11/2/08 - Get Involved with a Professional Group Related to Your Content Area
Earlier this fall, I joined the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). I'll admit that the only reason I joined, at this point in my education, was because I was required to in order to be part of the Education department at my school. I didn't think I would use it all that often, although I hoped it would prove useful since I had to pay for a membership and subscription to a journal. I have become aware of it's usefulness as a solid resource that I have already used when doing research. It has proven to be a good source where I can read up on and learn more about my content area, which is obviously math. It has offered good materials that have made me consider several areas in the teaching of mathematics, and I can say that I am thankful that this was a mandatory assignment.
In one of my classes, we (the students) are required to write two papers this semester (one we have already done). For the first paper, we were to find different teaching strategies that were (hopefully) specific to our content area. While I first looked at our library's online database, I soon realized that I could use the NCTM's website and journals. I was quite impressed by the information that I found and how well I was able to connect it to the rest of the sources that I found. The articles gave me quite a bit of insight into different strategies that I could use when teaching math. I was very pleased when I was ready to write my paper because I felt that I had a solid base that I could build my paper on.
Several times I've looked through their journals to see what other kinds of articles they have to read and again, I've been impressed. There are lots of articles about activies that are just there for teachers to use in their class; there are articles that are meant to help teachers better understand special needs students, or students who are coming from different backgrounds; and there are personal stories submitted from different teachers who are ready to offer insight into their practice. Each issue is filled with a varity of new topics that are explored by many education professionals and local math teachers who have something to share about their profession. I've really enjoyed reading the articles and thinking about how I will be able to apply the information to my future classrooms.
As I begin researching for my next paper, I know that I will use the NCTM's journals again. Each time I read something from their journals I become a little more excited about becoming a math teacher. It gives me something to think about for the future, when I will one day use these techniques and skills that current teachers are offering up. I really have enjoyed using the NCTM as a resource and I can honestly say that I'm glad I became a member, even if it wasn't my choice at first!
12/3/08 - Support systems
Throughout high school and my first year and a half of college, I have made a number of friends who I feel will be good supports in the years ahead. Many of these are teachers (a couple math) who I've had in the past while others are family or adult friends I've made. Here is a list of those contacts, why I feel they are good supports, and what I enjoy about them.
Heather - While Heather wasn't actually my teacher in high school, she was my softball coach and was a chaperone on a large school trip. I've been able to get to know Heather fairly well, and enjoy calling her my friend. We've had lunch and had good talks about whatever was going on in our lives at that time. I think I was in 9th or 10th grade when Heather came to my high school and was fresh out of college, so she isn't too much older than I am, which allowed me and my peers to connect with her easily. I also just love her personality - she's outgoing, confident, smart, talented, and loves life. As it turns out, she is a math teacher, so we've been able to talk about math and teaching and how that career is. She has given me a lot of insight into this profession and let me know about the struggles and enjoying parts of it. I really love being able to connect with Heather on both a personal level as well as on the concepts of teaching and math. I think this friendship with Heather will be a positive one for me for a while.
Susan - Susan was a teacher of mine during three different years of middle and high school, and I've gotten to know her fairly well. She was always someone I was able to communicate easily with. Whether it was during lunch in her room, during class, or outside of school around town, we could talk about a whole variety of subjects. She's always been very supportive of me as a student and learner and knows quite a bit about my goals and dreams for life. Like Heather, Susan is very full of life and loves to experience new situations, whether traveling around the world or taking part in some new activity. I know that I can always ask Susan for advice, whether about school or life in general, and she will always be ready to answer and help me. Whenever I go back home, I always look forward to meeting up with her.
Tim - Tim was yet another teacher of mine during my senior year in high school. He was my physics teacher and always found creative ways to make the class enjoyable. I was a huge fan of his humor and uplifting attitude that he brought to the class each day. He is also a teacher who I look forward to catching up with when I go home. Tim was very supportive of me and each of my classmates and always tried to give us as much help as he could. He pushed us to do well and truly wanted us to learn about whatever topic he was teaching. I felt that he was someone I could talk to if I was having difficulty in some area, even if it was outside of the class. Each time I visit and tell him how I'm doing, I can tell that he is truly interested, as he always invites me in to sit down and we chat for a good while.
