Curriculum Plan

              This project was very time consuming, but also very rewarding. There was a lot that went into this final project. I had an awesome group though that helped me out every step of the way. We worked together so fluently to get this plan accomplished! This certainly showed me just how much collaboration will help in the future. It will be important for all of the grade levels to collaborate and be on the same page so that we are sure the students are learning what they need to in order to be successful.
              A second thing I learned was that it is important to make sure that everything is covered standards wise when it comes to standards. This was challenging at first to make sure that two different sets of standards were covered. This is also true when it comes to the content areas. This is because each content area had to be covered at least one quarter for each grade. This meant we had to go back and check our work to make sure that we had everything covered. This also goes along with us having to make sure that the order we put the content orders in. This is because we wanted to make sure that we would cover certain content areas first so that the students had the base knowledge for some of the other content areas.
             A third thing I realized was how important making sure everything built off one another whether that be quarter to quarter or grade to grade. This is true for many of the mathematics that is covered in any grade. There are topics that need to be reviewed as well sometimes before you move onto a concept that is built off of that concept that was reviewed.
                Overall, this project was very rewarding. I learned so much that I can put to use when it comes to my own classroom in the future. This includes knowing how to even start going about a math curriculum for any grade. It also made me realize just how much work goes into planning and starting to implement a curriculum plan. I also realize that whenever you plan for a curriculum, you always need to be reflecting to make sure that your plan is best suited for your classroom. This may mean that as you go through a year you might adapt and change when you go over a certain content area for instance. You may also have to make modifications as you go too.This can depend on the students' prior knowledge, etc. All of these different components contribute to making sure that every single student you have come through your future classroom doors succeeds! This is especially true when looking at this from a K-8 perspective as we saw the other groups curriculum plans in class. it just goes to show how important that each year all the standards be covered, and that each teacher for each grade level makes sure and is double checking their students so to speak so that they are truly prepared to tackle the next academic year by the end of that school year. The presentations also showed a lot of overlap. This is because each school year is basically building off the year before. A lot of the concepts the students have had before. However, each concept is  built upon the next year. There are also usually a few new concepts that are introduced to the students each year. I also realized that teachers need to make sure that they utilize each content area and not just focus on certain ones each year. I feel that would not help the students in the long run at all.

Classroom Changes

                Teachers these days are expected to change a few things in regards to mathematics teaching. This is especially true with the implementation of the common core. There are certain areas that may not be expected to cover anymore. There are also topics that are still going to be covered but in a different way. For instance, growing up I was always taught to add and subtract up and down. Now, they are wanting us teachers to teach those mathematical concepts across. Things like that are going to take time to get used to doing that way. They are also putting a lot more emphasis on inquiry based math. This includes more real life situations, and more investigations that are student lead. Another aspect of that is modeling. This could include, but is not limited to, using manipulatives, etc. to model. Another big thing that is changing is the assessments. Teachers need to start reflecting a lot more to make sure that they are on the right track so that their students do get that deep understanding.  Error reflection also goes along with this. So, overall, everything we have covered from assessments on down in this class is showing us what will be expected of us. It is also expected of us to keep up to date. This means that we need to make sure that we are constantly looking at articles and websites and take classes to make sure that we are in touch with any new strategies etc.

Technology Reflection

                    This blog will be all about technology in the classroom. We have certainly used a lot of technology in the course of this month and a half. One of the technologies we used was the smartboard. We had to sign in on the smartboard at the beginning of each class. We also had to present a tip on the smartboard that we all could use. These assignments helped us get use to using the smartboard so that when we get into our own classroom we are able to utilize this technology. A second type of technology that we had to use was the jiing. This allowed us to record our voices and implant it into our prezi presentations. This will help us learn how to implement sounds or our voices into our presentations when we start teaching. A third type of technology that we have explored is math apps and applets. These are always a great way to implement technology into the classroom because this is a way to help students not only review, but also keep their skills sharp. We also are going to have to use the internet and our computers for our curriculum plans. We will have to create a video and upload it to the internet onto a website such as youtube, etc.
                       Overall, technology is very important to incorporate in the classroom these days. Students are more and more into learning with technology as the days go by. More and more different learning technology comes out all the time. Technology also gives us teachers another strategy to use when taking ELLs etc. into consideration. I will certainly be implementing a lot of these technologies into my classroom when I begin my teaching career. I have not a doubt that this will help my students succeed!!!

