End of Semester Teaching Metaphor...Serving as a Lifejacket

After my 488 classroom experience I still see myself serving as a lifejacket while teaching, however, my understanding of this position has changed and grown. The amount of support and assistance I provided my students with kept them afloat during many lessons. At points some students required more assistance and thus relied upon this device more. It was often necessary for me to take someone aside and assess what they were not understanding and how I could offer them extra support.

However, I was not the only person that served as a lifejacket. I quickly learned that my students would serve as lifejackets for one another. Because I could not be in multiple places at the same time it was often necessary for students to lend their support to their classmates or serve as lifejackets to them. Not only did this help me, but it also aided both of them. One gained a greater understanding through taking the time to explain something to another and the other was provided with a new explanation or way of thinking about the piece of information. Thus, I was not the only lifejacket in the classroom.

In addition, I found that the students were not the only people that needed the extra support that a lifejacket may provide. At times I felt like I needed this same lifejacket. During some lessons I looked towards my teaching partner for extra support because I knew I could not do it all on my own. It was also necessary for me to be “saved” by my supervising teacher when learning how to tackle disciple problems throughout the classroom and what the best teaching approaches were. At the beginning of the semester I went into teaching thinking that I would be the one holding everyone afloat, however, I ended the semester with a greater understanding of a lifejacket and the number and range of people it serves. Even as a teacher I am going to need extra support, without this I will not be able to do everything on my own. This support will not only come from my co-workers but also my students. I will be serving my students, but at points they will also need to serve me.

Teaching Response: Lesson Five (March 21, 2007)

The jeopardy game was easily the highlight of our Geometry unit for most of the students. The game was a fun way to review key concepts. I think if we had just presented students with a review sheet they would not have learned or remembered the same amount of information.

In regards to giving the test, I was surprised by a number of things. Considering the class levels I would have expected the first class (lower level) to take longer to complete their work. However, the opposite was true. The class that has stronger math skills took longer and some even needed to be given extra time. The second class asked significantly more questions and took time to carefully complete and check their test, resulting in them needing extra time. The only explanation I have for this is that these students do better and are in the higher level class because of their work etiquette. Maybe if the first class took the same amount of time and put in an equal amount of effort they would be at the same level. However, this was not the case because test scores were basically even between the two classes. I am still questioning and trying to explain these differences.

Teaching Response: Lesson Four (March 19, 2007)

As evident from the pre-assessment and through class discussions it was clear that most of the students had a solid understanding of symmetry and congruency. As a result, we wanted to find a way to challenge the students and expose them to aspects of the concept that they did not have knowledge of. Having students think about lines of symmetry in relation to letters was something they had never done. This forced them to apply their knowledge of lines of symmetry in shapes to different images. For many students this was hard and something once viewed as easy became a challenge to them. In regards to congruency, many students struggled with the same thing. Presenting them with two objects that were the same shape and size but not right next to each other was a challenge. Students were quick to say that the shapes were either non-congruent or similar. Again, I think the students were so used to seeing things presented in only one way and thus, altering one thing forced them to take a step back and gain understanding of the material. I went into this lesson nervous that we were just going to be re-teaching them information that they already knew. However, I quickly learned that altering a few things and presenting the information in a new way can challenge students and in turn strengthen their understanding of the concept. Too often teachers get stuck in a pattern and forget to expose students to material in new and exciting ways.