521 Blogpost #5

This semester, I have been surprised by the literacy levels of my students.  They are able understand the vocabulary terms they learn and they are also able to define and use their mathematical vocabulary terms.  They are not able to justify their work though.  When they are able to do a math problem they struggle in putting it into words and explain their reasoning.

SEPTEMBER 2013


Next year when I become a teacher my literacy rich classroom will have a vocabulary word wall for the students. There will also be a bulletin board ready for super star students work when they are able to justify their math work into words and explain.  This will help keep students aware of their vocabulary and motivated to accomplish great work.    My students will be engaged in getting to know their classmates and also my teaching style.    My students are reading the text book sections to help them understand the mathematical concepts I taught that day.

DECEMBER 2013

My classroom will still consist of a vocabulary word wall but the wall will begin to grow!  The bulletin board of super stars will also begin to grow as my students get comfortable with justifying their mathematical reasoning.  My students are engaged in learning the mathematical concept and figuring out how it can relate to them outside of our math class.  My students begin to read the section in the book a day prior to teaching the lesson in order for them to get an idea of what they will be learning.  Also to build a foundation for the students therefore they are not going into the lesson blind.  My students are writing down at the end of their notes things that they found important in the class period each day.  My students begin to get comfortable with their classmates and they begin to being able to orally discuss mathematical reassigns they have accomplished.

MAY 2014

My classroom becomes to full of vocabulary terms and students begin to use the terms regularly.  Also the super star board of justified math work that students have become experts at.  My students begin to be engaged in finding out how the mathematical content we learn and how it connects to real life situations on their own.  They are engaged in understanding and applying what they know when they get home in their everyday life.  My students are capable of independent learning in area's such as vocabulary and justifying mathematical concepts!

In your reflection include your opinion, what surprises you, what doesn’t, and how you will use the information to inform your own teaching.

"Leveraging Intelligent Adaptive Learning to Personalize Education"

In this article I was really surprised how manny administrators were for this.  This idea of the Dream Box.  The idea that students will be able to give up valuable in formation that will help teachers influence their their lessons and adapt to their students.  Its really surprised me that 67% of administrators said that using technology in the classroom will improve student engagement.  What doesn't surprise me is that even though so many schools believe technology will help not many schools are taking further action.  In my own teaching I will try to  incorporate student intrestes and tecnology in my classroom.  At my clinical practice now it is really hard to incorporate digital age technology due how low of an income area the school is located. 

 “Students Speak Up to President Obama about how to improve their schools” 
 
In this video students are asked if they had to talk to the president about improving schools what do they feel needs to change, be added and so on.  It was an interesting topic to me in the fact the students were asked to talk to the president and also that they all seemed to be in high school.  What about K-8th grade??  Something that surprised me is that a lot of the students had the same answers.  Were they given options to choose from?  Something that did not surprise me was that the answers they had.  Everyone knows that things like technology and smaller class sized are always needed.  One thing it did spark my interest is that if i did this for my kids I would be able to know what my students think will help them in the classroom.  Once i know what my students need then I will be able to help them in anyway way i could.  

Starting a Future teachers program at my school would be beneficial in many ways.  The first and main reason I feel it would be helpful is having two adults and educators in the classroom.  Be able to take on the co teaching model is proven to make a more successful classroom atmosphere.  Another reason that this would be good is that the classes and knowledge that future teachers have will help give multiple views and ideas on how to teach topics.  

Unit Plan

UNIT PLAN TEMPLATE with Prompts: Save all the bold headings, but replace the prompts in regular font with the information for your unit.

UNIT TOPIC:  Geometry- Parallel lines cut by a transversal.

1. UNIT CONTEXT- CHAPTER 4 TRIANGLES

Subject/Content Area- Mathematics

Course - Geometry

Grade Level- High School

Length of Unit: This unit will take up to 6 class periods

 

2. FACTS ABOUT THE LEARNERS

Whole Class Information

·      Number of students in class- 39

·      Demographic Information:  Majority of my students are Hispanic, there are 19 girls and 20 boys, Most are on Free and reduced lunch, there are 5 EL’s, 30 of my students are bilingual and there are 3 IEP students in my class.

