Best Practices in a Learning Skills and Algebra Classroom

The work of teaching and learning requires a high level of precision- how to use the most effective practices to meet the needs of students as they are learning - and balance between consistency and innovation. Becoming better is an endless pursuit in the teaching profession.”

I am a mathematics teacher, with a middle school education degree (grades 5-9) with an emphasis in mathematics and social studies, teaching at an area high school. I have decided to focus on Algebra I for this curriculum paper, because it requires more abstract thought and problem solving. I will address the following areas: curriculum standards (national, state, local (district)), textbook adoption, community, and design of my classroom. This paper will relate the standards at these three levels, discuss procedures for adopting textbooks, focus on the community background and describe my classroom procedures.

School districts are financially struggling and looking for ways to save money. One of the methods that they have implemented is to decrease the number of students in Special Education classes by using inclusion, also called mainstreaming, by having the students included in general education classes. A districts Average Per Pupil Expenditure (APPE) can vary significantly for Special Education. The services are defined in each student’s Individual Education Plan (IEP). Whereas one student’s IEP might mandate a single service, another may require several services and accommodations that involve multiple teachers, specialists, personal aides as well as additional meetings. Inclusion of special education students, in public schools, is more costly to school districts and is not effective enough to justify the cost.

Examples of inclusive practices the team supports are co-teach integrated classes with accommodations implemented across the content; offering access to various electives and activities. The challenges experienced by the special education team is making sure accommodations are taking place in all classes, creating a program that meets the post-grad needs/plans for students with special needs at a “college prep” school, and have time to train/support general education teachers regarding policies and procedures for special education.

Strategies to teach Algebraic Thinking: (12 points) Identify and explain instructional strategies for at least three concepts for a total of 6 strategies. See Section 1 directions for more detail. Remember to include references.

If schools would substitute mathematics for a skill that you use in the real world every day then you would see more successful young people. In the United states alone one in four ninth graders will not finish high school. Researchers say that algebra is one of the leading causes on this huge problem our nation is facing. Shirley Bagwell, a longtime Tennessee teacher, warns that “to expect all students to master algebra will cause more students to drop out”(Hacker).

Legislators have passed into law the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). These require that all children, with no regard to disability, be exposed to the same core curriculum as other children. It also requires progress to be made in said curriculum. (Flynn, n.d.) This is being accomplished through the use of inclusive classrooms. To understand this, one must understand the tiers of the response to intervention model (RtI). The tiers are numbered from one to three and as the number increases so does the level of assistance a child needs. Tier three consists of a child being in special education classes only and is considered non-inclusive for the most part. Today, tier one and two children are being placed in most classrooms along with children without disabilities. (Kirk, et al, 2015) This provides many unique challenges for educators that their predecessors did not have to face. Educators must find a balance between children with and without disabilities in their classrooms. Many children diagnosed with ASD require differing levels of attention, and this can be quite distracting to the other students as well. One of the most vital practices that a teacher can enact in their classroom is creating an atmosphere of acceptance within their class. If the other students understand the needs of the student with

An example of such a lesson was when I taught vertical subtraction with borrowing. I selected students to demonstrate the steps in solving the equation using MABs while I demonstrated writing the equation and working out on the whiteboard. I explained each step along the way, ensuring students understood that when borrowing the value of the number remains the same, when and why we borrow and how it works. Most students were confident at this stage and went to work on some problems. For students who were still unsure, as a smaller group we worked on equations together, with students writing on mini whiteboards and using MABs. These students were then confident to work on the equations. This allowed me to check what other students had been doing, ask questions to ensure understanding and to encourage students to find errors they may have made, praise the work of students, and provide feedback to students to best assist them in correctly solving the equations. Students concluded by reflecting on what they had learnt and strategies they had

