Flu and Second Chances

My practical training continues apace, interrupted only by influenza over this past weekend and a fresh rack of MAT classes next week. I would probably be more enthusiastic about the latter if I were better prepared. On the bright side, LHS will hold its parent-teacher conferences tomorrow and Friday, and I get Friday afternoon off for studying and such. Yay!

As I take over greater shares of the daily teaching load and gear up for my work sample (oh-god-oh-god-oh-god I am so hosed) my ambient anxiety level has spiked. I have no idea how I am possibly going to keep up with the example set by my CT, the human dynamo, as she transfers more of the workload onto my shoulders. Planning, organization, and the efficient processing of large volumes of raw information have never been my strong suits. Ironically, that's why I liked math as a student: I rarely had to worry about anything beyond cracking the next tidily gift-wrapped problem.

To make matters worse, I seem to have problems engaging my students during my presentations and checking for understanding on the fly. This is not a good trait to observe in a prospective teacher. The philosopher Bertrand Russell once wrote that "Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty - a beauty cold and austere, like that of sculpture." The quote summarizes my predicament nicely: mathematicians think that math rocks hard, but it's an acquired taste and a tough sell to the uninitiated. Most people have little natural interest in "a beauty cold and austere;" they like their beauty to be warm and hospitable, if you please. And those who like their logic cold and hard often have a difficult time in learning how to relate to the touchy-feely folk who comprise the bulk of our species.

Math teachers really only get a few shots at guiding their students through an initiation into the world of mathematical thought and perception. If the teacher botches this initiation for the students, math may forever alienate them. That is why I am looking forward to the next few weeks with equal parts excitement and trepidation. Algebra Plus, my primary class, will soon begin their introduction to Geometry, and I will be responsible for the design and presentation of these lessons. It is an awesome responsibility in the classic sense of the word "awesome."

Although geometric theorems are often framed in the language and notation of modern algebra, the development of geometry precedes that of algebra in the historical record. Geometry came first. Along with arithmetic, it is the most primal type of mathematics, and was independently developed and practiced by virtually every civilization in the ancient world. It is aesthetically pleasing and accessible, but it also serves as the traditional gateway between common-sense thinking and rigorous logic. Euclid's Elements have often been hailed as the greatest collection of logical arguments from antiquity, and even today most students will receive their first lessons about formal logic through a geometry course.

If I can strike upon the right vein of inspiration, I can reinvent the tenor my entire placement. I can feel it. The transition between Algebra and Geometry gives me a window to turn the classroom routine upside down. But I still have to figure out how to communicate with these kids in a meaningful way. I have to get better at formulating questions that these kids can actually answer with some degree of confidence. And I have to give them some kind of stake in the investigation. These next few weeks will make or break me.

Oh yeah -- I have to catch up on my MAT work too. I almost forgot. Yay!

Two Weeks / One Post

Yeah, I've been neglecting the blog for a couple of weeks now. I'd feel worse about it if I weren't so busy! Then again, I will now have a difficult time trying to reflect on my initial teaching forays, since I'm doing it after the fact. Most of my writing takes place on the job these days: I try to jot down observations from each class period into a sectioned spiral notebook that I keep at my desk.

I have lead taught several lessons by now, and done so for each class in my schedule. Some of those sessions were planned out in advance, but a few were spur-of-the-moment appointments. On the Thursday before last, Ms. Cranford had to rush home to care for one of her sick children. She called in a sub, of course, but she left three of her classes in my hands that day with naught but her notes as preparation -- and I had never lead taught for any of those students before. As nerve-wracking as it may sound, I actually rather enjoyed that experience. When given time to prepare a lesson I tend to over-analyze my approach, just as I tend to over-analyze many things. (It's a common occupational hazard for mathematicians.) While I do not plan to make a habit of going up cold and improvising, it does generate a healthy surge of stage adrenaline (I got over stage fright long ago) which loosens me up a bit. I don't how smooth my delivery was for my students -- you would have to ask them yourselves -- but I must not have screwed up too badly as Ms Cranford was able to pick up right where I left off when she returned the next day.