·      Developmental Needs: There is a variety of readiness level in this geometry class.  They range from retaking this class, passing and understanding or needing help getting motivated to learn math.  The main interest of students in my classroom is listening to music and texting friends.  There are also a lot of students involved in extra curricular activities such as football, cheerleading, ROP and band.  The two main learning profiles I have encountered in my classroom are hand on learning and visual learners.  Affective-Management strategies for this class are from the preventative approach we had class collaboration for setting the classroom rules.  For the supportive approach two strategies that are affective are encouraging student involvement and recognizing student achievement.  The corrective approach I take in the classroom is to address the whole class when there is a problem so that not one student is being singled out.  I’ve really tried to use all of the affective management strategies in order to keep a safe learning environment for my students. 

 

Individual Student Information and Differentiation Strategies

ALVARO R.

·      This student is at the Early Advanced level

·      This student is in the 11^th grade, he is Hispanic and his native language is Spanish.

·      A specific goal of this student is to pass all of his classes.  Another goal of his is to pass the reading and writing part of the high school exit exam. 

·      Differentiation.

 

o   Process- Alvaro has a struggle to stay on task and motivated in class.  When we are doing the student activities I will make sure to keep a closer eye on them to make sure they is staying on task.  I will go to his table group more often and checking for understanding.  I do this because the more I keep Alvaro on track he will be motivated to do his work.    

·      For progress monitoring assessment in this unit we are having them complete a writing response at the end of day 2.  With this writing response I will be able to check for understanding and be able to measure if the learning goals of this unit are being met.  My rationale for this writing prompt is that first it has the students practicing putting there mathematical thoughts into words.  Also writing prompt is a good individual assignment since a lot of the work in this unit is pairs or groups.

·      My next steps for Alvaro are to help him stay on track.  The day we work on the study guide in class I will be sure to answer all his questions and ensure he is prepared to take the formal assessment chapter test. 

ELENA

·      Elena is a 15 year-old 10th grader and an English learner. She is from Mexico and both of her parents are professionals. Her extended family includes aunts, uncles, and cousins. Her grandparents live in Mexico and she and her family visit them in the summer. She has been in the United States for one and a half years. She is literate in Spanish and often reads Spanish literature. Her report cards from her school in Mexico indicate above average grades. Elena is somewhat shy socially but is well liked and works well in small groups. She is seldom absent from school. The CELDT results indicate overall score in the Early Intermediate range, and she has been identified as an English learner.

·      A specific goal of this student is to pass all of her classes.  Another goal is to pass the CAHSEE

·      Differentiation.

o   Content- Elena has a lot of difficulty with vocabulary terms in all of her classes.  So when I am teaching vocabulary in our math class I will be sure to have a pre printed version of all our vocabulary words in English and Spanish.  This will help her be able to make the connections from Spanish to English of this math vocabulary terms. 

·      Progress monitoring- Discussing Elena’s progress with her and her reading responses will give me multiple sources to check for her understanding of the content. Elena may not be able to communicate in a presentation about her knowledge of the math or have the confidence to accomplish the presentation.  With giving her a chance to write down her understanding I would be able to see if she can explain it in words.

·      My next steps for Elena are to keep her working on groups to help her make friends and be social at school.  Also try to incorporate dancing into our math problems to keep her interested in my class.

ALISSA R.

·       This student has Auditory Process Disorder

·      This Student is in the 11^th grade, she is a Caucasian female who speaks English, and she has one older sister in the 12^th grade.

·      A specific goal for this student is to pass the math portion of the CAHSEE

·      Differentiation

o     Affect- I will ensure to always give Alissa positive recognition when she has done well on an assignment or assessment. She responds very well to the positive reinforcement and it helps motivate her to continue to make progress in my class. 

