Teaching Practice Task 1 – Weekly Reflections

Objective: Write your weekly reflection in paragraph form (in a blog on your Weebly
website). You should complete a reflection of a min. of 150 words for each week.
Remember, it is your personal account of your thoughts, feelings and reactions during
your time in the school.
You can use this table to make notes / jot down ideas during TP. It would also be helpful to consistently
reflect on your professional development. When completed you will upload your work to your blog and
add pictures to support the ideas written about.

How is Math delivered in the classroom? What were the learning outcomes taught? Were
all levels (E, D, and M) taught? How (or why not if they weren’t)?
The way that my MST is delivering during the lesson to the student is based on their level,
which mean that she is using the simple math words when she is expelling such as, addition,
ones, tens and hundred by showing them video. Moreover, when she is say math words she
is modelling it and let the students do it too by using smart board. Also, she is using number
line and place value house while she is teaching, and the good thing is that she is letting the
students to use it with her, and this way will help the student to get access to the
information swiftly. Furthermore, in the end of the delivering the lesson she is asking them
question for example about the place value “where we start from the once or from the tens
or hundreds?”. My MST is always writing the outcome of the lesson on the board, because
it’s required from the principle to write on the board. In my opinion telling to the students
about outcome is vital because, they should know what they will be learning today. During
my TP, I notes on my class students that, they are in developing and emerging level, the
reasons that I consider them under this level is because they are confused when they
grouping the numbers and in place value, most of the students they don’t know to add
three digit numbers, and other they don’t know how to write the numbers, and the rest they
don’t know the different between ones, tens and hundred.

How was your Math Talk during the lessons that you were teaching Math or working with
small groups?
As I mention that the level of the student is low so the teacher she is using simple words
during explaining for the class, for example instead of saying other synonyms of the sum she
is saying adding, top on that she is providing them with real-life examples where they use
numbers, for example in shops. During my observation, I noticed that she is asking them
questions a lot that have number on it, and the reason is that she needs from them to realize
the different between the slang talk and the math talk, and to have progress in the problem
which counting and numbers, so for example she is asking how many sister and brother do
you have? So, If we add these two numbers what number we will get? As well as she is
displaying the useful words in the wall to help students with whole class then she sends
them to the centres and she sit with emerging group to explain for them the words and the
activity. In this lesson, which is Add two, three digit numbers with regrouping. She uses
addition and pulsing words. My MST she introduces the vocabulary words by asking them
questions like “when we add we should to jump which way”? also she ask them “when we
add the number become bigger or smaller?”. She needs from them to realize the different
between addition and subtraction.

What did you do to create and maintain a positive environment in the classroom?
What I noticed in my MST is that she is humour teacher with her students, and she is always
making them feel secure and this shows that she has a good relationship too. As well as she
is displaying their work on the wall with pressing them and saying positive sentences for
example “you are work is excellent but I what to see the out stand work and I know you can
do it”. in addition, she is reinforcing positive behaviour for example in the begging of the
class she is saying the group that will be quite and quick done work will get a present in the
end of the class.

How was your timing for your transitions? Did it go smoothly? Did you get caught up in
what you were doing and forget the time? Were the students noisy/calm?

During my observation to my MST I don’t see that she is having transition, from part to part
in her lesson. But her lesson is always finishing before the class time, and students they are
waiting for the bail, this declare that she doesn’t have a good time management, and when
she is dons from her lesson earlier, students are start to feel tedium and do misbehaviour,
for example playing with class resources, or being noise. My MST is always writing the
outcome of the lesson on the board, because it’s required from the principle to write on the
board. In my opinion telling to the students about outcome is vital because, they should
know what they will be learning today.

How did you introduce the math centre this week? 1 day/over a few days/during other
lessons/whole class/guided groups?
My MST she is always starting her math lesson with reviewing the previous lesson, where
she is asking them general questions for example in adding what we do. In subtraction,
what is happing? Also, most of the time she introducing the math lesson with showing them
videos or with using objects like number line, in my opinion is a great way of starting the
lesson to reviewing for them what they know, and the videos will attract the child for the
lesson, and if teacher used things that don’t attract the child for example worksheets they
will be hard to involve student mind to the lesson, especially if there are younger students.

How did you monitor the learning when the children were working on their activities? Did
you use rubrics? How did it go?
When students working in their groups teacher rounding on them to check if they
understand the activities. However, when they are working on their books she is rounding
on them and checking if they are doing well or not, and the students that are facing problem
a lot in solving the problem she is helping them and in the end of the class providing them
with worksheets that conduct the equations of the lesson to have practice on them, and its
goes well, because in the second day students they do well when teacher asking them
questions.

Did you observe any math strategies this week? Or did you teach any math strategies? Or
did the teacher teach/use any math strategies when teaching?

Using objects: she is consuming objects with students while she is delivering the lesson and
working in their centers, and I note that it works with the students, because they are doing
it too, because when the student does hand on activity the information will stick in his or her
mind batter then teacher drill the information.

Number line: she is using it with students when they must add or subtract the three-digit
number, but it doesn’t work with special education students because most of them they
don’t know the numbers.

Using real life example: she is always connecting the lesson with example that are happing
in the life, for example yesterday me and my sister we ate 3 ice-creams but we bought 8 so
how many ice-cream left? In my point of view using this strategy with young students is
good, because they like to share and express their experience, so this will be a great
occasion of letting students to learn the additional skill which is expressing their experience,
and building their confidence.