tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67456152742526228682024-02-20T07:24:19.086-08:00NormalcurvasaurusMegan Schollenberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14684063469983712703noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745615274252622868.post-69180402097961844572014-02-23T11:12:00.002-08:002014-02-23T11:12:58.186-08:00Classroom Management Solutions?So, being a YOUNG first year teacher, sometimes it is hard for me to know if students are being disruptive and chatty just because they want to see how far they can push me OR because they simply are that chatty and disruptive! My group of Grade 9 students is especially chatty and disruptive. The new English teacher who teaches right beside me has the same group of students right after me and was having the same problem. While discussing our mutual problem, we decided we needed some strategies to help us survive the rest of the year (we have the same students every day for an hour from September to June - this is double the amount of time they get in every other class as our Admin has decided that students need to have a strong grasp of Math and English during their grade 9 year which will assist them in the rest of their high school career).<br />
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<span style="color: red;"><b>STRATEGY #1</b></span><br />
Enter <a href="http://mathequalslove.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Math = Love</a> to save the day! While doing my daily blog reading, I came across what Sarah was doing in her class with the "<a href="http://mathequalslove.blogspot.ca/2014/02/what-were-you-doing.html" target="_blank">What were you doing</a>" sheets. They seemed like a perfect fit for my students - students wouldn't get the attention they so desire after doing something that I find disrespectful and disruptive to a cooperative learning environment, instead they would simply fill out a form describing IN THEIR OWN WORDS what they were doing, and what they are now going to do about it. My colleague and I started using these forms this week. So far, I have only had to hand out one to a student who refused to follow my request to stay in his seat to work on problems individually instead of with friends (where clearly no work was getting done). My colleague on the other hand, has handed out 4. I believe the kids get restless after being together for 2 hours and start to go a little (more) crazy in her class.<br />
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The sheets seem to be working so far, and will provide me with excellent documentation when I need to contact parents! <br />
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<b style="color: red;">STRATEGY #2</b><br />
Our students do not understand the concept of quiet. We have explained over and over again how some students need the classroom to be a quiet place in order to process information, especially when we are teaching. Yet our students continue to talk and whisper when we are giving instructions, lecturing, etc.<br />
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So, our second strategy is to put a tally mark on the board (in a designated area) every time a student talks when we are teaching or giving instructions. If students are contributing to the discussion, such as saying the next step to solving a math problem, no tally mark is given. However, if a student is talking to his friend at the back of the class about hunting plans, a tally mark is given.<br />
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Each tally mark received is worth 20 seconds at lunch. The tally marks continue over from my class to my colleague's class. As she has them right before lunch, she simply keeps them there for however long the tally marks add up to. The ENTIRE class has to stay, which I know is not fair for the better behaved students but we are hoping the peer pressure will kick in and the chatting will stop! Students have plenty of time to chat while completing assignments during class, we simply just do not want them talking when we are talking.<br />
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This strategy has worked this week so far, with students staying for about 2 - 3 minutes each day.<br />
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Hopefully our strategies will continue to work as we finally feel as though we have some control over the chaos that is our classroom some days!Megan Schollenberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14684063469983712703noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745615274252622868.post-89756440217451549182014-02-23T10:48:00.000-08:002014-02-23T10:48:03.920-08:00Crazy first semester!Well, I have officially completed my first semester as a high school math teacher - Final Exams, Provincial Exams, Report Card comments and all! My first semester was hectic - especially as my classroom management skills still need to be developed and fine tuned. This semester will be even more crazy as I am now teaching 4.5 out of 5 classes (I have one prep period every other day).<br />
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With the new semester starting, I have put more emphasis into Mental Math in all of my courses. Where I teach, Mental Math comprises 20% of a student's final mark. Typically, we do Mental Math questions at the beginning of class each day (sort of like Bellringers). Students get between two and four days to practice the types of questions that they will be assessed on during the "Mental Math Test" on Fridays (typically).<br />
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Here is what my grade nine's mental math questions will look like this week. We have been studying how to solve linear equations and inequalities. <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9GDVarg1TsMeEJOblh6Wnd0Njg/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Linear Equations and Inequalities Mental Math</a><br />
