Final reflection

This was the final week of our math course for Year 2. It's amazing how fast time flies when you are busy. We've gone through so much information and I have learned a lot over the past few weeks. This week our final topic was feedback and assessment; two very important concepts.

I have noticed that many people don't understand how to give meaningful feedback to students; they give marks, but don't tell students how they can improve for next time. Feedback is essential for student learning, so that they understand what you as the teacher are looking for, and how they can be successful. Feedback can be given to students in a variety of ways, a few of which are listed below:

Giulia Forsythe. (2012, November 20). How will students receive feedback? [Graphic]. Retrieved from: link

As you can see, you can give students feedback through written comments on their work, through an audio/video file with your remarks, face-to-face in a conference, and through peer editing or peer feedback. Find a method that works for you and your students, or use a variety of these methods to help students become successful through feedback.

Now that we've talked about ways to give/receive feedback, let's talk about what effective feedback includes. As I mentioned before, some people just give marks and call it a day. For example, this humourous video shows how not to assess students: 

The purpose of assessment is to improve student learning. The feedback we give students should not be vague or give students the correct answer, but give students next steps so that they can be successful next time. If we simply give students the answer, they are not learning anything; we need to lead them in the right direction so that they can figure it out themselves with your guidance.

One of the biggest take-aways from assessment, is the importance of language. We need to be aware of how we give our feedback; it needs to be appropriate, unbiased, positive, and student-friendly. We need to remember that both students and guardians will be reviewing the feedback you give, so be aware of what you say, and how you say it. For example, don't be negative towards a student's answers: "John, this answer sucked, you should have multiplied instead of added the numbers. This answer was mediocre at best, try". This response was negative, unprofessional, used complex language, and gave the student the solution.

Instead, try to say something like: "John, I wonder if you could explain your reasoning for adding? I can see that you added the numbers correctly, good job". This response is positive and praises students for trying to solve the problem. It uses student friendly language, and instead of telling the student what he needed to do correctly, it asks him to explain why he chose this process.

In conclusion, I have learned a lot from this course: be positive about math, ways to differentiate in math, strategies to engage students using technology, and how to give proper feedback. Overall, I think this course has helped me to develop further as a math teacher, and I hope to put this information to good use in my next placement in a few weeks.

Thanks for following me on this journey!

Reflection 5

Last week I talked about differentiated instruction, and types of tasks that are beneficial for learning in the classroom. This week I will talk about integrating technology and using Blended Learning to enhance student learning and engagement. 

Blended Learning is a mixture of face to face instruction and online learning. This type of instruction is most used in post-secondary schooling, but is becoming more common in high school and elementary as technology progresses. It is important to note the distinction between blended learning and tech integration. Technology can (and should) be integrated into the classroom where applicable. It can act as a learning tool, modification, or product for students. This can be the use of iPads, apps, etc. to help students understand the context of a lesson, or to help them create something to show their learning. It does not replace teaching. With Blended Learning, students can control their learning pace, place, and path. They learn online using the technology when, where, and how they want to. This gives our students options and allows for DI for students. 

I was surprised to find out that there are four models for Blended Learning: 

1. Rotation - where students rotate between different learning modes, with at least one is online learning. These modes can include pencil and paper assignments, individual tutoring, group projects, or small group and full class instruction. 
2. Flex - where online learning is the backbone of student learning. Students have an individualized schedule of the different learning modes that they go through at their own pace. Teachers provide face-to-face support as needed. 
3. À-la-carte - where students take courses entirely online with an online teacher, but can still have in-class activities
4. Enriched virtual - where students divide their time between in-class activities and learning online. This differs from À-la-carte because all classes are enriched virtual, and not select classes. 

Personally, I thought that models 3 and 4 where only used in post-secondary education. I know I did some online courses when I was completing my undergrad, but I never thought about them in this way. I hope to try and incorporate a Blended Learning experience in my classroom if I am able. I will be able to do so if I can follow the SAMR Model. 

