Janet+Chambers

Journal #1. Hello, my name is Janet Chambers. I have worked at Dhahran British Grammar School for 14 years and been in KSA for 18 years. We came for 2 years and stayed. Our 5 children have grown up here and now get depressed when we visit the souks and the shop keeper remembers when they had only size 28 not 44 feet. In all those years I have taught maths for grades 6 through 10 up to IGCSE having previously taught in Edinburgh, Scotland, our home city. I have also worked as an educational researcher analysing surveys with my maths skills. I am hoping that this course will give me a clearer idea of the structure and method of current curriculum design and how it impacts on education in the classroom. I want to know what actions I can do to enable my students to improve their skills in all areas and how to change my teaching to engage the students in meaningful learning. Journal#2 The author’s view of knowledge arts is that schools are failing to deliver the knowledge arts to students by ignoring the second curriculum of “ideas, skills and attitudes for learners to learn” and emphasizing the content knowledge of learning. He is in favour of enquiry based learning which brings communication and manipulation of ideas, changing the way students think about knowledge and enabling them to carry those ideas outside the classroom. In response I would say that we do need to engage our students in personally significant experiences, make knowledge more relevant and meaningful for them and teach the higher level skills of explanation and application. Curriculum designers need to consider the negative impact of testing on the curriculum, how it encourages memorization and skill repetition but not lateral thinking. They should be aware of the need to generate positive motivation and increase personal involvement in the learning process, to make students curious and active thinkers as these actions improve understanding. They need to include creativity, the development of communication in all modern forms, teaching of organisation skills and the application of knowledge. Making thinking visible to students increases their awareness of the thought processes required for creative development and should be included in all curriculum design. According to Eisner the “primary aim of education is not to enable students to do well at school but to help them do well in the lives they lead outside of school”. By enabling them to deal effectively with the present they will become adept for the future. The skills of critique, analysis, judgement, the application of literacy in multiple forms and understanding and knowledge of numerous ways of representation should enhance learning both inside and outside school. Our curriculum tends to be “a one size fits all”. The consequent teaching and testing necessary to enable everyone to access or appear to access everything prohibits development of independent thinking and encourages rote learning and repetition. All do not learn at the same pace so time must be prioritised. Teachers teach to a “recipe” to pass a test which evaluates their own competency on how many pass, not necessarily who has learnt what. The higher level selection process for college impacts on other learners by ignoring vocational and other non traditional ways of learning. Parents, while holding on to general beliefs about well rounded education, will always ask for grades first not other issues concerning social development, community service and critical thinking. In my present case I am forced to teach to an exam syllabus. The need to have a basic level of competency in maths and the hierarchical nature of the subject means that higher level skills are not always encouraged. Symbolism, variety of expression, numbers, tables, graphs, words are all common in maths and develop abstract thought processes. With class discussion I try to get students to justify their answers and not to approach it as “the answer is it” but “the reasoning is it”. It is difficult to get children out of that mindset. It needs a wider whole school approach from all staff.