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In my grade 10 Applied/Pre-Calculus class, we are going to begin studying Roots and Powers on Wednesday after our Factoring test on Tuesday. Here are the Mental Math questions I am using. <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9GDVarg1TsMNlFkNW9iaG93YzA/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Roots and Powers Mental Math</a><br />
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In Grade 11 Pre-Calculus, we just started a new unit on Radicals. The Mental Math questions I created for this week are similar to the questions the Grade 10 class is doing as it appears my current Grade 11's are not as strong in this area as I would like them to be. <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9GDVarg1TsMTDZKVnUxVmN5LUU/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Radicals Mental Math</a><br />
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Finally, in my Grade 12 Pre-Calculus class, we just began a unit on Rational Functions. As such, my students need more practice with factoring! All of the mental math questions I created for this unit have to do with factoring quadratics and solving quadratic equations.<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9GDVarg1TsMdTA5ZklSZWsxRnc/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Factoring Mental Math</a><br />
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I feel prepared and ahead of the game for this week!Megan Schollenberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14684063469983712703noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745615274252622868.post-7680794149610483562013-09-26T14:38:00.002-07:002013-09-26T14:38:34.607-07:00Classroom Management Problems :(So one month of teaching has gone by (almost!) and my three and a half classes are going pretty well so far! My grade 10, 11 and 12s are all friendly, respectful, attentive (for the most part!) and fun. However, my grade 9 class is driving me bonkers!<br />
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I teach in a small town where everybody has known each other for years. I don't know if that adds to the chaos, but my grade nines just can't seem to stop talking! I have finally trained them to pay attention to me when I am standing in front of the room and teaching or giving instructions. However, whenever they are working in their desks individually or in groups, they get super loud and rambunctious including yelling and sometimes even pushing and shoving (all in good fun, but still not what a teacher wants to see!).<br />
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When we did stations at the beginning of the year, however, those worked amazingly well. Perhaps I will have to do more station work - but I don't want to overdue that. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!Megan Schollenberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14684063469983712703noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745615274252622868.post-53038302042222234072013-09-05T18:04:00.004-07:002013-09-05T18:04:58.349-07:00First Day of Teaching.... EVER!So after two PD days, the students finally arrived in classes today!<br />
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I am teaching grade 9 math, grade 11 and 12 Applied math this semester. I started all of my classes off by having the students complete a survey so I can learn more about them. These students are from a very small community so they have known each other forever - that is why I decided against any ice breakers. The survey had basic get to know you questions on the front, and on the back, I asked about their experiences in math classes before, as well as three things they didn't understand from last year. The second last question I asked them to ask me a question - which I will answer in tomorrow's class. The final question I asked students to tell me what they needed me to do as a teacher in order for them to succeed in class - I got a few interesting responses including spend time answering questions, explain things many times, and be available for extra help. I thought those were pretty standard math teacher qualities and things I do all the time. I am new to the school and the students do not know me, however, so hopefully they will see that I do all of those things (and more!) while teaching.<br />
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After that, I went over my class brochure (course outline) which I posted in a previous post.<br />
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Finally, we got to whiteboarding! I forgot to take pictures, but the students were super involved and excited. Most students worked right until the bell and some even indicated they would go home and look at the question some more. All of my students had never heard of whiteboarding before, so it was definitely a novel experience.<br />
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I gave each class one problem to work on (the Grade 12 class actually did both the Grade 11 and Grade 12 problems - I think I may have helped too much with the first problem I gave them).<br />
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The grade 9's worked on the 8 adults and 2 children crossing a river problem (Moar River-Crossing) from <a href="http://writingtolearntoteach.wordpress.com/2012/09/04/moar-river-crossing-and-whiteboarding/" target="_blank">Writing to Learn to Teach</a>.<br />
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The grade 11's worked on the <a href="http://ohiorc.org/for/math/stella/library/problem.aspx?id=29" target="_blank">Queens on a Chessboard </a>problem, from Stella's Stunners.<br />
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Finally, the grade 12's worked on <a href="http://ohiorc.org/for/math/stella/setintro/problem.aspx?id=106" target="_blank">Digit Cell</a>s, from Stella's Stunners as well.<br />
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I chose these problems because they have a low entry - basically guess and check. As I barely know these students, I wanted to see how comfortable they would be with problem solving. I was surprised at how willing these students were to work through these problems, and still persisted even after erasing the whiteboards countless times trying to solve the Queens on a Chessboard problem.<br />