The SAMR Model is a ladder tool for teachers to follow for integrating technology. It describes what technology can be used for and how it can benefit students. See the model below:

Ruben Puentedura. (2014, September 24). SAMR Model [graphic]. Retrieved from: website

It was interesting to see this model, because a lot of people think that technology can be used the same way as a substitute teacher; teachers get a break from teaching and use technology instead. This is not the case, as you can see. Technology can be used in various ways to enhance learning, and following this model can help teachers use technology appropriately. To understand this model further, view the video below:

 

The Pedagogy Wheel  is a chart that gives apps and other resource examples for each level of the SAMR model for teachers to use. I find it extremely useful, because I often have difficulties coming up with specific apps to use in my lessons. Now that I have this chart, I can explore all these resources and find the ones that I think will best benefit my students. Another good chart for finding technology resources is the Periodic table of iPad apps: 

Mark Anderson. (2014, July 23). iPad Apps [graphic]. Retrieved from: website

Other places to find good technology resources for the classroom include Best websites for teaching and learning and 50 Education technology tools every teacher should know about. For more information about the SAMR model, check out this blog on SAMR and Bloom's Taxonomy by Ruben Puentedura.

I'm really excited about using technology and games to engage students into Math. Gone are the days where students are bored with the same math problems from a textbook. With this information and various resources, I hope to keep my students engaged and excited to learning math.

Reflection 4

Last week we were introduced to parallel tasks. This week we learned about open tasks and rich tasks. Although parallel tasks can be classified as both an open-ended task and a rich task, I have discovered that there are different characteristics to each type of task.

Rich tasks - why are they rich? 
These types of tasks follow certain criteria that allow for deeper thinking in students. These criteria are as follows:

• Allows for range of student abilities and capabilities to solve. 
• Multiple representations can be used to show student thinking based on learning styles and preferences 
• Involves a story or scenario that engages and interests students 
• Connection to real life examples to get students thinking deeply and allows them to see how mathematics can occur in real life situations 
• Promotes student discussion through questioning 
• Enables the use of all 7 mathematical processes
1. Reasoning and proving
2. Selecting tools and computational strategies
3. Representing
4. Connecting
5. Reflecting
6. Communication
7. Problem Solving 

McEachren, Patricia. (2016, September). Halloween Jack-o-lanterns. 

The problem above is an example of a rich task that my professor presented to us. If you compare it to the criteria above, you can see that it is indeed a rich task. I think these types of problems are great for student engagement and to really challenge students. 

Open tasks - how do they promote learning? 

Christopher Danielson. (2013). Which One Doesn't Belong?
[Graphic]. Retrieved from: http://wodb.ca/

These types of tasks give students options, and the opportunity to validate their choice. There will be different answers, but none of the answers that students give are incorrect if they can explain their approach and the strategies they used to solve the problem. I think that these types of tasks promote learning because they give students a chance to think independently and make a choice for themselves. It gets them thinking about their choice and it is accessible to all since they can choose where they want to start. 

In this image, any one of these items can be the one that doesn't belong. It is up to students to decide which one they think doesn't fit based on shape, colour, font, or font colour. As long as students are able to add to the discussion and explain their reasoning, they have succeeded. However, this particular task is not classified as a rich task, because it is not related to math. This series of tasks (Which one doesn't belong) can be found at this site, which asks students which graph, number, shape, and more don't belong. 

Woolley, E. © 2015

This task is an example of an open task word problem. I asked this question to my colleagues during my webinar session on Differentiated Instruction, which I have included below. This particular task is a better example because it is math oriented. As you can see, my peers chose a variety of numbers to work with to solve their problem, which is exactly what we want our students to do. They have a choice on how difficult they make the problem for themselves, so they can challenge themselves based on their abilities.



These types of tasks will be staples in my Math classroom. Not only will the target student interests to get students engaged in mathematics, but they will also challenge them. The great thing about these types of tasks is that it will challenge my students when they solve them, but they will also challenge me to create the problems.