Week Four Reflection Questions

In chapter 3, they discussed strategies of addition and subtraction. I was encouraged by the descriptions of each type of problem, as well as the sample problems given to the reader. The chapters also discussed how to write problems for your students, and within that told us what students were learning within their specific grade levels. I really liked all the sample problems that the book set up, and I found it really helpful that they mapped out exactly how to write out and make the problem functional for the grade level discussed.

Reflection Question Week Three

How does the information and the tasks presented in chapter two connect to the videos of lessons you viewed as part of challenge 5?
I saw a lot of different things in this chapter that correlated with the videos. The first thing I noticed were the relationships among numbers 1-10 as well as numbers 10-20. We learned about place value relationships and learning what numbers are more and less.


What task (activity) in chapter two was most interesting to you? Why?

I loved the activities with dominos. These objects are such an easy and helpful tool in the classroom. I think that it is very important for students to be able to have that visual and tactile opportunity to learn the value and quantity of the numbers and how to show more and less, addition and subtraction.

Reflection Question Week Two

How did each article help further your understanding of your topic area (Classroom Discourse, Mathematical Tools, Mathematical Tasks, Role of the Teacher, Student Thinking, or Classroom Norms)?

In the Fraivillig article I learned a lot from the Venn Diagram about Eliciting, Supporting, and Extending. Fraivillig talked about when eliciting, the teacher should really practice active listening to each students response towards problems, and as these responses are presented to the class, also think about varying ways she or he can present the information to the class. Also, when recieving responses, teachers should be sure to accept and evaluate each students answer, whether correct or incorrect. When supporting students, teachers should be familiar with and offer the option to students to have assistance in their work as well as lead them through the process. When extending the problem, teachers should offer reflection questions, to give the students the opportunity to take the problem a step further and understand more of what the problem is asking.

In the Mewborn Hewberty article, I really liked the initial comments on Question-listen-question-this method talks about teachers providing good questions to students, and then after recieving their responses, following up with other questions. I like the fact that this article tells us HOW to question our students, without putting them down or lowering their self-esteem. It gives us the opportunity to help our students learn while they might be incorrect in an answer, it also promotes collaboration with the other students.