Reflection on the group teaching demo

Our team was to teach the surface areas of rectangular, circular, and triangular prisms. The feedback indicates that other groups liked the un-foldable paper models of prisms, which made the purpose of instruction clear. People also mentioned that our instructions were well organized and they liked our hands on activities when they were asked to build a structure using the wooden blocks.

One of the major problems in this teaching demo is that people felt that we emphasized too much on the formulas and it would be much better if we used the real numbers in our activities, which would make our activities more “real”. Few people felt that it was a little confusing that we introduced three shapes together rather than doing it one by one. Some also felt that our instructions could have been more clearer.

I have learned that when you teach a lesson, it might not go to the exact direction where you have planed. It gives me a little taste of classroom management when students kept asking the concepts that I thought they already knew. This could lead to a much bigger problem later on if the questions are not dealt with immediately. Also it is very important to provide instructions clearly, consistently and systematically, especially when giving the instructions for an activity, so that the students would understand what exactly you want them to do.

Lesson Plan: Surface of Prisms (Grade 8)

	What to do	How long	Materials
Bridge	Show prisms. Define what a prism is. Pose problem of how much paint, chocolate or gold it would take to cover.  What dimension do we need?  Intro to Surface Area and why you might need it.	≈ 2 minute	3 large unfoldable prisms (rectangular, circular, triangular)
L. Objective	The learners will be able to understand the basic formulas of rectangular, circular and triangular prisms and be able to calculate the surface of them.
T. Objective	Give clear instructions and arrange engaging activities.
Pre-test	Review measurements of area.	≈ 2 minss
Participatory	Unfold the rectangular prism and explain the surface area of it. Write the formula on board. Do the same for circular and triangular prisms. Let each group build a structure using the wooden blocks. Let the students come up with their own formula for the surface area of their structure.	≈ 8 mins	wooden blocks in shapes of  rectangular, circular, and triangular prisms.
Post-test	Let one group demonstrate in front of the class.	≈ 2 mins
Summary	Check the answers of each group.	≈ 1 mins

Thinking Mathematically (chapter 2&3)

The ideas that introduced in the chapters are kind of intuitive to me, but I never thought of that, and now they are clearly laid out and systematically explained in front of me.

As a math teacher, when we look at a problem, it is important to ask ourselves: “What do I know, what do I want to find and what can I introduce?”  We have to understand that the students might not understand the question. Here, my believe of linguistic in math definitely plays a role and I am happy that the author brings up this point. Besides, as we have seen in our classroom, different people approach a problem differently. Therefore, I do believe the training of breaking down the problems and identifying the questions are essential skills to teach and that the time you spend at the very beginning of solving a problem is not a waste of time.

Many times, students will get stuck half way through, and it is important to help them go back to their key words which they wrote down during the initial step and re-analyze the original problem. And I like the author’s opinion on the fact that it is fine if you are stuck (especially on a math problem)! It is one of those ideas that everybody seems know but often being overlooked. The three phases, entry, attack and review, are an important procedure the students have to learn when solving a math problem.

Zero

There is a number hard to explain.
It is something but stands for nothing.
Dividing by it causes pain.
Because numbers on top of it always fall.

There are clues you shall know.
It is a number hides in an eggie eye.
It stands on your Halloween plate.
But it pops other way around.

Think as if you are splitting into groups.
How can you put yourself into a no one.
It is something you can't separate.
It is a number you call zero.

Radom thoughts about Divide & Zero

politicians used a lot when they split their parties, when they have different ideas, opinions,
teachers also use it a lot when they divide students into different groups,
parents use it a lot when they have to be fair to every children,
friends used it on games or when split the costs of foods
children don't use it or may also use it? not sure,
but adults use it
there is a Chinese saying things are divided into groups, and people also divived into groups according to their characteristics.

what's zero stands for-- nothing, but there is a brand name called point zero, is it a good name?
is there any special meaning about zero except being nothing--zero degree doesn't mean no degree, zero altitude doesn't mean no altitude, we are too used to think zero in math, but there are lots of other ways of using it in different areas. What does it mean by zero?

Reflection on Simmt's Article

Although math (especially when you think about the numbers and shapes) exists almost everywhere in our everyday life, it is largely considered an abstract and therefore hard-to-comprehend subject. As a result, it “has become more and more hidden” in our society. Some people are surprised when they know that my teachable subjects are Mandarin and Math. It makes more sense if I teach science and math, because math and linguistic just don’t come together. Some find a “good” reason that I teach math---because I am Chinese. From these, I can feel the perceived image of a math teacher in many people’s mind. However, I can easily see the connection between these two subjects. The NCTM standards are pretty straight forward, but I particularly like the second one: math as a part of cultural heritage. After thousands of years, math is now becoming more and more “sophisticated”, but it started as a simple counting strategy in our human history. When I teach Mandarin, teaching the written forms of numbers is always my favourite. I show students how ancient Chinese people created the symbols and how the symbols evolved and became the numbers. It’s a part of human history. I think I will do the similar activities with my math classes in the future. After all, math is much more than simply computing.