When we arrived at the classroom around 9:05 AM, students were already in the room chatting, getting settled, and eating. Wynne introduced me to some of the students there and said she’d make a larger announcement when the majority of the class arrived at 9:15 AM. By that time, there was hardly any room in the classroom; chairs had to be brought in from outside to accommodate them. (Sadly, I knew this wouldn’t last because if they were not dedicated, punctual, and engaged they would be cut from the program after two weeks. The program had to ensure that everyone who was attending class truly wanted to be there and would do the work.) She introduced me very casually: “Guys, remember the person I said would be helping out every Wednesday…” That made me feel at home because she had already prepared the students for me. I introduced myself and then each student went around the class a told me their names. I certainly did not get all their names, but a few students stood out because of their vibrant and bubbly personalities. After the meet and greet was over, Wynne introduced the math warm-up activity. Students were given 10 minutes to count all the triangles in the diagram. (Can you get the correct amount? See below.)
I worked on the activity with the students and the looked at the answers around me. Some students got it, other students didn't, and other were close but began doubting themselves. It was a great activity to get the class focused on one task as well as great way to solicit class participation.
Wynne used it as an opportunity to review a math technique taught the class before. The technique was far easier and more efficient than the way I had solved the problem. I counted each triangle by sectioning off each on a placing a tally mark. In her method, each of the inner triangles received a number and the different combination would equal one triangle and then the outside triangle was added. I really enjoyed that warm up more than the students!
I was very concerned with having to deal with various mathematical subject matters prior to accepting the internship. This activity showed me that I could still do math, I just needed to review and prepare for each class that would deal with math.
The first class, for me, was an observation period; I did not want to over-step any boundaries. I watched Wynne closely as well as the students reaction to her requests. After the warm up activity, we moved on to the main activity for the first part of the day: answering critical reading comprehension questions about climate change from a famous Marvin Gaye song and three articles from (one from the nation and the other two from NASA).When working on the questions and answer activities, I walked around the class helping students where necessary and reminding some to work on the assignment and not stare off into space. I was able to identify areas specific students needed improvement in. For example, when asked to answer questions about the readings on climate change one pair of young men were working together. One was obviously stronger than the other in terms of following the directions, reading and identifying key points by underlining, placing an exclamation mark or a key symbol for important details or points that you agree with, or even placing a question mark where he didn’t comprehend a sentence, idea, or word. Student A was tackling each question at a good speed while student B was seemingly waiting for the answers. I assisted by first pointing out that student B needed to read the article and underline all key ideas. I even sat down and read the first three paragraphs with student B and tried to answer the first question with him. He began to catch on but it was slow and other students needed help. I told him to continue working and call me if he gets stuff again. I helped many students that morning, but could not stay for the afternoon because I was still working on finals for spring semester. All in all, it was a great first day and I felt I could work well with Wynne and the students through the remainder of the program. I was excited about shadowing Wynne in the class and helping the students with each activity. However, I was still nervous about the idea of teaching my own lesson in a few weeks.
The first class, for me, was an observation period; I did not want to over-step any boundaries. I watched Wynne closely as well as the students reaction to her requests. After the warm up activity, we moved on to the main activity for the first part of the day: answering critical reading comprehension questions about climate change from a famous Marvin Gaye song and three articles from (one from the nation and the other two from NASA).When working on the questions and answer activities, I walked around the class helping students where necessary and reminding some to work on the assignment and not stare off into space. I was able to identify areas specific students needed improvement in. For example, when asked to answer questions about the readings on climate change one pair of young men were working together. One was obviously stronger than the other in terms of following the directions, reading and identifying key points by underlining, placing an exclamation mark or a key symbol for important details or points that you agree with, or even placing a question mark where he didn’t comprehend a sentence, idea, or word. Student A was tackling each question at a good speed while student B was seemingly waiting for the answers. I assisted by first pointing out that student B needed to read the article and underline all key ideas. I even sat down and read the first three paragraphs with student B and tried to answer the first question with him. He began to catch on but it was slow and other students needed help. I told him to continue working and call me if he gets stuff again. I helped many students that morning, but could not stay for the afternoon because I was still working on finals for spring semester. All in all, it was a great first day and I felt I could work well with Wynne and the students through the remainder of the program. I was excited about shadowing Wynne in the class and helping the students with each activity. However, I was still nervous about the idea of teaching my own lesson in a few weeks.
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