Blog post 5. Course Synthesis

Our course SCED 4200 is done. Looking back, at what I can take from what was taught, there are many things that I will be able to apply to my teaching methods when I become a teacher.

 Critical literacy seems to be one of the “staple items” taught in the education program. I do realize why. As taught, not acting as the “ultimate authority,” on what I will be teaching, helps foster an environment for my student to have critical literacy and is something that I plan to do to. That’s one thing that really caught my attention in this class, a great take-away. With that, math and Stats is my discipline, and sometimes it’s hard to let students question what is taught but it is possible. Doing so will lead to students having higher order questions. Those higher order questions are key.

 I love how we talked about actually teaching comprehension instruction. In math teachers seem to never do this which is incredible since the inability to comprehend math texts is causing students more trouble than most everything else. The comprehension strategies are very different for math based text which is why the Math teachers need to teach it; they can’t rely on the English teachers to do it. This is another great take-away that will help me achieve better test scores from my students.

This class has given me some incite that I never would have thought of, especial in mathematics, which is contradicting the fact that it is especially important in math. That incite is very simple, just that you should only provide 5 to 7 vocabulary words at a time.  My math teachers never seemed to consider that and just shoved as many vocab words down our throats as possible, which just confused me more than ever. Applying this concept will help my students follow what I am teaching instead of getting lost in the vocab.  Besides this I also learned how important it is to show students what to do when they encounter unknown words, such as using morpheme analysis or just by looking at the context its used in.

There are many great I ideas from this class that I plan to incorporated into my classroom. There are too many to go into detail so I’ll just mention them. Using and providing multiple forms of text will help students who have different ways of learning. Showing how the 6 traits of writing are critical for math and having a specific lesson to teach them will help students know how to write in math. In addition to writing in math, knowing the levels of writing and grading my students appropriately will help me not frustrate and teach them efficiently. In conclusion, I have learned many characteristics of teaching, in this class, that will help me in my future career as a teacher. 

Discipline-Specific Writing and Assessment

Again, before this post, I’ll mention that my discipline is in math. Thinking of my progression through school, It is interesting to think about the types of writing that I did; especially now seeing how proof are written and the lack of that type of writing all the way up through high school. Hardly ever, in my math classes, did I ever have to use anything besides mathematical numerals or notation.  Sometimes I had to read a textbook that used English as part of the math problem, but very rarely. I will admit that some story problems require understanding and using rational to solve a problem, but this was rare, and even when it was done, it was just to use rational to transform English into a typical math problem. Writing in math was extremely limited for me until college. I can’t think of any math teacher who actually even encouraged us to more than mathematical notation in order to solve a math problem. As I understand math now, I can see how much understanding I was missing while in high school math even though I was able to still receive a A grade. I believe the way I was taught was more of a mechanistic way of solving problem, instead of an in-depth understanding way of solving problems. I will accept that can be easier to understand the depth of a solution of a problem if you can already do the mechanisms of the solution process and don’t have to think about that as well. I guess what my observation is, is that because of time, or other reasons, teachers teach the mechanisms of math but run short on going into and teaching the in-depth reasoning behind solutions. Most teachers seem to just assume that students understand the in-depth reasoning behind of a solution instead of assessing that during a test. One way, that I am excited to do, in order to asses in-depth understanding, is to require an explanations of the concepts used in solving a problem, rather than just requiring a numeric answer. The word proof comes to mind. IS it too much to require a proof for the solutions a student gives on the test, or on homework? I understand that time greatly limits you as a teacher and assessor but it is important to require proof as much as you can.  I believe that a student understanding how to solve a problem is more important than a student’s ability to quickly do the mechanisms of a solution to a problem; not that that is not important, it is very. Wouldn’t understanding the in-depth part of a solution lead to doing the mechanisms quicker in that subject , or quicker in subjects to come later anyways. Other ways to asses students in-depth understanding, besides a proof, could be through application of the math. This could be through 3dimentional representation, like if you are teaching about volume. Having a student do something that requires in-depth understanding in order to do is another way. This could be having students write a story that represents a solution to a problem works since it requires association of a element of their story to an element of their math problem. There seems to be many ways of assess in-depth understanding, so it’s interesting to think about what reasons are preventing teachers from doing this more, now.

Blog Post 3: Choose from List of Topics

Affective Dimensions of Reading:
As I grew up, I disliked reading very much; but I love stories. I didn't naturally pick up a book and read like others do. Reading put me in a weird zone that I didn't like that affected me after reading, and my focus was about being outside. Since I didn't read because of my own ambition, the only time I read was when I was forced to at school. At first I enjoyed it a little, then, as I realized that more and more I was going to be tested on what I read( and many times in absurd minute details,) reading began to feel like work. Work, in itself, isn't un-enjoyable. It was was that I was never shown the benefits that it provided, especially benefits that directly related to what i was interested in. This feeling of reading lasted until maybe somewhere in high school.  After that I became slightly more interested in reading for fun, mostly because of friends. Now, I love reading. I read for fun all the time. I am quickly devouring the classics. I think why I now enjoy reading so much is because of how much I can learn and be entertained as well. Its a wonderful feeling to have read something and feel so much more knowledgeable or inciteful when finished. I disliked reading for many reasons- the biggest was when it felt like a waist of time or when when I felt something about it was really interesting but force to focus on something boring( like if I had to do a writing assignment on a specific part.) I am not insinuating that What I read was ever a waist of time, but I felt like it was. Social networks pushed reading more than anything. Not a single social subgroup ever really pushed disliking reading for me, some just pushed other things as priorities. Reading was never insinuated as being nerdy. My life with regards to reading does make me wonder what things I could do in my classroom to better foster a good reading environment for my students. I will be a math or stats teacher. Providing an environment where reading is important will likely be where I should start. When I was in math, even in high school, I never read my math book besides skimming through it or looking up answers in the back to check myself. If I wanted to, I don't think that I could have. I was never really taught how to read a math book. It is very different from reading a novel. Maybe I never learned how to because, teachers never expected me to.  I guess that's where I would go next, I would teach them how to read a math book and expect them to do it. I obviously don't mean that I would have them just read during class from a book, but I would connect my teaching material and homework more towards the text books and interpreting it( more than just using it for its homework problems and index of formulas.) As well as the text book, I think it would be a very great thing If I could provide excitement for reading Math related material outside of the classroom. I could do this be talking about outside reading materials or texts, as well as referring students to others when they show interest or questions.  It will be interesting to figure out how to build up students self perceptions of themselves as readers. I would say the best way would to be able to allow them to see progression in themselves with reading. Get them interested and excited about reading, which will lead to experience with it and in end, change their self perceptions as readers. 

