6:00- 7:00pm in Gilmore (dorm)

Tuesday March 28th 

Erin shared that in 4th grade, her teacher gives her students different multiplication problems and sets goals for them. You have to pass a certain number of division and multiplication problems in order to meet the standard in 4th grade, so they practice and get rewarded after a certain number of problems.

Brittney shared that when she was correcting homework one student struggled to understand the small details of the assignment and ended up rounding all of the answers up way further than they were supposed to be.

Jessica shared that each week her students have a math test and when she is asked to grade them she noticed a large difference between students because one student would get a perfect on both sides and other students would be struggling to get just a few correct. 

Brynn shared that when she was giving some of the students in her class a spelling test she felt that the time was well balanced because she had to say each word 3 times and then give the word in a sentence which allowed all of the students time to spell out each letter. 

Erin shared that students were able to stay in from recess to work on homework that they didn’t finish during class. She said this really helped the student understand. 

Jessica shared that in her class the teacher has it set up to that each activity is only done for a very specific time. She also shared that the teacher really presses the idea that the students need to know all of the information in the assigned activity for the standardized test. Jessica commented that she like that it was breaking the learning up into groups but that only spending 10 minutes in each of these groups caused the students to rush through the problems.

Brynn shared that in her classroom all of the math lessons are online. She said that the students will watch an interactive video and the teacher will also give instructions as the video pauses. And the students use ipads to play study island which is practice for the MCA tests. 

Erin shared that when she gets there students work in groups and one group is normally on the iPads and they read an article and answer multiple choice questions and it needs to be done by Fridays. 

Jessica shared that the students in her class also used Study island and then in addition to that they took all of their math tests on the ipads. She said that they were given paper to work the problem out on but that the actual test was taken on the ipad.

Brittney shared that in her class the students work on a problem solving activity everyday. Then the students are also allowed to use a software that is math games that they are allowed to play once they complete their other math work. 

Brittney shared that her class in working on learning decimals. She talked about how before they started rounding decimals she gave the students a worksheet to work on rounding whole numbers to get them used to the concept.

Brynn shared that each time her class starts a new unit in math the teacher gives them a pretest. Then if the student passes the pretest they have to do the enrichment page on their homework as a challenge. 

Erin shared how her class did an activity about fractions with a cut out circle. Then they were given other circles that had been colored and cut into different but equal sizes. The students then were asked to fill out a worksheet that asked them questions about how many of each of the smaller slices of circle could fit into a full circle. 

Jessica shared that last friday the students were starting to learn about decimals and to introduce this the teacher went to the front of the room and asked the students what they knew about decimals. Then the teacher wrote each thing that they listed on the board.

Erin shared that she is in an open classroom that has 3rd and 4th graders on either side. This doesn't cause a lot of distraction for students. The students get used to it and follow the rules.

Brynn shared that all of the desks in her classroom and in rows of groups. Then there is a table in the back for the students to work. Also she noticed that some students have specific places that they have to work. For example, there is one student that has to sit by himself in order to stay focused.

Brittney shared that in her classroom the front of the classroom has the smartboard, a reading corner, and the teacher’s desk. Then the student’s desks are in four groups of about four or five students per group.

Jessica shared that in her classroom there is a table right by the door for group work with a reading carpet next to it. Then the student desks are in groups of four. However only two students work at each group because the classroom is also shared and used by third graders in the afternoon.