Project-Based Instruction Instrument for Student Observation 4 Scaffolding Observer: Class Dates: 02/14/2013 Class Times: 11:55-2:40

Class Location: Buchholz High School Room 8-027 Course Title: Math for College Readiness

Effective teaching requires that teachers understand the content embedded in the benchmarks that they are responsible to teach and that they align their classroom instruction with those benchmarks. Proper alignment insures that all students will have the opportunity to interact with that content in a meaningful way. Embedded in this proper alignment is the understanding of the appropriate depth of knowledge for the benchmark and scaffolding instruction so that all students can reach that level. As part of this observation, you must: Identify the benchmark(s) being taught in the classes you will be observing, Identify the cognitive complexity for each of the benchmarks, Identify how the lesson is aligned with the benchmarks, and Identify how the teacher scaffolds the lessons and questioning to reach the appropriate level of complexity (if the lesson requires additional days, then determine how far the teacher progressed on the day you observed). Discuss how the implementation of a PBI unit can provide an environment that promotes higher order thinking. 1. List the benchmarks and their cognitive complexity. MA.912.A.3.10 - Write an equation of a line given any of the following information: two points on the line, its slope and one point on the line, or its graph. Also, find an equation of a new line parallel to a given line, or perpendicular to a given line, through a given point on the new line. Cognitive Complexity Level 2: Basic Application of Skills and Concepts. 2. Identify how the structure of the lesson and products the students were working on aligned with these benchmarks. The lessons earlier in the week focused on linear equations, forms of linear equations, and graphing linear equations. Todays lesson defined parallel and perpendicular lines and eventually had students create their own sets of each. The lesson was set up in an I do, we do, you do form. The teacher provided the concepts/procedures and then performed a few examples. Then students and the teacher worked together to solve equations. Finally, students worked on the material individually, using the concepts taught earlier in the lesson. This specific activity asked students to create their own sets of parallel and perpendicular lines. In order to successfully complete this task, students need to fully understand parallel and perpendicular lines. All of the material for the days lesson focused on finding equations of parallel and perpendicular lines given points, the slope, another equation, etc.

Project-Based Instruction

3. Identify how the teacher designed the lesson to provide opportunities for all students to interact with the content and either reach or begin to reach the appropriate cognitive complexity. (i.e. hands-on, level of questioning, worksheets, lecture, group work etc.) The lesson was structured in a way to build student understanding. For the engage portion of the lesson, students were shown two pictures one graph had two parallel lines and the other had two perpendicular lines. This activity was set up for students to identify the characteristics of parallel and perpendicular lines. It also helped the teacher understand what students already know about the topic. The second activity provided students with the task of visually recognizing parallel and perpendicular lines. Afterwards notes were taken on the important concepts. This information help align specific concepts to what they had seen previously. In the note-taking portion of the lesson, both the teacher and students solved several example problems. This helped scaffold the material and build students comfort levels with the material. I believe one of the best ways to learn and assess understanding is by teaching the material to someone else or have students develop their own problems rather than purely solving. The activities provided in the lesson helped students begin to reach the cognitive complexity of the benchmark. 4. Discuss how the implementation of a PBI unit can provide an environment that effectively promotes higher order thinking. PBI units are designed around a real-world event or problem. Within the real-world event students must use mathematical concepts to help create and provide a solution to the issue. In math classrooms students are usually asked to solve problems but those problems are not related to anything in their lives. The more connections one can make to different contents or other real-world situations, the deeper understanding students will have. Students will begin to ask deeper questions and become interested in solving other related issues. That is how a PBI unit can provide an environment that promotes higher order thinking.