Lesson 2: Factoring (3/25/10)

My relentless alarm clock finally wakes me in the early morning after my long night of homework and lesson planning. I slowly turn over and sit up on my bed. Feeling my bare feet touch the ice cold floor, I drag myself away from my bed, which looks so comfortable. Its soft sheets gently coax me back into its warm embrace. Suddenly, I realize that I have woken up later than usual and quickly prepare teaching supplies for the day.

Arriving at Monticello High School a little early, I breathe a sigh of relief. I needed the extra time to set up the Turning Point Clicker System that I would be using for the lesson that day. Thankfully, the technology demons did not rear their ugly heads and the clicker setup went smoothly. Once the students had all rushed into the classroom before the last ring of the screeching bell had died out, I began the lesson on factoring. First, I reviewed factoring integers. Then I defined a few terms that the students would need to know in order to understand factoring polynomials. Finally, I taught the students the process for factoring polynomials.

After seeing it for the first time, the students did not fully understand the process; however, by the end of the class period, 100% of them were getting the clicker questions correct. It was amazing to see the look of revelation in their eyes as, one by one, each student began to understand the lesson. The teacher was very pleased with their level of understanding as well. She commented on how well the lesson went and how she would like to use some of the techniques and tricks that she saw me employ.

I love being engulfed in an environment full of learning and understanding. I look forward to teaching the students how to solve quadratic equations in April.

Lesson 1: Foil and Special Cases (3/23/10)

The deep orange light of the early morning sun shone through the window at the end of the hall, coloring the lockers with an orange glow. The echo of my shoes resonated through the empty hallway as I walked to the door of the room. The white board was white once again. Cleaned by the night janitors, it was void of any trace of the lecture that the teacher had given the day before. I walked slowly to my desk, the one that I sit in at the back of the room, teaching the day's lesson in the imaginary classroom that exists in my head. With the raising of each imaginary hand, I anticipate the students' questions. Once I reach my desk, the imaginary classroom disappears and I look down at the reality: a stack of worksheets, a pencil sharpener, a pen, and my laptop with the lesson of foiling and special cases sucking in my attention like a black hole on my screen. As the morning bell rings, I rise from my chair and prepare myself for the arrival of the students.

After the students find their seats, I split them into 7 groups of three. Each group gets a laptop and a worksheet with problems about multiplying polynomials. I instruct the students to go to my website in order to pull up the Google forms and fill in the answers to the problems on the worksheet. However, the inevitable happens. Many of the laptops begin to malfunction. The blue screens of the computers with a single box saying "loading please wait...." are like little demons smirking at me in my distress. I had not thought of an alternative course of action in case the technology did not work. Immediately, I told the students to do the only thing that I could think to tell them, to start working out the problems from the worksheet individually and to be patient while the computers tried to load. The improvisation worked rather well. The students were able to complete the first set of problems individually and then compare their answers within their groups. Once all the students had finished the first set of problems, the demon computers had loaded and the students were able to enter their groups' answers.

The teacher commented that she really enjoyed the lesson. I enjoyed it as well. I liked that the students felt so comfortable with me. I wanted to treat them like my children as I heard "Miss Highlander?" resonate throughout the room. An immense joy overtook me as I watched the students learn and understand the material better. The students enjoyed being able to see the answers that they recorded get posted on a Google spreadsheet.

I regretted having to leave the classroom that day, having to leave my role as a teacher in order to return to my role as a student, having to leave that inner sanctum of learning and knowledge that had begun to flow through the air as it poured out of the students onto their papers. I wanted to drink every drop of that sweet liquor.

willy

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Observation (3/2/10) 9:30-10:20am

I walk into Monticello High School with an air of confidence after the wonderful ending to my first meeting with the teacher of the class that I will be working in. The desolate hallways are a paradise of silence and emptiness. No students pushing past each other in order to get to class on time, no books falling to the floor in the desperate struggle to make it to the end of the school day, no slamming lockers followed by random curse words and no - In an instant the sound of the alarm-like school bell changes the almost serene atmosphere. The herd of students enters the previously empty school building filling it with sounds of laughter and the latest gossip. The students look like busy worker ants darting from place to place before their first class. They stop by their lockers, then the vending machines to eat the breakfast that they should have eaten at home, and finally they congregate outside the classrooms socializing with friends. Before the Advanced Algebra 1 class begins, I sit in the back of the room watching the 27 freshmen enter one by one. They take their seats and begin working on their "Do Now" assignment for the morning. They are reviewing how to solve systems of equations. After finishing, they begin to bombard the teacher with homework questions from the night before. She eagerly answers each one and begins her lecture on dividing exponents. The students did not notice me at all, the mere shadow in the back of the room. But I noticed them, as I intently observed each one and the work that they were doing. I wanted to get to know this group of students, the way they learned, how they acted and their individual personalities. It was not until I was about to leave and the teacher introduced me that they began to take notice of me. The mention of lessons involving technology caused a blank stare to slowly appear on each face. I can tell that I will have to work hard to reach these students.

Initial Meeting (3/1/10)

It's morning. The shining sun is beginning to turn from orange to yellow as it evaporates the dew drops off the grass and warms the coolness in the air. I get a slight chill as I open the door of my car and step out. The school looks so large. Its red bricks, metal doors, and few windows make it appear to be a confinement building filled with cells full of students and teachers who have no access to the outside world until the school bell rings at the end of the day. I was about to enter this world, a world of learning - and boredom for some. I walked up to the mouth of the monster, hoping that it would not chew me up and spit me out like a bad piece of meat. The heavy metal door slowly opened under the force of my weight as I pressed into it. I weaved through the maze of students in order to reach the Administration Office. I signed my name on a list that said "victims," or was it "visitors;" it is too traumatic to remember. I walked down the long hallways that snaked past lockers and classrooms until I reached the room that I wanted, B110. I entered quietly, not knowing what reaction to expect, if any, from the person waiting on the other side of the door. She greeted me, introduced herself and immediately sat me down at a desk to discuss the punishment for whatever crime I had committed. Placing her very organized calendar on the desk in front of me, she pointed out exactly what she wanted from me, three lessons and two Standards of Learning (SOL) reviews. The topics are as follows:

• Lesson 1: Foil and Special Cases (3/23/10)
  
• Lesson 2: Factoring (3/25/10)
  
• Lesson 3: Solving Quadratic Equations (4/13/10)
  
• SOL Review 1: in computer lab (4/20/10)
  
• SOL Review 2: in computer lab (4/29/10)

Fifteen minutes was beginning to seem like an eternity until she said five simple words to me, "I'm so excited you're here." The dim lights seemed to grow brighter as I processed the phrase. I left in expectation, looking forward to observing her class the following day.

Disclaimer

This blog is supposed to be a place where I reflect on my experiences in the Technology Integration Program (TIP) Placement. I know that reflections can be boring at times; however, I would like the people that do read my blog to enjoy it. Having said that, I plan to be as creative as possible in my blog posts. I would appreciate comments on the experience itself, as well as on my creativity. If you have any suggestions for ways that I can make this blog more enjoyable to read, then please let me know. For anyone who has read this far, I thank you and I hope that you will continue to read future posts.