·      For progress monitoring assessment in this unit we are having them complete a writing response at the end of day 2.  With this writing response I will be able to check for understanding and be able to measure if the learning goals of this unit are being met.  My rationale for this writing prompt is that first it has the students practicing putting there mathematical thoughts into words.  Also writing prompt is a good individual assignment since a lot of the work in this unit is pairs or groups.

·      My next steps of Alissa would be helping her make her own visuals when given math problems.  Having her be able to epicure the problem in her head and draw it.

ALEX

·      Alex is a 15-year-old boy in the 10th grade. He had difficulty with the development of his early literacy skills, including the acquisition of sound/symbol relationships and word identification, demonstrated in both his reading and writing. In the second grade, Alex was identified as a student with specific learning disabilities. Since then, Alex has received special education support primarily in a resource room for language arts, while he is included in the general education curriculum. He is able to independently read text at a 7th grade level and continues to struggle with decoding words. Alex also has asthma for which he takes daily medication and occasionally needs to use an inhaler. He is a self-isolating person who does not readily join into whole-class conversations or contribute to group learning situations. His tendency is to sit alone at lunch and to be by himself during transitional time. There is no in-class support for this student.

·      A specific goal for this student is to pass the math portion of the CAHSEE

·      Differentiation

o   Process- Since Alex is a self-isolating student and does not choose to participate in class discussions; working with others will be a difficult for him.  Alex lacks social skills due to always being by him inside and out of the classroom.  Having the confidence to work in groups is also something that Alex lacks and would have trouble with when working with others.   Alex’s low literacy and reading level may hold him back from being able to stay up with the group while working on the group work.

§  Even though Alex has challenges with working in groups I would accommodate all his needs so he would still be participating in the group work during class that day.  I would strategize when choosing student groups to put Alex with students he has worked well with before.  These students are patient and well behaved which will be helpful for Alex.   Also I would assign roles to each student in the group.  Alex’s role would be the recorder.  This is so he could work independently on writing everything down that his group is discussing but is still part of the group.  During the class period I would keep a close eye on Alex’s group to ensure that things are working out well.

·      For progress monitoring assessment in this unit we are having them complete a writing response at the end of day 2.  With this writing response I will be able to check for understanding and be able to measure if the learning goals of this unit are being met.  My rationale for this writing prompt is that first it has the students practicing putting there mathematical thoughts into words.  Also writing prompt is a good individual assignment since a lot of the work in this unit is pairs or groups.

·      My next steps of Alex would be continue to encourage Alex to work in groups in order to have him build socially to have friendships. 

NIA S.

·      This student is a main stream student in my geometry class

·      She is in the 10^th grade; she is an African American girl who speaks English only.  She has 2 brothers and one sister.  Both parents work.

·      Nia understand all the material and receives a B+ in my class.  She tends to make little mistakes on tests which is the only thing stopping her from getting an A in geometry.

·      Differentiation- The one thing I could differentiate for Nia is give her extra problems to practice in order to minimize her errors.

·      For progress monitoring assessment in this unit we are having them complete a writing response at the end of day 2.  With this writing response I will be able to check for understanding and be able to measure if the learning goals of this unit are being met.  My rationale for this writing prompt is that first it has the students practicing putting there mathematical thoughts into words.  Also writing prompt is a good individual assignment since a lot of the work in this unit is pairs or groups.

·      My next steps for Nia are to continue a lot of practice for her.  The more practice she has hopefully the less little mistakes she will make on tests.

2. Unit Rationale: Enduring Understandings & Essential Questions

This unit is important because it is preparing the students to begin to classify types of triangles and when they are congruent.  Also this chapter begins to prepare students to write mathematical proofs.  Overall this unit will get the students to think critically when dealing with congruent triangles, which fits into one of the class goals to think critically. 

 

Enduring Understandings (EU)

•       Students will understand how to Analyze geometric relationships in order to make conjectures involving triangles.

•       Students will understand how to Apply the concept of congruence to justify properties of figures and solve problems

•       Students will understand how to Use a variety of representations to describe geometric relationships and solve problems involving triangles

•       Students will be able to Analyze properties and describe relationships in triangles

•       Students will be able to Apply logical reasoning to justify and prove mathematical statements involving triangles.