First, Ms. Shepard keeps the lessons relevant by both helping students see connections between mathematical concepts and students’ lives and allowing material from other classes to be imbued into her lessons, such as the English discussion terms she borrowed from Ms. Davis in order to facilitate her class discussions, as well. Second, she utilizes hands-on group work often, as a substitute for lecture. In fact, Ms. Shepard never used a traditional lecture in her class. Instead, she relied on student inquiry and questions; whenever a lesson goal was reached she would conduct a group reflection. This format for class is inherently best practice since it utilizes student-driven ideals as its foundation. Additionally, the overall emphasis on a routine of writing-to-learn, modeling, and empowering hands-on work was all exemplifying best

During my observation of this 9th grade Algebra1 class, I was interested in the way the teacher was teaching the lesson and the way she was interacting with her students. In high school, I had math teachers who would go over a procedure all at once without pausing between steps or asking students if we had any questions or if we were confused. My former teachers’ process of teaching left me confused throughout the lesson until they were done teaching so I can ask them for help. I really appreciated the way the teacher took the time to pause between steps and asked her students if they had any questions. When the teacher did this, I believe that she made her students understand the lesson better and helped them process

Teacher Assistances main philosophy is to help students with special needs, they want to make sure all students have equal and positive learning experiences. Cheryl believed that inclusion is the best tool to use involving a child with special needs education. She talked about the diverse types of inclusion that will help all students. Students who are part of a community tend to have higher levels of learning and joy, especially when they work cooperatively. When students are in these positive encouraging environments they are guaranteed to succeed When students are introduced to differences amongst their classmates at an early age, they shed the earlier negative beliefs about children with learning disabilities. In addition, if students with

Another issue that general and special education teachers face nowadays is the fact that they must know their students well to help them maximize their education. In order to maximize a child’s education, teachers must provide students with rich experience to help them learn and master the subject. Newman (2006) explains that when students are taught by allowing them to experience new things, they can be academically more successful. He also believes that rich experiences will allow the students to build schemas to increase their knowledge.

Bessette (2008) considers co-teaching to be “one of the most popular service delivery models for increasing instructional equity for students with disabilities in heterogeneous classrooms” (p. 1376). Dieker explains that students’ needs are better understood in the inclusive setting because the teacher-student ratio is reduced and teachers have more time to pay attention to individual needs. One of the benefits of co-teaching is the unique perspectives and strengths of general educators and special educators teaching approaches and instructional strategies (Friend, Reising, & Cook, 1993). In the collaborative setting, co-teachers work together to develop personal classroom arrangements which best suits their instructional needs. Magiera and Zigmond (2005) point out that the student-teacher ratio is lower, which leads to more positive behavior management as well as two professionals supporting one another. Additionally, this method of inclusion often allows teachers to learn from each other in an environment that is most often highly beneficial for all students (p.79).

Participants included 76 (40 females, 36 males, 34 African Americans, 29 Caucasians, 12 Hispanics) typically developing junior level high school students. Participants were from three Algebra class periods in a rural, low SES, general education high school in Western Michigan. Students in all three classrooms ranged from 16 to 18 years of age. Class periods one (16 females, 9 males; 15 African Americans, 7 Caucasians, 3 Hispanics), three (10 females, 15 males; 11 Africans Americans, 12 Caucasians, 2 Hispanics), and six (14 females, 12 males; 8 African Americans, 10 Caucasians, 7 Hispanics), were selected for participation. All three class periods were taught in the same classroom by the same teacher. Section one class period was from

Dimensions of effective classroom practice were developed in two ways. The first method was via the analysis of pupil questionnaire data, which led to the production of underlying factors that could suggest best teacher practices. This was a critical component of the research data because it provided a bridge between the qualitative and quantitative data. All survey items were initially analyzed which then progressed to the individual items being analyzed separately (“My School”, “My Teacher”, My Classroom”, and “About You in This Class”. The survey completed by the second and sixth year students was sufficient for the research model, however, the ninth year students’ data was disaggregated to provide more relevant data. The disaggregation of data for the ninth year students