 * Preparing for Today and Tomorrow **

Journal#3 Constructivism is a theory of how people learn, starting with their own ideas and experience and extending it by further experiences and reflection. It is an evolving theory of individual comprehension which when properly taught and developed brings higher order thinking skills, greater interpersonal and social proficiency, improved motivation, better retention of knowledge and transference to real world applications. The benefit to the student is that he is actively involved rather than a passive recipitant of knowledge. The teacher’s role is to provide problem solving and inquiry based learning activities so students can hypothesise , test and reach their own conclusions together. The teacher gives direction to the big concepts, then acts as a neutral guide to understanding by use of skillful questions, coaching and openness to any ideas. In constructivism asking good questions is important. Alternative methods of assessment are needed to assess the learning, students can set their own goals and use peer assessment, observation and points of view. It is how the learning is reached, the processing, trialing, and organisation that is important not the end result. In constructivism the student seeks knowledge that is important to him and is personally engaging. This is motivating, giving ownership of the learning process into the hands of the learner. Learning activities are based on realistic contexts strengthening a student’s curiosity and interest in the world. Students collaborate together, listening to each other’s ideas and developing as a consequence interpersonal skills and greater communicative ability. Phrasing your ideas succinctly and with clarity in a socially acceptable way improves with practice. These are highly valued transferable skills. The time to reflect that is built into the constructivist program gives time for growth in understanding, and a dynamic change of ideas as experience modifies the students’ knowledge. Retention is improved by this recall and review roundup. Negative aspects of constructivism are that some think it favours elitism, in so far as those with greater prior experience succeed far better than those without. It is possible for individuals to rely on the group thinking without contributing much themselves and for others to be forced to conform to the majority without expressing their own dissent. It has been observed that basic skills in constructivist classrooms are weaker although higher order thinking skills are improved. The importance of academic mastery of subject matter was emphasized by Ausbel. It is difficult to measure the success of a constructivist classroom as by default testing is not the sole means of assessment, is personable to the student and cannot easily be compared to others. Educators should be aware of both positive and possible negative aspects of constructivism when applied to the classroom. Generally the enthusiasm and self directed learning leads to greater success and knowledge for all but unless the teacher is careful in questioning and in ensuring equality of participation a few active individuals may tip the balance against others.

Journal#4 Looking through Brandt’s list for powerful learning and examining my teaching with respect to it made me see points for improvement. These are my reflections.  To connect children I try to draw example from real life and show them where maths is applied, it is easy with money, shapes, tiles, and not so with more abstract maths like matrices. I have only ever met one person who used matrices in real life, he designed helicopters not your average job. I try to take students outside their comfort zone to achieve more. Usually in maths harder means bigger numbers, you start with 1 digit sums, then 2 then 3 digits sums. Integrating algebra, geometry and arithmetic is a challenge for my students as they do not see the need for algebra when solving geometric problems with unknown angles or its powerful application in other problem solving situations. This is difficult to achieve. I have often had to teach simultaneous equations to students who are not ready to conceptually understand the processes because it was part of the course. Mostly it can be achieved by differentiation within the class but many students do not want to be seen doing different work from their peers even if they can’t do it. It is not really viable to get out cubes and counters to aid basic skill acquisition in a secondary classroom for fear of approbriation from their peers. For many maths topics there are different ways of solving the problem. I teach several then let them choose which they prefer e.g. percentages can be found by fractions, decimals, find 10% first etc. The key word is efficient, I ask is the method efficient, can you answer with the minimum lines of working, presses of the keypad, is there a better way? This is especially true when solving equations. I start with “baby” algebra with a box for the missing unknown then progress to a letter variable building up the steps till we reach the full equations. I draw out from them the processes that they can often do automatically but need to abstract when using variables not numbers. I always bounce around the classroom watching my students writing solutions looking to catch the “different” answers. When I check a solution I go back to the last correct line, emphasise the positives and try to lead the student to self correct their errors. Learning strategies that are used in maths are visual, kinesthetic and oral. As a visual learner myself I force myself to do actions, sing songs, remember mnemonics etc. When I teach loci we physically go out and form ourselves around a tree, along the curb, so the students move and see the path of all the points (themselves) satisfying the given criteria. I try to get the students to try different ways of recall, mind maps, pictures, actions, lists, mnemonics, etc, to see if it works for them and try something else if it doesn’t. I encourage as positive an attitude to maths as possible in my classroom. Many students fear the subject because they are frightened of getting the wrong answer. They do not see that it is the method that is important and that the final answer is merely a check that they followed the thinking process correctly. This year we have fraction cake (mints, melon, cheesecake etc) every afternoon at 2pm. I grow wider, and the students have a very positive view of maths. My walls are covered in posters with formula, hints, and useful facts. Students are encouraged to talk through their problems and solutions with each other and assist each other. It is very important to me that no one is put down because they cannot do maths.
