Chapter 4 of “Readicide” by Gallagher

Summary: This chapter is about finding the “sweet spot” in teaching and find what works best for the students to learn. We do not want to under teach them, but also not over teach them and as teachers we need to find that happy medium so that the students will remember the information.

            While reading this chapter, it was very difficult for me to keep my focus. I tried many different strategies to stay focused such as changing my reading speed, visualizing, and making a text to my life connection. While reading I keeps asking myself how is this useful in teaching math? I could not think of example that I would be over teaching or under teaching the students in something. Obviously math teachers never hand out novels to read and you are not assigned to read a chapter in the math book, so I could not find the second half of the chapter useful. We normally only cover one section a day in class and I feel like that is not over teaching or under teaching because a section is meant to be covered in one class day. An extra day might be used if the students do not understand, so we adapt to how well the students understand the information. The only way I think a math teacher could apply this over and under teaching is to homework. If too many homework problems are assigned the students may become board, and if not enough problems are assigned, the students may not understand the material. One thing I found that I could apply to my teaching was finding the “sweet spot” in learning. I need to find the best way to teach my students that they will remember the information and understand it. I would need to find out when would be best to teach the lesson, how much homework to assign, when to let them work on homework, and how often to do activities. A teacher really needs to get to know their students in order to maximize the learning of the students.

Readicide

Chapter 1 of “Readicide” by Gallagher.

Summary: This chapter discusses how teachers only teach to the test and do not go into depth with the information. Teaching to the test is harmful because shallow teaching occurs and students who struggle continue to struggle and their needs are not met. The reason teachers teach this way is because if students do not pass these tests, they will not pass the class and the teacher or school would be considered a place where they do not teach well enough.

            While reading this chapter, I remembered what we had talked about during class about teaching to the test and the vocabulary exercise we did in class. I began getting upset hearing about teachers only teaching to the test because they are harming the students learning. I understand that it is not the teachers fault; they are just trying to do as they are told. But the government that issues these laws, tests, and mandates needs to realize that their methods are hindering children’s learning. Obviously if student’s scores have become worse since the laws have been in place, then they were not good and are not working. The people making these laws do not have a large amount of knowledge in education and I think that the teachers should have more say in what goes on. They are the ones that see the students first hand and know what is best for teaching and specifically what works for the students that they are teaching. In addition, how the tests are made up cause the students to not have to think about the information and they are just learning information for the test but not having to think or use skills that are common in the work force or just in everyday life. The Texas miracle vs. Texas mirage makes me wonder how reliable national test scores really are. If there is cheating going on and schools making sure only the smart students take the test, test scores are not going to be accurate at all. I feel like that is always going on with tests and people are just not aware of it.

Claculators in the class room/ math scores

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/education/edlife/for-math-click-calculate.html?_r=2&ref=mathematics

http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/high-school-notes/2011/11/01/national-math-assessment-scores-creep-up-but-stagnate-in-reading#comments

Summary: One of the articles talks about whether calculators are good for learning or if it is hindering learning and understanding. Calculators have become so advanced that they can do almost any problem and the student does not have to do any work except for typing the problem in. The other article talks about how math scores have increased where reading scores have stayed roughly the same.

            I feel that calculators are very useful. In younger grades I do not think that students should be able to use calculators because that is when they are learning the fundamentals of everything and need to know how to do it all by hand. In upper level math classes, I think that once you know how to fundamentally do the work by hand, that you should be able to use a calculator. When I read through these articles, I was thinking back to when I was in school and what my teachers made me do. I also thought about what I might do as a teacher and how often I will allow my students to be able to use their calculators. Looking back at my experiences, I know that when I used my calculator, I did not have to think much and the more I used it, the more I forgot how to do the basic math. Most students do not know when they should and should not use a calculator and they tend to use it too much.

            The other article I found interesting also, because I feel like most students do not like math and do not do well in it. I was happy to see that the scores were going up, but then I wondered if math scores going up had anything to do with calculator usage on test. If students can just type the problem into their calculator, of course they will do better. I also wonder what causes the scores to go up. Is it because the students are just smarter? Are the teachers teaching better?  Is the material getting easier? These are questions that would be helpful to know as a teacher.

Chapter 6

Tovani, C. (2004). Do I really have to teach reading?: Content comprehension, grades 6-12. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.

Summary: In chapter 6 Tovani gives different ways to be able to hold your thinking and remember what you have read so that you can reuse it later. A few ways that she gives are: using sticky notes to mark important parts or to writing questions on them, highlighting, writing notes, thoughts and ideas in the margins as you read, and writing a double-entry diary. By being able to ask questions while reading helps keep ones interested, and being able to bookmark important information helps one be able to reference back to these details.

            While reading this book, I find it hard at times to think of ways to use the tools that Tovani had given in the text. I always think that math teachers do not need to know this information because we do not ask students to read anything. While reading sometimes I will fade and not comprehend what I am reading because I feel that it is irrelevant. But to keep my attention I really have to think about how I could apply these tools to my teaching. I find it helpful that Tovani provides examples for how to use the tools she has given in a variety of different subjects. Towards the end of the chapter, Tovani talks about having a quad-entry diary and relates it to and algebra lesson. When reading this section, it really caught my attention and I recalled a time in my high school geometry class where we were asked to take notes using the quad-entry diary. I found it very helpful and easy to look back at my notes to study for tests. I realized that this tool would be very useful for students to take notes and to especially recall properties or theorems.  I also realized that students could also highlight important formulas or definitions that they may need for assignments or to study for a test. The more I thought about the tool, the more I realized that the students did not need to be reading a novel or textbook in order to use these tools. It could even be for just simple note taking from class lectures.

Chapter 5

Tovani, C. (2004). Do I really have to teach reading?: Content comprehension, grades       6-12. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.

Summary: The fifth chapter brought up the question, “Why am I reading this?” because without a purpose, reading can be uninteresting and can cause you to read without understanding. Tovani had teachers really think about what the purpose of reading material was in each area and figure out what is most important and what could be taken out.

            While reading this chapter I reread parts, made connections and visualized what was going on. This helped me stay interested in the book and be able to comprehend what I was reading.  I liked the idea that Tovani presents about figuring out what your instructional purpose is and building from there. As teachers we need to sit down and think, what is it that I want my students to know and learn. Some teachers have the problem of having too many areas that they want to cover. They feel rushed and the students really aren’t learning as much as they could be if the teacher were to slow down and go more in depth with the material. Tovani also presented the idea of telling the students what they are required to know before giving them something to read. I completely agree with this idea because as a student it is hard to remember all the details of what you have read. It is even harder to try and pick out what you think your teacher might find important. By telling your students what you are expecting, they have something to go off of and can look for those aspects as they read.