A-day: Session 3

Affect:

Having unsuccessfully attempted to begin my lesson on the commutative, associative and distributive properties during my last session with Andrew, I decided to create a lesson which focused on the foundational skills for solving equations with fractions.  The terms I chose to introduce to the student were, factors, multiples, lowest common denominator, and least common multiple.  With the knowledge of these four elements, Andrew would become more confident in solving algebraic equations using the properties introduced in Module F. 

I feel confident in my ability to teach this information effectively to my tutee.  I had the opportunity to create various activities covering the same material for a student at Argyle elementary for my TSL course this semester.  I feel ask if that experience provided me with insight into general issues students face when attempting to solve for equations with fractions.  I’ve learned that incorporating visual representations of fractions as well as encouraging student participation in numerous example problems prior to the activity, results in a more enjoyable and successful session with the student. 

Behavior:

My usual A-day tutee Andrew was absent today and I had the opportunity to work with a student named Devan.  Devan is new to the Lakeshore Elementary and is completing his second week in the public education setting.  In order to begin our session I asked the student the last topic he worked on in math at his previous school.  He responded with a shrug and explained that at Lakeshore they are currently working on the commutative, associative, and distributive properties.  With this in mind I attempted to review the terminology of the properties with the student using premade flashcards, but he seemed clueless as to what I was talking about.  It was then that I realized, Devan lacked the basic problem solving skills which these properties were based on; just like Andrew. 

Therefore, the lesson I had prepared for Andrew today was at the perfect level for Devan.  But teaching this lesson proved to be a struggle.  The student was extremely negative about completing his work and for a majority of the session, refused to look at the material I was presenting.  He spent more time looking at the tutoring sessions occurring around him and asking why he wasn’t receiving treats or getting to play on the computer. 

Having never experienced such resistance before, I struggled to keep Devan on task.  I was able to introduce the factors and multiples to him successfully and had him complete example problems.  However, when I moved onto LCM and LCD, he completely shut down.  I couldn’t get him to look at his paper or respond to me without prompting and lengthy delays.    I then introduced a motivator to the environment, explaining that if he accurately completed four example problems for the given topic I would reward him by letting him go on coolmath.com.  This incentive proved successful.  However Devan struggled to pick up on the topic.  Consecutive errors were consistently being made when using multiplication.  Having never spent time with the student before, I am not sure if these was due to a lack of understanding or the desire to rush and play on the computers.   

Content:

After working with Devan, the classification of at-risk students was on my mind.  Having previously learned about the factors that lead to a student’s at-risk status, I wondered how student mobility affected this classification.  Moving frequently due to financial instability in the home could translate into academic instability.  Schools may struggle to track the student’s progress and in return inadequately meet the student’s needs.  Moreover, changing from a private to public school setting might present academic challenges for the student.  By not using the same curriculum, the student might be placed in a learning environment which is too advanced or vice versa.