Oral Defense Portfolio

.docx

School

Western Governors University *

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Course

MFT2

Subject

Mathematics

Date

Feb 20, 2024

Type

docx

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Uploaded by CorporalInternetSeahorse14

HANNAH BROOKS WESTERN GOVERNORS UNIVERSITY Masters of Arts, Mathematics Education (K-6) MFT2 P ORTFOLIO O RAL D EFENSE

MFT2: PORTFOLIO ORAL DEFENSE A. Provide an overview of your teaching philosophy in math by doing the following: 1. Explain how your approach to math teaching promotes a positive learning environment. My approach to teaching mathematics promotes a positive learning environment by centering each math task around the students’ abilities, learning styles, and interests. For each math lesson, I first model a similar task, complete a guided task, and then monitor students closely as they work alone, with a peer, or in a group. While I model, guide, and monitor, I set the expectations for the task so that the students are knowledgeable of what is required of them for the lesson. The students in my classroom effectively learn in a variety of ways, auditory, kinesthetic, and visual. I support each type for each lesson. For example, during a lesson on shapes, I support auditory learners specifically by playing songs with rhymes that relates to the standard, such as the ‘Quadrilaterals Song’ by Numberock on YouTube. To support kinesthetic learners during a lesson on shapes, I allow students to play with shape manipulatives. They can sort them into categories based on the attributes and combine different shapes to create composite shapes. To support visual learners, I create anchor charts for the students to refer to. Aspects of the YouTube video, manipulatives, and anchor charts can benefit more than one time of learner at a time. Additionally, I promote a positive learning environment by building tasks that include student names and interests. The learners in my classroom particularly enjoy animals, sports, and video games. Students enjoy solving tasks that represent themselves and their peers. 2. Explain how the positive learning environment from part A1 promotes student learning, including one specific example from the environment. 1

MFT2: PORTFOLIO ORAL DEFENSE The positive learning environment in my classroom promotes student learning by targeting students’ individual needs to help them be successful in math. When students feel successful, they are typically more engaged, perform better, and have a positive attitude towards learning. I specifically take this into account when creating math tasks for my learners. In my classroom, I serve a wide range of student skill levels from students who are unable to read directions and word problems to students who score advanced on the Math Inventory. One specific example from the learning environment is reading directions and word problems aloud. I have two students who are unable to read, so during math, I read the directions and each question aloud. When this occurs, the two students can be more successful with the task, which then encourages them to keep trying. 3. Describe two goals you have for your elementary math students. Identify the grade level you are teaching or will be teaching. In my third-grade math class two main goals that I have for my students are, becoming fluent in the math operations; addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, and using strategies to show their work. I have chosen these specific goals because adding and subtraction within 1,000 and multiplying and dividing within 100 are very important skills that third graders should master. These operational skills are needed to be able to master other math topics that are dependent on them, such as finding the area and perimeter of a shape. I chose the second goal of using strategies to show students’ work because I have found that students tend to make errors and are unable to correct them when they solely rely on mental math when solving complex expressions. a. Explain how both student goals from part A3 have affected or will affect your teaching. 2

MFT2: PORTFOLIO ORAL DEFENSE One student goal that affects my teaching is effectively using strategies to show their thinking. Teaching students to use strategies is important because it fosters a deeper understanding of the concepts. This affects my teaching because as the teacher, I introduce students to specific strategies for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. While teaching these strategies, students are able to determine which strategy works best for their skill level, so it’s important that I teach different strategies for each concept. The use of strategies, such as model drawing and using manipulatives, will facilitate conceptual understanding. The second student goal that affects my teaching is for students to become fluent in mathematical operations. After students have a conceptual understanding of math topics, then they are able to become fluent with their math facts. To encourage fluency, I plan math games with small groups, flashcards, number talks, and drill practice. 4. Describe two professional development goals you have for yourself as a math teacher. The first professional development goal that I have set for myself is to integrate more technology into teaching math. I am currently in a technology leadership cohort for my district, and we have been encouraged to find new ways to integrate technology in all subject areas. Technology integration is beneficial for all learners because technology is becoming more vital in our world and education, particularly with virtual learning. I have discovered many virtual manipulatives that can be embedded into our learning platform, Canvas, discussions can take place in the form of comments on Padlet, and interactive lessons can take place using Nearpod. The second professional development goal that I have set for myself is to dissect each math standard to become more 3

MFT2: PORTFOLIO ORAL DEFENSE familiar with the vocabulary that is used, have a better understanding of what students need to master, and the progression of standards throughout k-6. a. Explain how your goals from part A4 have affected or will affect your teaching. The goal of integrating technology has affected my teaching and student learning because I have been exploring different ways to teach math concepts. Instead of creating pencil and paper tasks, I now create gamified lessons on Nearpod and Kahoot. Since adding more technology into math lessons, I have noticed my students are more eager to participate and stay on task. The goal of dissecting each math standard will affect my teaching because I will be able to understand what exactly I need to teach better, which will in turn help the students become more successful with each standard. Knowing how standards progress throughout k-6, I will be able to accurately pull-out prior knowledge and set them on a course to master the next progression. While reviewing standards, I plan to use the more accurate vocabulary while teaching and create math vocabulary anchor charts. 5. Describe one formative and one summative assessment you use to understand student learning in mathematics, including one specific example of each type of assessment. One formative assessment that I use to understand student learning in mathematics is having math “closers” and planted questions. At the end of math workshop, I select individual students, partners, or groups to close out our math lesson. Students display their work on the smart board and describe the strategy they used to solve a math task. This allows me to see the thinking of the student presenting, misconceptions they may have, and areas they are successful in. At the end of the presentation, students ask planted questions such as; why was a specific strategy chosen and higher-order thinking questions that are related to 4

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