Noticing Blog: Week 8

          Although Walsh does not have school this week, I have been keeping note of the happenings around my classroom. Last week was a short week for us, as it was the end of the quarter and the students had a half day on Friday afternoon. As I have been digging deeper into the literacy and math resources in my classroom for my guided lead teaching, I have noticed the lack of authenticity in basil programs such as StoryTown and Math Trailblazers. These programs are used in Walsh, and although the administration does not want the teachers to use story town, in my classroom, my mentor teacher uses it occasionally. 

          Math Trailblazers is a basil math program that we are using in my classroom. I remember using Math Trailblazers when I was in second and third grade. When I was a student, I remember this program being monotonous, with the same characters and same theme for the year. The activities in the math curriculum are boring and do not get student attention and interest. Although I do like how this program allows higher level thinking, I think the tasks need to be more authentic and centered around academic needs, knowledge of the students it serves, and hands-on activities for kinesthetic learners.  These aspects are very hard to cover and incorporate when using a basil math program such as Math Trailblazers. I have noticed when working with this program that my students are not understanding the complicated procedures and many times activities that are sequenced in an order that makes concepts much more confusing. My mentor teacher wanted me to use Math Trailblazers when I planned for guided lead teaching, but as I was going through the lessons, I realized only one lesson correlated to the Common Core State Standards. I was able to use this program as a basis for my work, but I incorporated many other authentic tasks that cater to my students and more CCSS.