Alexandra Russell Mr.

Sundberg EDUC 349 24 November 2013 Journal 7

In the lesson that I videotaped, I was teaching the students how to borrow across zeros, which is a very difficult concept for them to understand because they do not yet have a complete understanding of the value of zero itself. I started the lesson by asking them to explain to me what regrouping was. This in itself is hard for students to explain, and we have been working on coming up with a concise definition since our previous unit on addition, but most of them now seem to understand what regrouping is and why they need to regroup even if they cannot clearly dictate what regrouping is. I made sure they understood where regrouping comes from in the beginning of both the addition and subtraction units by using large magnetic base ten blocks to show them the exchange of a tens block for ten ones or one hundred for ten tens. Some of my students already knew what to do when subtracting across zeros, but then when they were asked about why that was so, they became unsure of themselves and took their response, as the girl, T, did in the beginning of the lesson. I have been trying in my math lessons to really explain to them why concepts are what they are so they understand fully what they are really doing in math. This increases their level of thinking and therefore their level of understanding. I tried to use a couple of different teaching modes in this lesson. I taught explicitly while having a small class discussion for auditory learners and I called kids up to the board to do problems for themselves for those who are more tactile. I also taught them a song and dance to help them remember when to regroup which helps those that may need a mnemonic device or movement to learn a concept. When my cooperating teacher came back in the room, it gave me the perfect opportunity for the students to dictate back to me what they had just learned. This helped those who learn by verbally dictating the process themselves. Later in the lesson I provided time for partner work and individual work as well. The most interesting question my students asked was probably when one girl asked me why we were starting in the hundreds place instead of the ones. They seemed to understand borrowing across zeros when there was only one zero, such as 408-128, but in a problem such as 500-148, she did not see that we were starting in the ones place, but we needed to start our borrowing in the hundreds place. This was when I thought of drawing smiley faces in the zeros and making the subtraction into a story where the numbers need to ask to borrow from their neighbors. It was amazing how this small adjustment suddenly made the kids understand why they needed to start borrowing in the hundreds place. They were so amused by the story I came up with and the pictures I drew that they did it themselves and I think it helped them remember the process when they were doing it themselves. Their homework reflected this understanding; the large majority of them did very well on their classwork and homework that night.

I thought I had a good pace throughout the lesson and that I spoke clearly and gave directions that were easy to follow. In the future, I probably would have stopped doing problems involving only one zero, such as 508-128, and just stayed with the problems where they had to subtract over multiple zeros. This is what took them a long time to understand, but I kept doing other types of problems as well. I think in the future, once I saw that they understood how to subtract across one zero, I would stick to subtracting across multiple zeros for the rest of the lesson to cut down on confusion. I think focusing on one type of problem would help the kids focus and grasp the concept better. I would also have turned the screen off on my computer. I was not expecting my kids to notice the computer as much as they did, but in the future I would have definitely eliminated this distraction. Most of my kids are able to sit through a lesson. I try to do a lot of questioning to get them involved because I know in the beginning I do a lot of talking, especially with a new topic. But for the most part, they seem to be engaged and paying attention. After I am done teaching, I try to pull kids up to the board to try the problems themselves while explaining the process to be sure they understand it. In watching this lesson, I noticed that there is a lot more movement than I realized from some students. This bothers my cooperating teacher much more than it does me. I have no problem with my kids moving about the classroom as long as they are paying attention and not distracting others. In the future, I think I will make it a point to be more aware of this, however because there were some points where once one kid got up to throw something out, two other kids found something they needed to throw out and then the movement can become distracting. Overall, I think that my teaching, for the most part, demands the kids attention. They seem to have their eyes on me for the most of the lesson and I think my intonation helps keep them engaged. There was a point where one boy, E, came from the front of the classroom to the back just to check out my computer, which then distracted all of the students. But I thought that I handled the situation well, my redirection was firm, but gentle, and he seemed to get the message. Further in the lesson, when kids became a little excited after I made the numbers into people, it amazed me how by simply calling on the ringleader of the group to answer my next question, the whole groups instantly quieted down. I am not the biggest proponent of behavior modification systems, I think that kids should behave for intrinsic reasons rather than external ones, so I try to use rewards such as being able to come up to the board and solve problems in front of the class, or lead the class in our song instead of giving them a prize. All in all, I feel my lesson went very well. It was fun and exciting to see the light bulbs go off in their heads once they understood the process. I am trying really hard in my math lessons to teach them why math works the way it does, and I think talking through this process is helping them understand math better in general.