Marcia - Marcia is my mom's cousin and lives pretty close to my home. We attend the same church, so I see her a good amount and I've grown up around her so I know her pretty well. I also took piano lessons from her for about seven years, so I've just been around her enough to know that I can easily talk to her. As long as I've known her, Marcia has always been a very real person. She enjoys her life but accepts that there are tough times that we will all face. With this acceptance, she faces her life with a positive view of things and is a good model for me. I've had lots of good talks with her, especially in the past few years as I've gotten older, and I know she's available if I need to talk about something in particular, or even nothing at all. I feel that she's someone I could just be around if I needed company. She always has some way of making the situation better, or even just a little less hard to deal with. Having her also be a member of the same church, I know I could talk with her about spiritual struggles that I am going through at any time. It's this kind of connection that I am very grateful for.
Obviously, I know so many wonderful people, and these are just four who I can think of off the top of my head. I've made so many great connections with people over my lifetime and I am thankful for each one of them. I know that so many people in my life support me and want good things for me. Even while writing about these four individuals, I continue to think about more and more people like them who I could turn to if I need help or even just want to be with someone. They will always try to offer good advice or insight and be there to help me continue in my life journey. As I've said, I am so thankful for each of these connections as I continue on my college career and journey ahead.
12/3/08 - The importance of collaboration
During one of my field placements this semester, I was able to view some good collaboration and this led me to thinking about how I will be sure to have collaboration with other teachers in the schools that I (will) work in. In this field placement, I was in a special education classroom and the collaboration that was present was between the three different special education teachers in that classroom as well as with the general classroom teachers.
First, I saw very good collaboration between the special ed. teachers. The three of them seemed to have good relationships with each other and were able to communicate instructions or details about specific students in order to give each student the proper type and amount of support. Whether during lunch or working with a student, the special ed. teachers were able to carry on conversations that were constructive and supportive of each other as teachers, but also as people. It was from this interaction that I saw the importance of collaboration between teachers of the same content area. I thought about my future placement in a middle/high school and how I will need to work with other math teachers in order to keep the students working on projects, passing tests, learning information, and preparing the students for life after school. I saw that these interactions with teachers of the same content area will allow me to bounce ideas off of them (to see what they think) and gather ideas about what I could do to improve my teaching. I realized how important this communication will be for me and my future math teaching peers.
Another kind of collaboration I saw was between the special ed. teachers and the general classroom teachers. Several times, general teachers would come to the special ed. room and see how their students were doing and what they could do to help the student. I also asked my cooperating teacher about the collaboration and she said it generally works pretty well. They sometimes fall behind when the general classroom teachers don't give the special ed. teachers material from the classrooms that the students need. Being on the general classroom teacher side, I realized that I'll have to be sure to give the special ed. teachers the right material, and on time, for students who need to be taken out of my class at some point (though I hope this doesn't happen too often - I would like for the special needs students to be in my class as much as possible). I realized that not only will I have to take care of each of my general students, but I'll have to make accommodations for the special needs students and make sure I give all the information about the units I'm covering, projects/assignments I'm assigning, and anything else that the special ed. teachers need. I realize that this will be an extra feature of being a general classroom teacher, but I'm ready to accommodate!
I learned so much from this field placement in a special education room, even though I'm a general classroom education major. It gave me so much insight into the world of special education, as I should have, since I will surely have special needs students at some point (probably many points) in my teaching career. I was able to see the areas where my involvement with the special education department will come into play and how I'll have to be ready to make accommodations, both for my students and in my schedules, in order to give the best support to the students. This field placement really gave me a good view into the importance of collaboration and making creating allies in the world of teaching.
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