•        

Essential Questions

•       How do we describe, sort, and classify shapes?

•       How are shapes related to one another?

•       How do we recognize and apply transformations of shapes to solve problems?

•       What are the characteristics and applications of symmetry?

Reason for the Instructional Strategies & Student Activities

3. STANDARDS

Content Standards

•       4.0 Students prove basic theorems involving congruence and similarity.

•       5.0 Students prove that triangles are congruent or similar, and they are able to use the concept of corresponding parts of congruent triangles.

 

 

 

ELD Standards

Listening and speaking cluster 9

•       Prepare and deliver short presentations on ideas, premises or images obtained from various content standards. 

•       Prepare and deliver presentations in various content area including a purpose, point of view, introduction, transition and appropriate conclusion.  (Alvaro)

4. UNIT OBJECTIVES

•       Cognitive, Geometry 4.0- After actively taking notes on congruent triangles student will be able to prove basic theorems involving triangle congruence such as SAS, SSS & ASA

•       Psychomotor Geometry 4.0- After exploring congruent triangles students will be able to mark triangles sides and angles with the appropriate congruency marks. 

•       Cognitive Geometry 5.0- After proving basic triangle congruence theorems students will be able to prove that triangles are congruent or similar, and they are able to use the concept of corresponding parts of congruent triangles

5. ASSESSMENT PLAN

Have an assessment for every objective and standard in unit. Cross-reference the objective and standard for each assessment. Example: Assessment (Objective/Standard #)

Include the following information about each assessment:

·      Name of Assessment- 4.1-4.3 quiz

·      Formality: informal group quiz

·      Type: Formative

·      Purpose: knowledge

·      Implementation Method: written

·      Communication of Expectations: modeling

·      Evaluation Criteria: Students will be able to prove basic triangle congruence theorems.   

·      Feedback Strategies- Quiz grade will be handed back next class

·      Name of Assessment:  Partner presentation of congruent triangles

·      Formality: formal

·      Type: formative

·      Purpose: concepts

·      Implementation Method- Verbal presentation

·      Communication of Expectations- samples

·      Evaluation Criteria: Provide one rubric for the unit.

·      Feedback Strategies

·      Student Self-Assessments: Provide one rubric for the unit.

6. STEPS OF INSTRUCTION

	Day 1 Tuesday	Day 2 Thursday
Content Standards	Geometry 4.0 Students prove basic theorems involving congruence and similarity.	Geometry 5.0 Students prove that triangles are congruent or similar, and they are able to use the concept of corresponding parts of congruent triangles.
Learning Objectives	Cognitive, Geometry 4.0- After actively taking notes on congruent triangles student will be able to prove basic theorems involving triangle congruence such as SAS, SSS & ASA	Psychomotor Geometry 4.0- After exploring congruent triangles students will be able to mark triangles sides and angles with the appropriate congruency marks.
Student Activity	Students will take out a clean piece of paper and independently complete the quick write prompt.	Students will come up to the projector and show the class the pairs of congruent triangles they found.  They must prove why they found these congruent and name the triangles in the correct way.
Assessment	Diagnostic- Students will quick write about congruent triangles.	Formative Progress monitoring- I will assess the student’s knowledge of congruent triangles during their presentations at the beginning of class.  Also I will collect their quick writes in order to assess if they are able to put their mathematical thoughts down in words.

Into:

·      The purpose of the into activity is to try and get the students to think of previous knowledge they had of triangles before this geometry class.

 Student Activity

·      Hook – I will have students bring in pictures of triangles they found in the real world or in their homes. 

·      In this unit I will try to do many group project and explorations to keep the students engaged.  They have learned about triangles before so we will include activities that will draw on previous knowledge the students have. 

