Noticing Week 4

With the delay of school I felt like going back this Wednesday was like the first day of school all over again.  My mentor and I had a lot of reviewing to do as far as classroom norms and behaviors that were taught during our first week.  Behavior management is especially crucial with a multi-age classroom because these are essentially two curriculums to balance, and to make sure they are covered well.  Typically the classroom works as a whole and we try to find a “just right” level for most and make accommodations.  However, math is completely separate.  While the first graders learn a math lesson on the carpet, the second graders do independent work at their seats and then we switch. 

              With this segregated math curriculum set up I have noticed a lot of things.  First, and most obvious, is that this is extremely difficult for one teacher to manage and really doesn’t provide the BEST possible learning situation for all the students at all times.  With my presence in the classroom each grade can have teacher’s eyes on them to help as needed, but there are still challenges.  I have also noticed that it does teach students a lot of independence, as well as patience within themselves.    The classroom “rule” is that if you are doing independent work and become stuck, you move on to something else until a teacher can help you OR double check your work to see if you can catch any mistakes.  Even when I monitor both independent groups, there is still only one of me to get around to all the questions my students have.  So, I have noticed that students raise their hand at the first sight of something they don’t understand, but often they catch themselves, take a minute, and either solve the task at hand or continue to be confused.  However, believe it or not most of the time, students take a second to problem solve or look critically at the problem while waiting for assistance and ultimately don’t need it anymore.

 I think what is happening here is a great unintentional lesson to help students become a little more self-sufficient.  They have the opportunity to check their work, or read the problem more closely before the teacher swoops in to “save the day”.  This is important because teaching a young person to be responsible for checking their own work is not an easy task.  Most times students just want to hear whether they are right or wrong and if they’re wrong they want to know the correct answer.  This approach instead, gives them a reflective opportunity to productively criticize the work they’re doing. 

I have been able to witness the positive effects independent math work can have on one female in my class specifically.  Let’s call her Anna.  Anna is consistently the first student with a question about new task almost instantly as it is handed out.  The problem is, usually her questions have already been answered with directions or she needs to keep reading/working to find answers.  When observing her during independent math time I have noticed that she raises her hand, and if I am busy takes a second look.  Then, when it’s her turn for help, she doesn’t need it anymore.  A couple of times now I have asked her what her question was anyway and she usually responds with something along the lines of, “I didn’t get this problem but I figured it out already”.  This helps me to understand that she may just have a quick moment of self-doubt when she comes to something difficult, but has the tools and critical thinking skills to internally say “hey, I think I’ll check it over and try this one again”.  I am interested to see if this behavior continues as time passes or if she becomes discouraged.  For now, I have observed that it is giving Anna quite a bit of self-confidence as well as a better learning experience working through difficult situations.