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After the grade 12's solved their first problem, I told them I had another one for them and they were excited!<br />
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Yay! It was a good first day (EVER!) for me! :)<br />
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<br />Megan Schollenberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14684063469983712703noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745615274252622868.post-61877645967024865252013-07-13T08:06:00.002-07:002013-07-13T08:06:15.924-07:00Getting Back Into Blogging!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I haven’t written anything on this blog for almost a
year!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Last year I started with the New
Blogger Initiation and kind of fell off the bandwagon before the end.</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">With my final year of University and practicum completed, I
am ready to jump back on the bandwagon!</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Where I live, there are too many teachers and not enough
teaching positions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I am extremely
lucky to say that I have a term teaching position for next year in a small high
school!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am teaching every single high
school math course over the course of the year (including Grades 9 Math,
Pre-Calculus, and Applied Math) with the exception of the Essentials
Mathematics courses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am extremely grateful
for this opportunity and am looking forward to my first year of teaching!</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">So, with a month and a half left to go, I have started planning
what I want my classroom to look like and what types of routines, procedures,
and activities (including whiteboarding!) that I want to incorporate into my
classroom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I just ordered 6 23x17 whiteboards
to use in my classroom which I am super excited about!</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I also stole the brochure idea instead of a boring class outline
from Sarah at <a href="http://alwildasdaughter.com/2012/07/30/made-4-math-monday-july-30-2012/">Alwilda’s
Daughter</a> and from Kristin at <a href="http://www.hoppeninjamath.com/teacherblog/?p=4">hoppe ninja math</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My Grade 9 version is <a href="https://app.box.com/s/yiis4blen7tq2rmkrroo" target="_blank">here</a></span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> if
you want to take a look!</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">So if any of you out there have any advice on classroom set
up, organization, etc. for a first year teacher, let me know in the comments!</span></div>
Megan Schollenberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14684063469983712703noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745615274252622868.post-5373464255554125752012-08-30T11:44:00.002-07:002012-09-03T17:55:55.091-07:00The Question<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I have to admit that I have never been one of the students to ask a teacher ‘Why do we have to learn this?’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps I already saw the applications of Mathematics at an early age or knew that I would need these concepts to succeed in University Mathematics courses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More likely, I was good at math and liked doing the ‘drill and kill’ problems.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t think I had to have a reason for learning it other than there was a ‘right’ answer and I enjoyed finding it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most students, however, are not like me at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have been lucky enough, or probably just do not have enough experience yet, never to have had a student ask me The Question (which ‘Why do we have to learn this?’ will be referred to from now on in this post).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Depending on the student and the situation, I think I would have different answers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">For a student that I think would respond to </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">humour</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">, I would direct them to the following article:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/07/the-11-ways-that-consumers-are-hopeless-at-math/259479/">http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/07/the-11-ways-that-consumers-are-hopeless-at-math/259479/</a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">and make a joke about them not wanting to be an uneducated or uninformed consumer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">For a student that enjoys </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">English</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">, I would direct them to this article and make a joke about how even authors incorporate mathematical concepts in their writing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2012/aug/23/tolstoy-maths-daniel-tammet">http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2012/aug/23/tolstoy-maths-daniel-tammet</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">If the </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">whole class</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">was having a problem with what we were doing, I would explain that understanding mathematics allows us to:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Manage our time and money<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Understand patterns in the world<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Solve problems using reasoning skills<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Use technology<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Be aware of what makes the objects around us work (search engines, technology, motion, etc.