assignment 2. (Connecting School and Home Experiences):

The question, " what influenced you to think what you now think?" about anything, is a very interesting question. So, to now be asked to think about an experience that shaped the way I think about my current discipline, takes me back; throughout memories of my entire life. I should mention that my discipline is Math/Stats. One experience that I had with math has greatly affected the way that I conceptualize math in general. As a child I grew up  spending time in my grandpa's shop. He was a carpenter, and a very efficient and precise one at that. In fact, he was well know for his precision; actually having some of his work put in a museum. The obvious part of this influence is with measurements, fractions, and angles. But, for me, the biggest influence was that it got me asking, how could I? or why? or what if? or how does that relate to that? Lets call those the Necessary Questions.  I understand that it might be hard to understand why theses questions would be begged from working in the shop, it is hard to explain. To build something original or complex, you have to build it in your mind and then on paper first; before anything else. I always had ideas but, in some cases, they couldn't be done because of limits of the machinery or of the wood itself; so I had ask and answer each of the questions mentioned above. Each time I asked a question, Math was the test, and Math was the answer. I think that every experience you have in life will affect your way of thinking or understanding. This experience was of great impact to me in life, and especially in school. In school, this gave me an advantage. This experience led me into asking all of those questions mentioned above, about everything. It also, in many ways, gave me a way to relate and visualize what I was learning. But foremost, it got me to be engaged and to ask higher order questions about what I was doing. This will no doubt influence my teaching in the future and in many ways. Comparing this to my English classes, where nothing really got me to ask those questions, there was a profound difference, which still exists today. Every teach seems to want to teach a lesson that can relate to their students. That is important, but only in gaining temporary focus; unless it is done in the correct way. For example, using basketball to show relationships of angles might get a child's interests for a moment, but what happens after that. Those children, when they play basket ball in the future, will not be asking those Necessary Questions. The correct way to relate is by relating the subject to something that begs those Necessary Questions about that subject. So when asked how can I draw from my students background experiences in my discipline to connect them to the State and National standards, I have a clear answer. Find out what in there background is already begging those Necessary Questions and push them, as much as I can, into answering those questions.

My Name is Benjamin Tyson Dietrich

My name is Benjamin Tyson Dietrich, even though i would prefer to be called Ben. Over this last summer I got married! My wife's name is Nicole Gummow Dietrich and she is actually going into education as well; into Elementary Ed. I'll try and not just talk about my wedding, honeymoon, etc, and my wife, like a "Newly Wed" lol. I love mountain biking but I sold my bike before I got married, so it's good that I love hiking and camping as well. When I say Mountain biking I don't just like cross country kind of mountain biking but down hill, big drops, steep and technical type of mountain biking. I also sold my Dirt bike but at least now I have fewer distractions when it comes to focusing on School. I am a Math/Stats composite Secondary Education Major and I am planning on moving into administration as soon as I can. I definitely lean more to the Math side of the Major but I am getting more into Stats with every Stats class that I take.  I am not bias when it comes to subjects within math either. I wouldn't mind if I taught Algebra, Geometry, or calculus, in any different level.
        Math to me is something that just makes sense ant that draws into my curiosity and grabs my attention and focus for some reason.  Its like a puzzle or a riddle, with an exact answer and yet sometimes many different ways to find it. It is something that without any help, I could come to the conclusion if I just tried hard enough, and spent enough time. Its not something with made up rules and is not just memorization like maybe English. I am not against English though, I love reading and would some day like to write my own book. English just doesn't grab my attention and is not as easily fallowed as math is for me. The question prompted to answer was, what drew me into teaching my discipline.  I guess for me it was math itself. It was like a book that always left you without resolution at the end of a chapter so I just always wanted to learn more. Now what caused me to want to teach math was a little different. Because i like math, always wanted to and have been told that I should teach all of my life, I couldn't ever get it out of my head that that was what I was supposed to do, and in essence, what I really wanted to do. I like how Math can be taught, and I have endless Ideas that run through my head about different methods that I think would be very successful in teaching math. The environment of a math class room just seems to fit my personality.
I guess my current definition of literacy, just off of the top of my head, would be: Being able to comprehend, actively participate, complete, and  successfully articulate yourself in any type of field, subject, or activity. But who knows, if I wasn't so tired right now I could probably come up with a better definition. I definitively believe that literacy relates to math and especially in teaching and learning math. Many people are smart and can calculate whatever they want in there head but literacy is necessary in the use of math, whether explaining it to others, or understanding others, or in summery, the communication of math.