Alex Welle

December 10, 2017

Mrs. Hahn

MAED 3224

Reflection

During my clinical observation, my teacher covered the following standard. 2.NBT.1

Understand that the three digits of a three-digit number represent amounts of hundreds, tens, and

ones; e.g., 706 equals 7 hundreds, 0 tens, and 6 ones. The major mathematical goal for 2.NBT.1

is for students to be able to identify and represent three digit numbers.

The teacher had the students gather on the carpet with their math journals. She started

with the lesson with asking the students to create the number thirty-two with units of counting.

This allowed the students to determine the most efficient way in getting thirty-two units.

Majority of the students drew out thirty-two circles. Some students grouped numbers together by

fives. The teacher acknowledged the students who groups the numbers together by fives. She had

one student come up to the board to demonstrate her answer to the rest of the class. She said I

like how you grouped these numbers by fives. Was it easier to get to thirty-two by counting by

fives? A student raised her hand and said Yes I got to thirty much quicker but I was not able to

make another group because I only had two left. The teacher took this knowledge from the

students an applied it to the introduction to the lesson. When we get into the hundred it will not

be very effective to count out hundreds of single units so we are going to learn a way to group

these numbers together. We have our hundreds, tens, and ones units. A ones unit counts as a

single digit number we represent this by a single circle like this (Teacher demonstrated on the
board). When we get to our tens it is a group of ten ones in a unit together and that is represented

by a line like this (Teacher demonstrated on the board). When we get to our hundred it is a group

of ten tens in a unit together and that is represented by a square (Teacher demonstrated this on

the board). The teacher pulled out counting rods to also demonstrate how the units are counted.

She covered up the tens rod with her hand to only show a one. This is a single unit for

ones. She removes her hand and says lets count these together. They count up to ten together as

a class. The teacher says Great job this represents a ten because there are ten ones. To create a

hundred unit, we need ten tens. The teacher pulled out ten tens rods and the students counted

with her by tens. The teacher then went on to create an anchor chart on how to represent these

counting units on paper. The anchor chart hangs in the room and the students have it written

down in their math journals.

The students were then asked to return to their seats so they could explore and create

independently. During their independent work the students played a game called math gym

which is another way to do stations. The teacher had questions set up at each table and the

students would rotate with their table team. During math gym, the students will solve the

problem and then have to do ten sit ups, ten push-ups or ten jumping jacks after they solved the

math problem at that station. When everyone completed their math gym exercise, they would

move as a table team to the next question. The students had to document their answers into their

math journals and would be reviewed when pulled back together at the end of the rotation for

group discussion. The teacher walked around the classroom to observe students work and posing

questions.
 I was asked to work with three students in a small group during the math gym rotation

game. My clinical teacher had asked me to work on tens and ones which was a lesson they had

previously covered and these students were still struggling with the concept. There was a sheet

protected worksheet that had numbers on them for example: 24, 63, 45, and 17. The students

needed practice on adding and subtracting ones and tens from a number. I provided the students

with numbers charts to help them better understand this math concept. I would count on the

numbers chart with the students to show the adding and subtracting of tens and ones. They still

participated in the math gym concept when they finished a problem they would do ten of their

chosen exercise. These students did not get to work on representing three digit numbers. I

focused on what the teacher had asked me to which was adding or subtracting a ten and one from

a number. I tried to incorporate representing numbers in the small group so they were still getting

practice even though it was only two-digit numbers. I had the student draw a representation of

the problem number for example 25 the student drew two rods and 5 circles to represent the

number then we would work on adding and subtracting the tens and ones from that number.

The common misconception in representing three digit numbers was students would

group numbers wrong. I think if the teacher would have introduced the hundreds chart at the

same time as introducing how to represent three digit numbers students would have been able to

group the numbers and keep their thoughts more organized. Majority of the students succeed at

representing three digit numbers and were ready for more difficult content. Other students who

were not able to accurately represent three digit numbers need more practice with this

mathematical concept. These students would benefit from a hundred chart.

 My overall clinical experience with the teacher and the students was very enjoyable. I

liked how the she incorporated the exercise into the independent work to keep students focused

and on task. She had found that her students do not do well with math when just sitting at a desk

working independently so she found a way that worked well with her students and applied it to

her lesson. One thing that I would have changed myself is that the students in a small group were

focusing on a lesson that was taught previously and not on the current lesson. I know that they

are behind but for them to stay with the rest of the class they should be working on the current

lessons as well and during their morning work they could practice previous math concepts. The

students stayed motivated throughout the lesson despite the fact that it is an hour and a half

dedicated to math which is hard for second grade students to focus that long on a subject. I was

impressed with how the teacher conducted her classroom. I will use the inclusion of exercise in

my future lesson to keep students motivated and on task.