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">If students needed </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">a more concrete answer</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">than the one previously mentioned, I would explain how the following topics that are covered in the Pre-Calculus stream of mathematics in my province are/should be relevant to them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #00b0f0; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Pre-Calculus Topics:</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #00b0f0; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Trigonometry </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(specifically the use of radians)<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>– Who decided there were 360 degrees in a circle? Isn’t this arbitrary? Radians are not an arbitrary measuring unit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are based on the intrinsic properties of a circle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Therefore, many complicated trigonometric expressions can be easily reduced and simplified with the use of radians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Function Transformations</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> – Function transformations relate a function to its corresponding graph.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Functions describe many real life phenomena and the graphs of these functions are sometimes more easily interpreted than the function itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These graphs show you a picture of what is happening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With knowledge of function transformations, you can determine how the different parts of a function (coefficients, degrees, positive or negative) affect the graph of a function, and therefore the interpretation of the data a function represents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Exponents and Logarithms</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> – The functions have many applications including modelling population growth, exponential growth and decay, logarithmic scales eg. Richter scale, pH scale, and they are even used to model the cooling of a dead body (what student wouldn’t find a crime scene application interesting?).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Radical & Rational & Polynomial Functions</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> – used to model real world phenomena<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Permutations and Combinations</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> – The ordering of groups and the number of different grouping possibilities has many applications, especially those related to probability, e.g. the probability that a certain arrangement of runners will win a race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Permutations and combinations can also help you discover the number of different locker combinations, the number of different license plate numbers, and the number of different poker hands.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Of course, all of the above information will never answer ‘The Question’ for a student who doesn’t want to see the necessity or use of mathematics around them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For those students, I have no answer ... <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Megan Schollenberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14684063469983712703noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745615274252622868.post-75236786529435729592012-08-25T08:33:00.001-07:002012-08-25T08:33:28.592-07:00Modeling Data with Radical Functions<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Book Antiqua;">In my province we need to teach students how to take the square root of a function when given the actual function or a graph of that function (in Grade 12 Pre-Calculus Mathematics).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Book Antiqua;">Why is this relevant?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When would you ever need to do this in real life?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Book Antiqua;">Modeling skid marks in vehicle accidents!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Book Antiqua;">This is one of the only application problems I found that incorporates taking the square root of a function for a purpose (other than to just perform the procedure or do the math).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Book Antiqua;">In this document, my answers (which are hopefully correct and mathematically accurate!) are included in red/blue.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Book Antiqua;">I created this worksheet/problem for students to work on as an application of radical functions because I don’t like telling students the only reason they are learning a certain topic is that it will be on the test or they will need it in later mathematics courses. Sure, every topic does not have an immediate application, but I like to use them whenever I can to keep students interested and for them to see that mathematicians discovered these concepts for a reason, not just for ‘fun’.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Book Antiqua;">Here it is!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Enjoy!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Book Antiqua;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B9GDVarg1TsMTHlsb0dtQVI5dVU" target="_blank">PDF version</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Book Antiqua;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Book Antiqua;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B9GDVarg1TsMTi1LMHp2SHRad28" target="_blank">WORD version</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Book Antiqua;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Book Antiqua;">(Hopefully the links work! If they don't, let me know :) )</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Book Antiqua;">Any feedback you have, whether positive or negative is greatly appreciated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the first worksheet I have made about radical functions and their applications so I am not expecting it to be perfect!</span></div>
