CONTENT KNOWLEDGE
1. Describe how outside-school
experience(s) have expanded or deepened your subject area content knowledge,
and tell how it enhanced or changed your understanding. Include at least one specific experience.
During my credential program, I got to work part-time at
Sylvan Learning Center. I had the
opportunity to tutor and work with high school students who struggled with
Algebra and Geometry. This experience
gave me a detailed insight on what students had troubled with the most. In Algebra, I noticed that graphing lines,
factoring, and solving word problems were the most commonly struggled
topic. In Geometry, it was the proofs. Working at Sylvan was very beneficial. I got the practice and skill needed to
explain and help these students. It not
only enhanced the students’ understanding, but mine as well. Each time I cover the same topic, I get
better and confident in getting the message across to them. This is how I grow and learn as a teacher.
Even when I’m not in school or Sylvan, I use math every day
in the real world. You need good number
sense and strong arithmetic skills to balance your checkbook or figure out the
discount price when a store is having a 20% off sale. It’s also useful for comparing
scenarios. When I go to the bowling
alley, they give me the option to pay $5 to rent a lane for an hour or pay $3
for each game played. This makes me
ponder which one is the better deal.
2. Respond to the class discussion of
Ball’s “The Subject Matter Preparation of Teachers.” Have your initial judgments or opinions
changed based on the discussion?
No. I find a teacher’s
knowledge of the subject matter is developed during their K-12 and college
education. Even if we don’t retain or
remember much of the material taught to us, that is why we review and study to
understand the concept better so we can explain it well to our future students. Hence, this is why we have the CSET to
motivate us to obtain subject matter competency. The long, lengthy discussion from Tuesday
solidified and deepened my understanding of the article.
3. Where are you in developing and
pursuing a line of inquiry? What is your
question? Are you satisfied with your
question? At this point, what do you
know about the research available in this area?
What ideas do you have for possible experiential learning sources?
I want to focus my research on how students can learn
mathematical formulas. Besides
memorizing or making flashcards, I want to find other practices or methods
students can do to remember them. These
formulas include: the special right
triangles & the area and volume of plane and solid figures in Geometry, the
sum and difference of cubes & the quadratic formula in Algebra 2, and all
the trigonometric identities in Pre-calculus.
Over the past few days, I have been searching for articles and journals
from the St. Mary’s College Library. I
seem to have more luck finding articles/journals that focus on the content
knowledge and how to better present and explain it to the students. For instance, I found a journal titled “A New
Look at Some Old Formulas” which indicates how to understand and recall the
quadratic formula in a wide variety of ways.
I will also bring in music to my research. In my six years of teaching, my students have found it helpful to remember formulas if I incorporate a well-known tune with it. I want to understand why they respond well to this type of practice.
In regards to the experiential learning sources, I will interview a couple of veteran teachers who have taught Pre-calculus. I will pose a set of questions with the main focus of how they have their students remember all the trigonometric identities. I have not taught Pre-calculus before, so this is a good opportunity to get some helpful tips. This will also help me remember them using their technique and words of wisdoms. The other two will mostly be attending workshops (TBD).
I commented on the following classmates' blogs:
Tammy Enjaian
Jonathan Parks
Karen Vigna
Jessica O'Connell
Eddie Izumizaki
Wilson,
ReplyDeleteI am eager to see your findings from your initial research idea. As someone who struggled to understand Mathematics in High School, I applaud your attitude towards the reality of mathematical formulas. I made a personal connection to your use of music in the classroom, as I use music in my own classroom to help students learn their short vowels, money, etc. I am also reminded of my 7th grade English teacher who, like you, incorporated music in helping us learn parts of speech. I think when teachers incorporate a new strategy (in this case music) into their teaching, one which a student is interested in, they are more engaged in the topic being taught. In 7th grade, I found myself excited for English class because I was eager to learn more from such an interesting teacher and one who had clear command of the subject matter knowledge.
Looking forward to hearing about your findings!
I strongly agree with you that math is all around us in every day life. I too am always trying to figure out what is the better deal on sales, brands, sizes, amounts, etc. I feel the same way with science, its all around us and we are experiencing it all the time.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about the content we learned in college. We had to learn a lot, reproduce it on tests, and use it in following courses for the most part. Even if you do not remember all of it, by reviewing you can relearn what you knew before and you can use that knowledge to benefit your students. I know that most of what I learned in college, in some way benefits me as a teacher. Even though I do not specifically teach chemistry or physics, since I am teaching elementary school I need to cover a lot of this content. Most of the experience I have in these areas are in college. I do not remember all of the content, but it is easier to have that experience to build off of than starting with a blank slate.
Thanks guys for your thoughtful response!
ReplyDeleteI appreciated your response to question two. Teachers might not immediately remember content matter they had learned during high school and college but with some simple review before teaching, previous knowledge can be accessed and a successful lesson taught.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I don't know if this will prove to be useful but you might want to look at cognitive psychology articles on memory and memorization to help with your research.
In addition to the cognitive psychology hint, maybe try brain based learning. Our math department focused on brain based learning in our professional development a couple years ago and memorizing was directly related to brain development and function.
ReplyDeleteWilson, I really enjoyed our conversation about your research, and I think your ideas about incorporating music into your curriculum will not only increase engagement but also make for deeper understanding....I'm looking forward to hearing your updates.
ReplyDelete