 * 1.  **** Personally meaningful **
 *  2.  **** Challenging **
 *  3.  **** Appropriate to developmental level **
 * <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'"> 4.  **** Learn their own way - have choice **
 * <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'"> 5.  **** Move from present knowledge to new - make connections **
 * <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'"> 6.  **** Helpful feedback **
 * <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'"> 7.  **** Acquire and use strategies **
 * <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'"> 8.  **** Positive emotional climate **
 * <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'"> 9.  **** Surroundings support intended learning **

__ Response Journal #5 __ Justify the claim that the best lesson and unit designs are “backwards.” The first stage of designing a lesson or unit backwards gives focus to what the overall total picture is, identifying the desired student outcomes and what core processes of higher level learning are important while teaching a unit. The second stage of determining acceptable evidence grounds the process to what the students need to do to show that understanding, clarifying the goals that the teacher wishes to achieve. It means the teaching is strongly defined. Better links are forged between the outcomes which enhances student performance. When the results are distinct and the required evidence determined then planning the specific experiences and learning tasks for the students, the third stage, becomes easier. The key aspects of the topic can be determined and matched to the most productive teaching strategies. Skill transference is improved with this holistic approach. Self assessment and reflection are encouraged. Preparing the rubrics in advance of teaching determines what expectations the teacher has, and gives the student guidance and focus. The usual model of following a text, using prepared quizzes, tests and favoured activities does not always give an overall view to the student of what is expected of him. It is viewed as a distinct set of activities to do to achieve the objective of passing the test, another tick in the box. Cohesiveness is lost and transference of skills minimised as students do not always see the links. Cross curricula examples are not explored. The teaching is sometimes limited to what is in the text book, is easy to test, is mostly knowledge and skills based, and not necessarily application and higher level comprehension. Teaching focuses then on what to do rather than how to do it. When the student is hooked to the deep questions and becomes involved in his own learning, seeing practical real life applications rather than a passive recipitant of knowledge then success comes easily. The backward design process returns the teacher to the role of facilitator and coach, guiding the student through a series of steps to their predetermined goal. Student learning and teacher instruction are both improved. Many children can solve straightforward problems in maths. We teach them that way to give confidence and strategies to employ when faced with more difficult tasks but in many cases it is mechanical repetition, doing not understanding. Twist the question to a different perspective, even just rotate a triangle and they will become stuck. The understanding to apply to a novel situation is absent. Connections are not made, e.g. many children know 2x3=6 but do not necessarily associate it with 6/3=2 or can then extrapolate so that 713x21=15183 implies 15183/21=713. A width of alternative strategies is not employed or even the search/ curiosity for another method is not present. When the student is asked to explain their method the interpretation is wooly, lacking clarity and logic. Often in solving equations, students can calculate the answer mentally using the correct inverse operations but then fail to follow through when fractions are involved because the deeper understanding of generalisation has not occurred. Thinking through and around a problem develops understanding, usually evidenced by diverse solutions and lateral thinking. They develop their perspective by asking the off the wall questions, querying the assumptions made by others, and logically working through the implications, not by listening to didactic teaching of the “real” answer. These answers are not always the most efficient but they do show attempts at understanding as opposed to repetitive skill. There should also be an openness to diversity, the comments “You can’t do it that way, it’s not the way we were taught” shows lack of empathy, unwillingness to accept alternatives, of accepting another’s viewpoint. Self knowledge about mistakes frequently made and how to prevent yourself doing them and the strategies of approximation and estimation to check answers shows self awareness and understanding a counter to “It must be right miss I did it on the calculator” I find listening to the children discuss the subject between themselves, observing their work and asking for their explanations the best way to ascertain their level of understanding. Purely looking at their work is insufficient by itself.
 * __ Response Journal #6 __**