Megan Schollenberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14684063469983712703noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745615274252622868.post-37595862864664834912012-08-16T07:25:00.002-07:002012-08-16T18:39:53.316-07:00What's with all the dinosaurs?<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 5.25pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: Book Antiqua;">From both my screen name, Ms. Philosoraptor, and my blog name, normalcurvasaurus, you can probably surmise that I love dinosaurs (especially velociraptors), math and philosophy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That would be a slight understatement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wanted my blog name to represent my love of these three things, including my love of teaching.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ever since I was little, I have wanted to become a teacher.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We used to have a fisher price chalkboard in our basement where I would teach my little brother and sister how to add, subtract, multiply and divide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also used to give them homework (which they would never complete!) because I liked to mark each question right or wrong to show them where they went wrong and what the right answer was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hope my teaching skills have improved since then and I won’t be giving homework that can be so easily marked as right or wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want my students to become thinkers, and actually THINK about the mathematics they are doing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do not want them to just plug numbers into a formula and come up with some answer (which may or may not be realistic) and have no idea what that answer represents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is where the ‘philosophy’ component of my blog comes into play.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I took a few philosophy courses in University, I was even planning on minoring in philosophy until I realized there are very few schools that offer philosophy courses where I live (I think just one) and that would not give me an edge in the extremely competitive job market we have.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, while taking these courses, I realized how closely philosophy is related to mathematics and logical reasoning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Philosophy involves reasoning from what is known to deduce other facts or truths.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is what I want my students to be able to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: Book Antiqua;">Why normalcurvasaurus you ask? Well, I don’t really have a good reason for that other than it incorporates mathematics and dinosaurs and that is good enough for me!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRCCQCR0GLn6jkOkAlgPQkF06MYP_L_XOPBbTpRuCE5-9hRIZ1LXYAIfeWGShvLKdcC9x9SdWB_nARWKP_l2oxLIKVLw1p2dZvug7xQDSp009jUzGsEx3s0tGLtaDjCbywSmV6vSdv4w4/s1600/Normalcurvisaurus.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRCCQCR0GLn6jkOkAlgPQkF06MYP_L_XOPBbTpRuCE5-9hRIZ1LXYAIfeWGShvLKdcC9x9SdWB_nARWKP_l2oxLIKVLw1p2dZvug7xQDSp009jUzGsEx3s0tGLtaDjCbywSmV6vSdv4w4/s320/Normalcurvisaurus.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<v:shapetype coordsize="21600,21600" filled="f" id="_x0000_t75" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" stroked="f"><v:stroke joinstyle="miter"></v:stroke><v:formulas><v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"></v:f></v:formulas><v:path gradientshapeok="t" o:connecttype="rect" o:extrusionok="f"></v:path><o:lock aspectratio="t" v:ext="edit"></o:lock></v:shapetype><v:shape alt="http://ts4.mm.bing.net/th?id=I4621656080581191&pid=1.7&w=239&h=99&c=7&rs=1" href="http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=normalcurvisaurus&view=detail&id=53A3769B19C34459D6A747129C6BD533B90A2250" id="Picture_x0020_3" o:button="t" o:spid="_x0000_s1026" style="height: 74pt; margin-left: 279.5pt; margin-top: 10.95pt; mso-position-horizontal-relative: text; mso-position-horizontal: absolute; mso-position-vertical-relative: text; mso-position-vertical: absolute; mso-wrap-distance-bottom: 0; mso-wrap-distance-left: 9pt; mso-wrap-distance-right: 9pt; mso-wrap-distance-top: 0; mso-wrap-style: square; position: absolute; visibility: visible; width: 180.5pt; z-index: -1;" type="#_x0000_t75" wrapcoords="-180 0 -180 21016 21540 21016 21540 0 -180 0"><span style="font-family: Book Antiqua;"><v:imagedata o:title="th?id=I4621656080581191&pid=1" src="file:///C:\Users\MHudson\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image001.jpg"></v:imagedata><w:wrap type="tight"></w:wrap></span></v:shape><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br /><span style="font-family: Book Antiqua;">I guess now would be the time to explain why I love dinosaurs so much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My parents bought a set of dinosaur books for us to read when we were little.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each book described a different dinosaur and that is where it all started.