Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Regan Roth
Towson University
Fall 2014
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opportunity to learn more, challenge themselves, and stay interested in all the
possibilities of math.
All of these are strategies that I can easily implement into the classroom. They
will help keep the students engaged and interested in what they are learning. In turn,
they will want to come to class and will want to try harder because they can relate to
the material.
The second article I chose to read for this project was called Boys Are Much
More Likely To Take On Leadership Roles In Science And Math Class, Say Teachers by
Rebecca Klein. This article discusses the fact that, once students reach middle school
and high school, math and science classes are often geared more toward male students.
The student that I observed for this project is female, and performs very well in her
math and science classes. The article discussed the gender gaps that are so present in
schools, especially in math and science classes. The author cites a survey saying, The
survey, which included 40,000 middle and high school educators, notes that these
gender gaps extend to the professional world, with fewer women taking on leadership
positions -- not only in STEM fields, but in most disciplines across the board. Gender
gaps in classrooms are causing a disproportionality of leadership between the genders.
The gender gap in classrooms is also leading females to be less involved in STEM based
clubs and leadership roles. The article discusses the fact that evidence suggests that
this kind of bias in the classroom can lead to students being pigeonholed into specific
roles and fields. As a young woman in the STEM field, it is important that I provide all of
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my students, both male and especially female, the opportunity to be successful in STEM
fields.
I realized when reading this article how important it is to create and maintain a
gender-neutral classroom environment. It is imperative that I give all students the same
opportunities and hold all students to the same expectations. It is also imperative that I
keep a neutral attitude toward all of my students and challenge all of them in the same
way. I need to hold all of my students to the same standards, regardless of their gender.
By creating a gender-neutral environment, I am telling my students that they can do
anything.
Citations of Articles:
Thompson, J. (2013). Meet the needs of all of your students. In The first-year teacher's
survival guide ready-to-use strategies, tools and activities for meeting the
challenges of each school day (Third ed., pp. 357-359). San Francisco, CA: JosseyBass.
Klein, R. (2014, October 1). Boys Are Much More Likely To Take On Leadership Roles In
Science And Math Class, Say Teachers. Retrieved December 1, 2014, from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/01/nea-girls-leadershipstudy_n_5910944.html?utm_hp_ref=girls-in-stem
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assignments she is given. Providing connections to the material she is learning will help
her relate better to what she is learning, as well as keep her interested and focused.
Overall, it is imperative that I continue to challenge this student on a daily basis.
It is also important that I connect the material to the students interests and hobbies so
that she does not get bored. Allowing her to take ownership of her learning by providing
her with a variety of activities and holding her to high expectations will hopefully further
her success in my classroom, as well as her other classes.
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Reflection:
The student that I observed for this project is an 11th grade, female student at
Lasndowne High School. She is in my mentors SAT Prep class as well as his AP Calculus
AB class. This was great because I was able to see her everyday that I was there,
regardless of whether or not it was an A-day or a B-day. She plays on the varsity
basketball team and is a straight A student. This student was always very positive when I
was working with her. She was not afraid to ask for help when she needed it and was
always willing to participate. She worked well with group members and was able to
focus and stay on task to ensure her work got done correctly.
My observations of the student in my mentors classroom are very similar to the
feedback I received from her other teacher, as well as when I observed her in the
lunchroom. I learned that she is very hard working, regardless of the subject or
assignment. She puts her all into everything she does, whether that is school, basketball,
or her friendships. My observations, as well as the observations of others, helped me
realize that students can be both shy and outgoing. The student I observed was quiet in
class, which gave me the impression that she was shy. However, when seeing her with
her friends, she was much more social. It was nice to see her social side and see her
enjoying the time she spent with her friends. Overall, the observations I made myself
during this process as well as the observations of others helped me to teach the student
better in both classes I have her in.
Reading the professional articles helped me a lot when working with the
student. After reading the section of my textbook, I was able to think differently about
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the way I should teach her. I began to think about how to connect the content of both
the SAT and Calculus to her interests such as basketball. I also began to think of ways to
challenge her by asking questions in a way that would help her dig deeper into the
concepts. The second article I read was great because it helped me realize the
subconscious biases I may be presenting in my teaching. I am now more aware of the
gender gap that may be present in my classroom, as well as ways to prevent it.
One classroom practice that I should implement is challenge problems. During
my observations, the mentor teacher presented the class with a challenge problem. The
student was excited about solving it and was eager to share her answer with her
classmates. Challenge problems are a great way to keep all students interested,
especially gifted students. It was also nice to see her come out of her shell a little when
presenting her thoughts to the class. Another way to help my student to be successful is
to have students work either individually or in small groups. She is on the shy side so I
do not want to make her feel uncomfortable in a larger group of students. I believe that
for her, working with no more than two other students is best.
This child study has taught me a lot about what I want and dont want to do in
my own classroom. For one, I hate the fact that the mentor teacher constantly gave
students packets of work and had them work in the same groups, doing the same
activity, to work through the problems. It was obvious to me that students began to get
bored and lost interest in what they were doing. I want to keep all of my students
interested and engaged in everything we do. This project also helped me think about
how to differentiate lessons and concepts to all learners. Not all students in my classes
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will be at the same level, so it is important to challenge the high-level learners and assist
the low-level learners. It is important that I do things like this so that I do not lose any of
my students. Lastly, it is important that I create relationships with all of my students.
Once I began working closer with this student, she began to open up to me. She was not
as shy, nor was she afraid to ask for help. We started having short conversations
regarding things like basketball and other things she was interested in. This relationship
not only helped me get to know her better, but I could tell that it made a shy student
more comfortable in class.
Overall, I really enjoyed completing this project. I liked having the opportunity to
focus on one student in particular and get to know her on a deeper level. I also gained a
wide variety of knowledge, which I can use later on in my own classroom.