·      The steps to begin the activity are to have a class discussion on what we know about congruent triangles

·      Room arrangement- students are in table groups of 4

·      Student grouping- students will work in there table groups or partner sitting next to them

·      What questions will you ask to prompt learning-   I will always go around asking the students WHY? They may know the content but I want them to be able to explain to me.

Through: Unit Calendar

Closure/Beyond: Label Unit Closure and Unit Transition Activities

In addition to the calendar information Obj., Stand, Activity, Assess.) Address the following:

·      Closure: At the end of every lessons I will have the students summarize on their notes what they have learned for the day.  On review day I will have students share out from each day what they have learned in this unit. 

·      Closure: We will have a unit exam

·      Beyond: Students will be able to do test corrections if they feel they want a better grade on this test.  Also every unit test has some questions from the previous unit’s so there will always be questions about congruent triangles on tests following

·      Beyond: Having students find quadrilaterals in the real world or their home and bringing in pictures. 

WEEK OF LESSON PLANS

Attached

7. MATERIALS/RESOURCES

Attached

8. REFLECTION

·      In what ways have you differentiated instruction to meet the varying needs of your students including your high achievers?

o   I have provided vocab words in English and Spanish

o   I will help certain students stay motivated by staying on top of there work and progress in class

o   I will include group work in this unit

o   I will give positive reinforcement so students can stay positive in class

o   I will provide extra problems for high achievers to continue to be challenged

·      What strengths and possible limitations do you see in your plan?

o   Strengths are the different types of assessment

o   Limitations is my resources I would like to use more

·      What forms of data/evidence might you collect from this unit to measure its effectiveness - gauged by actual student learning?

o   I will collect students quick write and also self assessment rubric for group presentation

·      What have you learned about yourself, students, your unit plan topic, and/or planning in general as a result of designing this unit plan?

o   I found out that I did better at planning a unit then I expected.  I have never planned a unit before and was pleased with my outcome.

·      What do you know now that you didn’t know at the start of this unit or program?

o   How important rubric’s are for students AND the teacher

9. RUBRIC WITH SELF-ASSESSMENT

·      Highlight the criteria on the unit plan rubric that you believe best describes your unit plan.

·      Turn in your highlighted scoring guide as an attachment to your unit plan.

·      If you did this unit plan with a partner, you should each score yourselves individually. You should also include at the bottom of the scoring guide an evaluation of how you and your partner worked together.

	Approaching	Meets	Exceeds
Content	Can name two triangles congruent on the given worksheet	Can name two congruent triangles and prove why (translation, reflection or rotation)	Can name two congruent triangles, prove why (translation, reflection or rotation) and name the triangles correctly
Questions during presentation	Can answer 1 question correctly given by me	Can answer 2 questions correctly given by me	Can answer 3 or more questions correctly given by me
Presentation	Can show knowledge of content	Can show knowledge of content and prove triangles congruent	Can show knowledge of content, prove multiple triangles congruent
Working with partner	Needs assistance when working with a partner	Works well with a partner but still needs assistance	Worked great with partner and needed no assistance.

	Day 1 Tuesday	Day 2 Thursday
Content Standards	Geometry 4.0 Students prove basic theorems involving congruence and similarity.	Geometry 5.0 Students prove that triangles are congruent or similar, and they are able to use the concept of corresponding parts of congruent triangles.
Learning Objectives	Cognitive, Geometry 4.0- After actively taking notes on congruent triangles student will be able to prove basic theorems involving triangle congruence such as SAS, SSS & ASA	Psychomotor Geometry 4.0- After exploring congruent triangles students will be able to mark triangles sides and angles with the appropriate congruency marks.
Student Activity	Students will take out a clean piece of paper and independently complete the quick write prompt.	Students will come up to the projector and show the class the pairs of congruent triangles they found.  They must prove why they found these congruent and name the triangles in the correct way.
Assessment	Diagnostic- Students will quick write about congruent triangles.	Formative Progress monitoring- I will assess the student’s knowledge of congruent triangles during their presentations at the beginning of class.  Also I will collect their quick writes in order to assess if they are able to put their mathematical thoughts down in words.