I have recently been transposing what we have been talking about to what I would want for my children.  I can think of what kind of school I would want to teach at.  But recently I challenged myself to switch it into what I would want to have for my children.  If I had a child who was advanced but not enough to qualify for gifted I would want a classroom where the teacher would challenge my child so that she does not become bored.  If I had a child who was behind and needed extra help I would want my child to receive extra help and attention so that she does not fall behind.  So I would want a school that has tutoring available, special ed, and gifted program.  In the classroom I would want advanced reading and math/science.  I would want a school that has music, art, and PE every week if not every day.  I would want a school with a wide variety of after school clubs such as chess, karate, math club and writing club.  I would want a library with a wide variety of books to suit every child’s need.  I think the ideal classroom would have about 8-12 kids so that the teacher would have more of a chance to address the needs of the kids without compromising any other child.  Since the classes would be so small and welcoming there would be no bullying.

While this is very idealistic I wish it was within reach.  I think at the very least we should be able to have small classes that allow our children to be attended to individually.  It would be far more realistic to alter our education structure.  I have often thought that kids should be grouped in two tiers, one based on skill level and one based on learning style.  Perhaps dividing elementary school classes based on age is not the way to go.  If all the level 4 readers were in a group together then they would be in the same zone of proximal development.   I still feel that there are so many things that I have to learn to even think I might know what might work in one setting.

My personal is bias is not so much against one group as for one group.  Some people may tend to call on boys and some people may tend to try to connect more with the outgoing kids who seem obviously bright.  I tend to focus on the quiet shy children.  I do this because I was one of them.  I was frightfully shy as a child, shocking to believe that the “Math is awesome” girl was as such but there you go.  I would constantly hide behind my parents and I almost never spoke to my relatives.  This led most people to have some very preconceived notions about what kind of kid I was, none of them flattering.  For one I was thought of as stuck up, even a bitch from my own family members.  In class, since I would rarely talk, my teachers frequently thought that I was not aware of the classroom and that I did not know anything.  When I was tested for gifted I scored high but they thought I was cheating because I was so shy.  My husband is also very shy, but he did not seem to experience this kind of discrimination academically.  His kind sweet heart was missed by many just because he was hard to get to know. 

For these reasons when I see a shy or particularly quiet child I do not see them for just that.  I see that they are a plainly wrapped package with the most exquisite present inside.  I see that every shy child is child with amazing things to offer who just needs to be seen.  I strive to gain this child’s trust so that I can unlock the beauty within.  This takes time, care and attention though.  I am afraid that I could possibly miss spending time with other kids in the quest to reach these kids.  I am not sure that this will happen as I have not spent a huge amount of time as a teacher but it is something that I will have to keep an eye on as move into the primary teacher role.

Excerpt from Albuquerque Journal 2-9-12

Mariasol Roberts was recently recognized for her contribution to the students of the East Mountains.  Last Thursday she was named as the National Teacher of the Year.  Over the last 5 years Mrs. Roberts has worked to break own the mathematical walls that hold some students back from success.  Former student Lizzie Gruden told us “I laughed at her the first day in class when she yelled ‘Math is awesome!’ at us.  But after she took the time to explain things in three or four different ways I changed my mind about math.  I definitely don’t love it but I am not afraid of it anymore.” This passion for helping kids find their math voice has been with teaching was just a thought in her mind.  “My father helped me to understand math, “ She told us “and I think that everyone has the ability to at least not struggle at math.  It is finding the way to understand it that is hard.  Once the kids see the way in which they understand math the world opens up to them.  Then math isn’t scary and they find it might even be fun then.”  Being a third generation teacher in the Albuquerque area has certainly helped her develop her art. “Watching my parents’ ability to connect with the kids in their classroom taught me so much growing up.  I was lucky to have my mom here to give me advice during my first year of teaching.”

 Fellow teachers told us of her sense of humor, “She keeps us laughing with her crazy math jokes and that seems to help her connect with the kids too.”  While reading tutoring in elementary schools has been around for quite a few years Mrs. Roberts has spearheaded the effort to make math help available just as readily.  Her principal states “She has been an active member in the mountain community for years starting when her oldest daughter started school.  Everyone knows her whether or not they know her name.  How many other math loving moms are walking around with four kids hanging off of them?  She is a vital member of our community and we are lucky to have her here.” 

My purpose in being a teacher is twofold: 1) MATH IS AWESOME!  And I want to share that with kids and hopefully help some of them beat their math demons, 2) to help kids learn how to learn.  As I am sure many of you who are taking this class and 2252 know by now I am a bit of math freak.  I was born with a mind for math and I should have seen it sooner and been a math major (but that is a topic for another day).  I was also born with an ability to not only be able to understand math but to be able to explain it in more than one way.  I so desire to find ways for kids to wrap their minds around math so it is not a barrier to them doing other things that they desire to do.  So many kids just automatically say they can’t do math but I think that every kids can achieve success in math if only the right train of thought is followed for their mind.  Every math problem has an answer but not every solution is the same means to that answer. .  My husband and I can do the same problem and come up with the same answer but I can guarantee we will not go about it in the same way.   Math is so individual in that sense.  I think that if more people could see math this way they might be more likely to try it and possibly enjoy it. 

As we have said in class before we really don’t remember too many facts from high school so perhaps the facts are not the point of high school.  Perhaps we are learning how to learn in high school.  That is what I feel is my other purpose in teaching.  As a teacher I am giving a mathematical foundation for future classes yes but as I said previously I am also teaching problem solving.  If I can get you to think that there is more than one way to get to an answer for a math problem then perhaps you can apply that to other problems in life.    If you can’t figure it out try a different point of view. 

I predict a close Super Bowl game with the Patriots ahead most of the game, although not by much, but the Giants will pull it out in the last five minutes and win by no more 7 pts.  Most likely they will win by 3.

mathmcmatherson.wordpress.com   interesting math teaching strategies and reflections

mathequality.wordpress.com  interesting first year teaching reflections

mathteachermambo.blogspot.com   good experienced teacher information

In the Perkins Gomez article we read about a teacher who was reflecting on her interactions with two African American students.  With the first student the teacher addressed his difference in skin color by parading him in front of the class and interrogating him about his life as an African American.  The teacher then over compensated by making the next student stand out by doing a class project on African Americans.  This teacher did not seem to have any perspective on how to not make a student stand out.  As our group discussed this portion of the article I was reminded of an incident in my daughter’s class.  She had a new classmate who joined her class a month ago.  This child is originally from Haiti and on his first day the teacher asked him if he was there when the earthquake happened.  She thought it would be interesting for the other kids in the class to learn about this but she did not stop to think how he would feel to discuss what surely was the most traumatic event in his life.  The teacher should have put aside her curiosities and thought of how this student would feel, if she had done that she would hopefully not asked him anything related to the earthquake.

This same student has had his parent request that the teacher not expose him to anything cultural including birthdays or holidays.  The mom did not say why this was but as our group discussed this we agreed that it was important to respect this family’s request.  What we could not come up with was a way to do this without excluding the child.   This particular teacher has her whole classroom built around cultural exposure with the kids with the kids learning to count in Japanese, German and sign language.  If the teacher accommodated this child then the kids would have to stop counting in these other languages.  So it seems that it would not be fair to the other kids to cease this activity.  However if they just asked him not to he would be visibly excluded.  So should he be given other activities when they do valentines activities or do they cancel those activities for the rest of the class.  I hope some of you have some other ideas because I think we would all benefit from figuring this out.