Observations on Learning

The students I have been observing are in our regular 7th grade math class, as well as an extra math class for students who have not met standard in 6th grade (called Study Tech). I can tell W. is learning when she voluntarily answers questions, provides an alternative solution, explains a strategy to a friend, holds up her hand to show she understands a concept, and writes review notes in her notebook, color-coded to show different ideas.  I saw her having difficulty learning when she was turning around to chat with friends, when she showed an inability to focus on math, and when she came back to a previously-worked problem and couldn’t explain her steps.  I observed D. sharing a factor tree on the board, and working through a fraction multiplication problem.  He was not learning when he put his head down on the table, did not bring in his homework, was joking with friends, and when he could not complete the quiz.  Much of the difficulty for this student seems to be his disorganization.  He comes to class with a binder full of papers, which are not organized by subject or have a discernible order.

In the Study Tech class, I watched the students during an activity where each pair of two students had rods made from blocks to help understand fractions: some rods were color-coded to show halves, some thirds, some quarters, etc.  Each pair of students held up their rod when we asked for specific fractions.  This activity was designed to help students understand common denominators.  I watched as they tried to add one third and one quarter with the blocks, and the students responded with blank looks.  After a few attempts to add different fractions, we had the students put the blocks away because they didn’t seem to be helping, just confusing the students.  This was an example of a hands-on, interactive activity that I expected would be helpful for students uncomfortable with fractions, but in reality, the students seemed confused by the blocks.

On another day, the teacher was discussing how to divide fractions, which should be a review topic for the seventh graders.  I expected the most difficult part for the students to be remembering that dividing is the same as multiplying the reciprocal.  However, during the work session after the instruction, I checked in with several students and the main misunderstanding came from converting a mixed number to an improper fraction.  The parts that I believe are going to be hard may not match what the students believe is hard.

All of the teachers that I have observed genuinely care for their students, and this seems the most important characteristic for a teacher to have.