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My brother and sister and I then started watching The Land Before Time series, which involved animated dinosaurs getting into trouble and singing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, the first Jurassic Park movie came out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I began to get really interested in velociraptors, including their hunting and communication techniques which seemed to be really advanced for a ‘primitive’ animal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyways, long story short, and since this is supposed to be a blog about mathematics and mathematics teaching, I love dinosaurs, especially velociraptors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: Book Antiqua;">(I may or may not have a light blue t-shirt with the above normalcurvisaurus image on it.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: Book Antiqua;">So there you have it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is where my blog name and screen name originate.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: Book Antiqua;">Now, why did I decide to blog?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: Book Antiqua;">I have been <s>stalking</s> reading mathematics blogs for a while.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I believe it first started with <a href="http://mathteachermambo.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Math Teacher Mambo</a> and grew from there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I then set up googlereader and now follow and read over 150 mathematics blogs (yes I just went and counted, does googlereader tell you this information somewhere??).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I decided to blog to write about my own experiences with teaching, starting with student teaching this year and hopefully growing to ‘actual’ teaching next year when I get my teaching certificate and hopefully *fingers crossed* get a full time teaching position.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also wanted to join in all the fun that you guys seem to be having!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Megan Schollenberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14684063469983712703noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745615274252622868.post-4198548456738073422012-06-29T17:16:00.001-07:002012-06-29T17:16:42.985-07:00Pre Calculus SudokuAs I have nothing practicum/teaching related to write about, here is a Pre Calculus Sudoku I created - the normal rules of Sudoku apply. Students first need to evaluate the expressions in order to solve the Sudoku puzzle.<br />
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This is my first time using GoogleDocs so let me know if the link isn't working and I can try to fix it!<br />
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<a href="https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B9GDVarg1TsMazVRVk1ySGJWZ3M">Pre Calculus Sudoku</a><br />
<br />Megan Schollenberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14684063469983712703noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745615274252622868.post-6544311925308715872012-06-21T18:57:00.002-07:002012-06-21T18:57:59.032-07:00Practicum Placement!<br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">I finally received my practicum placement for my final
year! I am at a fair size high school
that I know little about but I have heard good things about. This particular high school is increasing the
integration of technology in their classrooms by requiring certain grades to
bring some type of computer (iPad, laptop, etc.) to class. I have never student taught, or even been in
a classroom, that contained so much technology and required teachers and
students to use this technology fairly regularly. I believe the students are supposed to use
these devices to take notes and complete other classroom activities in lieu of
using massive amounts of paper. I am not
sure how this is going to work in a Mathematics classroom... I am capable of
typing math equations either using word or latex, although latex I find more
difficult as I do not use it as much.
Besides the note taking, being able to use various apps and visual
demonstrations to explain mathematical concepts and help students understand
the beauty and importance of mathematics will much easier now that each student
will have their own device. I am excited
to be able to share various videos and apps that I have found over the years
with students and help them succeed in math class. I guess I will just have to wait and find out
how I am expected to use technology in the classroom! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">I have already contacted the vice principal of this
school and set up a meeting in late August to meet my cooperating
teacher/teachers? (the Canadian version of a mentoring teacher). Sometimes the schools wish to meet the
student teachers earlier... but I guess I am waiting until August to find out
what grades I am going to be teaching!
For now I will just look for ideas for any high school math
class... </span></div>Megan Schollenberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14684063469983712703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745615274252622868.post-80020169220928752422012-06-02T09:06:00.001-07:002012-06-02T09:06:51.021-07:00First Post!Good Morning!<br />
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This is my first post of my first blog and I'm not sure who is going to actually be interested in what I have to say... but this is mainly for me to keep a record of my thoughts on teaching, classroom management, and lesson planning. Maybe I can even get some feedback from all my fellow Mathematics teacher bloggers out there!<br />
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I have been reading blogs, especially those by mathematics teachers, for a little over a year now and I have read many good ideas that I wish to use in my own classroom one day. Well.. that is hoping I actually get hired as the job market here is pretty dismal. Either way, I want to grow as a teacher and be able to reflect on my practices to see where I can improve.<br />
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That is all for now as school is done for the summer! I will get my practicum placement for next year soon so I am very excited about that!Megan Schollenberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14684063469983712703noreply@blogger.com0