Whether I get to plan my lesson in advance or not, I'm learning firsthand about the role schema play for students. I'm often surprised by what they do and do not know coming into a classroom. Just today, when I was grading an assignment about scientific notation, I noticed that several students did not seem to know how many zeroes are found in millions, billions, and trillions. Naturally they had trouble with word problems in which quantities were expressed using those words instead of just numbers. Oh well, teach and learn. Sometime in the future, expect a post from me about the mathematical concepts I think every student needs to know. Some of them may surprise you.

So far in my lessons, I have stuck to the basic format espoused by Ms Cranford: spend 10-15 minutes answering questions about yesterday's topic, demonstrate the concept of the day through lecture and whiteboard, and then leave the students with time to start working on the corresponding assignment. It's very traditional -- some critics may even call it obsolete -- but Ms Cranford carries it off very well. I'm not sure that I want to go down that road myself -- I'm not sure that I can travel that road with any degree of success once I'm teaching solo -- but I haven't yet figured out how I want to break from this model. Maybe our upcoming Methods courses will shed some light on the topic. I've heard about different approaches for running a math class during our summer MAT courses, but I've watched math teachers implement the classic approach for many years now. A certain amount of internalization has taken place, I fear. I get the feeling that any serious experimentation will have to wait until I have secured my own teaching position: Ms Cranford's students seem comfortable with her style of teaching, and there is something to be said for having a student know what to expect in class. I don't want to mess up her system just to satisfy my own curiosity, especially when she's getting such good results from it overall.

No doubt some of you are wondering why I'm not fully comfortable with the review/lecture/assignment routine. I have my reasons, but the exploration of those reasons will have to wait for my next post -- whenever I can take time out for another round of blogging. Sleep beckons.

People-Watching; Connect the Blogs

Ah, Fridays. Many LHS teachers subscribe to the 'Casual Friday' dress code, including Ms. Cranford (my cooperating teacher). And I am taking full advantage of that policy by wearing loose-fitting carpenter jeans, beat-up sneakers, and the most flowery Hawaiian shirt in my wardrobe. After spending the rest of the week wearing 'nice' shirts and Dockers in a futile attempt to appear well-dressed and conventionally respectable, this feels good.

As I've mentioned before, one of my primary tasks in the classroom is to help out students when they get to work on their current assignment in class. Ms. Cranford has a knack for spotting students that are struggling on their own but have not yet worked up the nerve to actively seek help. It's almost uncanny: out of nowhere, I'll see her stroll over to a student's desk and ask if s/he needs help, and nine times out of ten s/he accepts the offer. I've tried to pull this stunt a few times, but my batting average is far, far lower than Ms. Cranford's.

Nonverbal communication has never been my strong suit. I suck at gathering intelligence about people through discreet observation. I hope to improve my skills through practical experience, but I have good reason to doubt that I will ever be as proficient as someone like Ms. Cranford. Of course, she also encourages students to help each other solve problems -- and therein lies my salvation. When I finally land my own teaching gig somewhere, I think I'll have better luck with measures designed to help students help themselves. Any student who meekly waits for me to notice their plight may end up waiting for quite a while.

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At the end of my previous post, I briefly floated the idea of linking all the EOU student teaching blogs together. The whole point of blogging, after all, is that it gives us a way to share our observations and reflections with others and learn from their experiences in return. Any measure that facilitates this sharing process works to the benefit of us all.

Sharon Porter has posted links to many (but not all) of our blogs on Blackboard. I propose taking things one step further. If you look to right of these posts, you will find a hyper-linked list of EOU student-teaching blogs. I'm not going to claim that it's a comprehensive list, but it's a start. You too should strongly consider adding such a list to your own blog, or expanding the one you already have. If enough of us do this, we could connect every active MAT blog to every other MAT blog. Any link missed by one list could be archived on another, and eventually shared with the rest of us.

I got the idea after browsing the MAT blogs I had already been following. I stumbled across a link to Word on The Street, Jessie's blog. This was a great find for several reasons: (1) her blog address had not found its way onto Sharon's Blackboard list; (2) Jessie writes well; and (3) she had compiled the longest list of MAT blogs to date, including a few others I had not read. I am now following those blogs.

If anyone needs help setting up their blog list, let me know by posting a comment. I will respond in kind.