class had a raised hand and was ready to answer the question. After a brief discussion about grouping, he had a couple of students come down to the white board and draw their solution to the morning problem. After a student draws his or her strategy, they are to explain it to the rest of the class. After explanation, the students ask questions and try to learn from each other. This was very much a social learning situation. Students were sharing their knowledge with each other for the betterment of the class. The teacher was there every step of the way, guiding their ideas and asking questions that he felt needed to be asked. The students talked about grouping (what it was, how it was done), they talked about the division sign and what it meant, and finally they talked about the number sentence that followed the morning question. After quickly assessing the students through a couple of questions in which they had to agree or disagree, Mr. Felt ended the lesson and moved the students to the next area for the day.
Much of this lesson had a sociocultural perspective: The children were engaged in discussion with a more knowledgeable member of society and they learned through their community. The students used cultural tools in the symbol systems of mathematics (the division sign) and used real tools to help solve these problems. The teacher used the zone of proximal development throughout this lesson in how he guided the students through questions and allowed the students to perform the teaching themselves if they were capable in doing so. The students are encouraged to work with partners, are gathered together in a very social area, are encouraged to ask questions and teach one another, all of which are social by nature and was the method to this lesson.
Besides the sociocultural aspect, there was a good amount of Blooms taxonomy involved. Children were in constantly found in levels analysis through evaluation. Children were in analysis as they broke down the division sign and what it meant, when they broke down the morning question into its parts, and the number sentence into what it meant. They were in synthesis as they combined these new ideas to apply them to the question they were working on : how could the three people and nine cookies be written as a number sentence, grouped, etc. Finally, students were in evaluation as they talked about the methods or strategies taught by the other students, their value, and whether that strategy was favorable to them ( there is always more than one way to do a math problem).
I really liked this method of teaching. I think Mr. Felt and I have very similar styles. From what I can tell, he believes that students can learn from one another, especially with guidance. I know that we learn from other people, even if they are only slightly ahead of us on a particular concept. Everyone learns from other people; if we didn't, we would still be living in caves, hunting wild beasts with sticks.
I know the students enjoy working with partners and living in the social aspect of learning. They often ask the teacher if they can work with partners, and this isn't some crafty ploy to chat and goof around. When the students work in partners, at least in this classroom, they talk about the problem, how they solved it and what the answer could be. They apply what they learn to future problems and what more can you ask for?

Class Tech Inventory

Alpine District, Deerfield Elementary, 2nd Grade
1 teacher laptop
Mac
Students do not have computers
Digital Projector, A projector, Television, DVD player, Microphone, A jeopardy buzzer
As far as I could tell, we had one computer classroom
We can schedule the computer lab a week in advance

My cohort teacher told me that he wished for a set of laptops that the children could use in class. A set of computers to network to each other to work on various assignments. He said he also wanted a class set of microphones for the children to use during presentations, lessons, etc. He also uses the projector several times a day for math assignments, language, etc. He uses the television to show Billy Nye movies, to play audio during various assignments to stimulate the childrens minds, and the buzzer to play a jeopardy expert game for the weeks spelling words.

Google Earth Mission to Mars

http://sites.google.com/site/ceniousipt/my-files

Lets change things up

I decided to change my virtual tour from an Oregon Trail assignment to a Mission to Mars assignment. The new assignment meets the following Utah state standard:

Objective 2 Describe the use of technology to observe objects in the solar system and relate this to science’s understanding of the solar system.

1. Describe the use of instruments to observe and explore the moon and planets.
2. Describe the role of computers in understanding the solar system (e.g., collecting and interpreting data from observations, predicting motion of objects, operating space probes).
3. Relate science’s understanding of the solar system to the technology used to investigate it.
4. Find and report on ways technology has been and is being used to investigate the solar system.

Edu Psych Questions Mod 27-30

T/F 1. A child who seeks candy upon completing an assignment is intrinsically motivated
T/F 2. Survival, safety, belonging, and self-esteem are all parts of Maslows lower-level deficiency needs.
T/F 3. Since Xena wants to prove she is smart, the class midterm has high attainment value.
T/F 4. I often seek attention and praise from teachers, candy for behavior, and will not work if not given something I want. I am extrinsically motivated.
T/F 5. Jane often uses the hallway as practice for her dance class. She often stumbles around and occasionally mumbles to herself. She is not bothered by the fact that other people see her behavior. Jane is an ego-involved learner.



1. F 2. T 3. T 4. T 5. F

Google Earth TPACK

Students are going to navigate the Oregon Trail using Google Earth. They will meet the following found in the Utah State Core:

Standard 4
Students will understand that the 19th century was a time of incredible change for the United States, including geographic expansion, constitutional crisis, and economic growth.
Objective 1 Investigate the significant events during America's expansion and the roles people played.
c. Compare the trails that were important during westward expansion (e.g. Oregon, Mormon, Spanish, California).

Students will use Google Earth 5.0 for the technology portion of the assignment. I will create a .kmz file for this assignment that will be uploaded for future use. Google Earth 5.0 is great for this type of assignment because the students can get a sense of the surroundings found in the empty spaces of Wyoming, Nebraska, etc. They can use the various tools in Google Earth, such as the ruler, daylight button, and other features integrated in the software.

The pedagogy found in this assignment will be self reflection, critical thinking and cooperation. Students will be forced to use their imagination in reflecting on what it was like to leave Missouri with all of their possessions to embark on a potentially fatal journey. They will then learn that various members of their party had passed away crossing rivers and catching diseases.

Google Earth

Location	Activity	Google Earth Content
1.National Frontiers Trails Museum, Independence, Missouri	Students will write in a Oregon Trail Journal. In this their first entry, students will write about the excitement in traveling on the trail. They will also write about why they are going, what they expect will happen on the trail from stories they've heard, and what they expect to find in Oregon.	Look at pictures of Independence, Missouri - the "Queen of the Trails"
2.Great Platte River Road, Nebraska	Here students will write about their experiences thus far. This might include highs and lows, broken wagons, lost animals, friends gained, etc. Imagination!	Look at the dead space in this region to give students the realization that travelers of the Oregon trail had no Wal-Mart or any other convince. Travelers were forced to resupply when given the opportunity.
3.Green River, Wyoming	Here students will write in their journal about their experiences thus far. They will be informed at this point that half of their wagon trail perished in the crossing of the river. This will also add to their thoughts in their journal.	Students will view pictures of the Green River and use the Google Earth ruler to determine the width of the river and where they would cross.
4.Oregon City, Oregon	Here students will be informed that some of their family had passed away on their trip from Green River to Oregon City. Teachers may decide to to tell students that some had contracted a disease while others were attacked by animals, frost bitten, etc. This will be the students final entry.	Students will read the wikipedia article on Oregon City, Oregon. They will also view pictures of the city and its surrounding area.
Details of image overlay / path / polygon:	A path of the Trail students will follow