ReflectiononDispositions

First day of my first education course SEDF 203 Social Foundations of

Education:Grades712atHunter,professorPersonaskedusaquestionwhydoyou
wanttobeateacher?IhaveaskedmyselfverytimesandstillhavethesameanswerI
want to teach students to see vitality in themselves and let students understand the
importanceoflearningmathhappily.Throughoutmyfieldworkexperienceandstudent
teaching,Iknowthatmyattitudealwaysaffectsmystudentlearning,motivationand
developmentandIlearnedtodevelopmypositivedispositions.
FrommyeducationcourseSEDF204,AdolescentDevelopment,andSEDF205,
EducationalPsychology:Grades712,Ilearneddifferentchallengesthaturbanteachers
arefacingtodayinthediverseclassroomsetting.IlearnedthatifIwanttobecomean
effectiveteacher,itwilldependonhavingclearandfocusedinstruction,fairruleforclass
behaviorandcaringdisposition.
DuringmyStudentTeachingexperience,Irealizedthatitwasnoteasytohandle
itinthebeginningofitwhenIhadsomanyteacherresponsibilities.Iwasteaching9 th
gradeand10thgrade,someofthemimmediatelyshowedresistancetoauthority.Italked
tosomeofthemandlistenedtotheiropinion.Theydidnothavegoodexperiencein
learningmathbefore.Theydidnotthinkthattheyhadtheabilitytolearnmath.Theway
I addressed them made students understand my concerns. These students were more
likelytoparticipateintheclass.Inordertounderstandmorehowmystudentsthinkof
math,Ididasurveyandanalyzedit.Ifoundoutthatmanystudentsdidnotlikethe

previouslearningmathexperience.Theythoughtmathisallaboutformulaandequation.
Theyknowmathisimportantbuttheydonotthinktheycandowellinmath.Students
alsosharedtheirinterestsandgoalswithmesothatIwasabletouseittomotivatemy
students.
Everystudenthasauniquewaytolearnmath.Ineededtolearnvariousteaching
methodssothatIcanapproachallthestudentsandteachinameaningfulway.Frommy
Math620,SecondarySchoolMathematicsfromanAdvancePerspectiveandSEDC723,
Methods2:IntensiveStudyofTeachingDiverseLearnersinMathematics.Ilearnedthe
importanceofmakingmathmoreaccessibletoallstudentsinsteadofteachingtraditional
lectureandaskingthemtopracticehundredsquestions.Practicenevermakesperfectin
math.Ilearnednewandcreativeapproachesforhighschoolcurriculum.Oneofthe
impressive manipulates was algebra tiles. We learned how to use algebra tiles to
introducefunctionsandequations.Itwasveryhelpfulbecausestudentscanvisualizethe
meaningoffunctionandequations,andtheycandomathbymovingthetiles.Wealso
learnedhowtousethealgebratilestocompletesquare.Theseactivitieshelpedstudents
understandtheconceptsmoreclearlyandmadesensetostudents.
Inbothcourseswediscussedthecommonmisconceptionandcommonmistakes
that students always get confused in high school. The topics we discussed including
decimal system, fractions, the distributive property, percentage and trigonometric
function.Eventhoughmosttopicsaremorerelatedtothemiddleschoolmath,itgives
meanideaaboutthereasonswhystudentsmakethosecommonmistakesandhowto

avoid it. In the Method 2 course, we worked as a group and focused on how
misconceptionaffectsstudentslearning.Actually,ifteachercanusemisconceptionina
positivelyway,studentscanlearnfromitbetter.Duringmystudentteachingexperience,
IusedthetechniqueIlearnedfromthemethods2course.Inmylesson,wediscussed
manycommonmistakesandmisconception.StudentsandIenjoyedthisnewwaytolearn
math.
Iamveryinterestedinlearninghowtopresentthemathematicsindifferentway
using approaches continuously. Especially, after I attended Fall 2015 Annual
MathematicsEducationConference,whichwasholdbytheAssociationofTeachersof
MathematicsofNewYorkCity.IlearnedhowtouseGeogobrasoftware,howconnect
reallifeobjectstothemathandhowtousetimeefficiently.Differentworkshopshelped
usteachinabetterway.IhaverecentlybecomeamemberoftheNationalCouncilof
TeachersofMathematicssothatIcanaccessmoreupdatedinformationaboutlearning
andteachingmath.
FromalltheexperiencesIgainedinAdolescentprogram,Irealizethatagood
teachershouldkeeplearningeveryday.EverydayIlearnsomethingfrommyteaching.I
learn more about my students and how they develop math. I believe that my future
teachingexperiencewillbeenlighteningaswell.