Error Analysis

                This blog will be about error analysis. Errors are made many times by your students throughout your teaching career. They could  be really simple errors that are easy to catch and fix, or they could be a little more complicated and need a little more analyzing to figure out. Analyzing errors is important not only for the students sake, but for the teachers sake too. From the teachers perspective, it is important because it shows what you need to go over again or help students with so that way they are not making that mistake again in the future. From the student's perspective, it's important because if the mistakes they are making are not caught, then they will continue to make those same mistakes throughout their school careers. That will in turn make it difficult to get through the other math classes that they will face.
                   It seemed to me like there are many regrouping and place value mistakes that are being make from the problems that we analyzed in class. Some of the students were borrowing from the wrong place (example borrowing from the tens when they should be borrowing from the hundreds), regrouping wrong by not crossing out the number which causes them to be off by one. As mentioned before, even though these mistakes are not very bad mistakes, they still effect the student to solve the problem correctly. I will certainly have to keep these in mind as I get my own classroom in the future. I will make sure that I analyze my students' work as I am grading them to make sure that they are not making any of those simple mistakes!

Assessments in Math Reflection

             This blog will be a reflection on the assessments in mathematics. We certainly have covered a lot about assessments in the last month and a half. I have learned so many things that I will take with me when I get my own classroom. This is even true regarding my experiences with mathematics growing up. Growing up, I was always assessed by the traditional tests and worksheets. Especially when it came to multiplication facts. We would have timed assessments for those. Throughout this semester though, I have found out just how important assessment really is in mathematics.
              The first item we discussed regarding assessment was the different kinds of assessment. This made me realize that my teachers could have used many more different types of assessment when it came to mathematics over the course of my school career. It also made me realize the many options I have as a teacher to pick from when I am assessing my students in mathematics. This class has also shown me that I need to be extra careful when it comes to choosing which assessment I will choose.  Not every assessment will be right for every type of project of problem.
                The second item discussed is interpretation and reflection when it comes to assessment. When we looked at several articles, I realized just how important reflection really is. Even if you created the rubric, you should always be reflecting on it and see if you need to make changes to make it better or more precise/clear. This will eliminate any confusions or misconceptions your students will have regarding the rubric.When it comes to interpretation, its all about making sure you know exactly what you will be assessing your students on. This will help you decide on just what will constitute what each number will represent.
               The third item discussed is what kinds of assessment she(Dr. Nugent) has used to assess us throughout the course of this class. She has used a lot of different assessments throughout the course of this class. She has had us blog, do evaluations, projects, and participation (in-class activities). All of these have been a way for her to assess not only our mathematical understanding in some instances, but our pedagogical understanding as well.
                Overall, the topic of assessment has been covered extensively throughout this class. It is extremely important. It is one of the the ways that you are able to gauge your student's progress throughout the year. It helps you decide what you need to change your strategies towards when it comes to teaching mathematics. It also helps you modify your instruction so that every student in your classroom can succeed!

Problem/Project

                    This blog is going to be about the problem/project. This was a very interesting and eye opening project.We did a project that was centered for fourth graders. We covered three content areas throughout the process of this project. The project was the students had to find the mean, median, and mode for their sports team, design a stadium for their team, and build a model for their team.  One of the reasons for that is because before this project I never realized how much work went into designing a project for mathematics. There are lots of areas that have to be covered when designing a problem or project like this. However, this project also shows how important collaboration can be when it comes to making sure that everything is covered in the project. This project is also very beneficial to show us what kind of standards need to be covered depending of what grade level you choose to teach and create the problem for. It is also important to make sure that the standards you chose line up with the objectives you have for the problem. You also have to make sure that you take into account any 504s, IEPs, or ELLs you might have in your classroom when designing these problems.
                     Overall it was a very rewarding project to be apart of. The two partners I had were perfect, and we worked together so well to make sure this project was accomplished. We certainly took the time and went over every requirement for this project. This also showed me, as mentioned previously, how much time will be needed to be put into planning these projects for the students in my classroom. This project also showed me how you can cover several content areas when planning and teaching this problem/project.

Content Standards

             This blog is all about the content standards project. I will be discussing a couple of points regarding this project. The first area I will be discussing if when looking at my area from a K-8 stand point, are the standards covered enough throughout the curriculum. The answer to this question is no. As I was looking through the content standards that my other group members turned in, I noticed from third grade on to eighth that there seemed to be a lot of standards either not addressed or not even covered in the textbooks. This will certainly need to change if we want our standards to be covered efficiently. This also shows that we as teachers need to be taking the initiative to make sure we know the standards ourselves so that we can make sure that we cover the standards that are nit being covered to satisfaction.
                 For my particular area, all of the standards were covered in the textbooks. This shows me that I need to make sure that these are utilized to the fullest because of the fact that they are covered so well in the textbooks. I was also surprised that because mine were covered so well that grades three through eight were not covered as well. This whole project has taught me that each textbook in mathematics that is used by teachers will need to be looked at to see what standards need to be covered more or addressed if they are not addressed.