Teaching Math and Science Portfolio

EDU431
Alessandra Siggia
Professional Practice:
Members strive to be current in their professional knowledge and recognize its
relationship to practice. They understand and reflect on student development, learning
theory, pedagogy, curriculum, ethics, educational research and related policies and
legislations to inform professional judgment in practice.
Artifact Description:
I designed a lesson plan that was to be presented to Niagara candidates in class. The
lesson plan was based on one specific area in the full day kindergarten program. The
lesson planned was to cover the students awareness of the natural and built environment
through hands on investigations, observations, questions and representations of their
findings. My job was to teach students the minds on aspect of this lesson, getting them
involved in their learning, I did this by introducing vegetables by bringing stocks of
vegetables of how they would be if they were grown and pulled from the root, I think
brainstormed with the class other vegetables that they enjoyed eating. Following the
brainstorm I introduced vegetables through literature, reading the book Stone Soup by Jon
J Muth. After reading the book the class engaged in making their own stone soup with a
slow cooker and vegetables.
Artifact Rational:
Finding new and innovative ways to teach math and science has never been so exciting
until now, exploring various ways on how to deliver lessons on math and science no
longer has to be a chore or something to shy away from. The stigma of teaching math
to students or science is one that is perplexing. Teacher may feel intimidated to teach
their students these subjects simply because of their negative experiences they have had.
As a future educator, and now having learned about math and science In a new light, we
can leave the stigma behind and give future students a fair chance to expand their skills
and knowledge in math and science. Perhaps even use what they have learned in the
future, elaborating on past experiences. Students will also have the opportunity to use
math and science more practically if math and science is taught right, which includes a
teacher who takes the time to get to know what their students like, and who their students
really are. It is to be considered that children are 21st century learners, meaning out with
the old and in with the new. Nancy Harlow Pejouhy states a generation of youngsters has
grown up with ready access to calculators, and these youngsters question the worth of
years wasted on such tedious tasks as page after page of long division and addition and
multiplication of columns of decimals. Many of her students recognize the irrelevance of
such a curriculum and rebel against it (Pejouhy, 1990). Three findings that I found
interesting are the following: learning substantial math is critical for primary grade
children(Sarama et al., 2009). What children learn in their early years really does make
a big imprint in their future endeavors. The second finding is All children have the
potential to learn challenging and interesting math(Sarama et al., 2009). Children should

be able to come up with their own problem solving skills, especially in math; they are
able and should be given a chance to explore their findings. And lastly, Understanding
childrens mathematical development helps teachers be knowledgeable and effective in
teaching math.
Reflection:
Im am firm believer in learning in enriched ways is what leads the mind to explore and
think outside the box. As a future educator, I promise to input the time and effort to
create a lesson plan, in which considers all students interests and their abilities. Various
curriculum areas should cross over each other, I think its important for this to take place
when teaching and learning. To me, it makes more sense to think of productions of
knowledge as extended projects, where students can take pride in their work and actively
take part in their learning, instead of passively learning. This may consist of regurgitation
and teacher centered learning. Students may not get anything from these lessons,
allowing them to question what use will these lessons be to them. Therefore, practical
lessons are what drives me to become the teacher I would like to be in the future. Lesson
planning, especially the delivery of a new topic is everything. I believe everything could
be fun if its planned out to be, I have hope for dull lessons that are deemed as dull, I
believe if there is a will there is a way. For example my lesson on vegetables, not only
did we learn about different types of vegetables; we learned how to make a soup, we
learned about the temperature of the slow cooker, the time it took to cook, the meaning of
sharing and helping others and the best part of all of this was, it was all in one lesson.
This makes it easy for lessons to branch of into other discussions, possibly covering other
circular areas. This math and science course allowed me to critique potential teacher
candidates ideas on how to deliver various lessons. Like I have been talking about, what
better way to learn than to live it. This task was amazingly beneficial, to myself and to
other teacher candidates. I really enjoyed the use of higher order thinking when creating
the lesson plan, it leaves room for students to create meaning and be proud of what they
have co created with their teachers and peers, it is definitely a way to connect to the
world, self and text.
References:
Muth, J. J. (2003). Stone soup. New York: Scholastic Press.
Pejouhy, N. H. (1990). Teaching math for the 21st century. The Phi Delta Kappan, 72(1),
76-78.
Sarama, J., & Clements, D. H. (2009). Teaching math in the primary grades: The learning
trajectories approach. Young Children, 64(2), 63.