Mr. D TV is my weekly video series where I give advice to teachers on just about any topic. If you have a question you'd like me to discuss, email it to teachforever@gmail.com. If you like the video, check out the last episode or my YouTube channel for more. See you next week!
Dear Mr. D, This week we had several observations and evaluations by different groups with different agendas.
Only one of those provided feedback to individual teachers. This subject--questioning--was one of the positives on my critique. I did not know what she was talking about.
It's always been my practice to be an encourager. You bring what you are to teaching. And, a questioning response is a respectful one.
One of the teachers I observed during my certification year (last year) commonly would respond to an incorrect answer with "Are you kidding me?" --not spoken in kindness.
I understand her frustration. Much of middle school math is a review, part of, to the students, an endless spiral. They should be kidding her; they should know. It is sad that they do not.
I get the same students a year later, still unlearned in math skills, getting bogged down because they don't have basic computational skills.
Still. . .
One student in my observation, a "regular" student, struggled to find an answer. In trying to see it from his perspective, I found the mathematical world a blur of incomprehensible concepts tied to multiplication. In isolation, he understood the volume of a prism and how to calculate it. In practice, he could not multiply 2 x 8. to get an answer. In 8th grade.
So, if I'm to shout 'NO!' it will be at home, at the system that passes him without mastery. And, in the classroom, it's to continue on, encouraging.
1 comment:
Dear Mr. D,
This week we had several observations and evaluations by different groups with different agendas.
Only one of those provided feedback to individual teachers. This subject--questioning--was one of the positives on my critique. I did not know what she was talking about.
It's always been my practice to be an encourager. You bring what you are to teaching. And, a questioning response is a respectful one.
One of the teachers I observed during my certification year (last year) commonly would respond to an incorrect answer with "Are you kidding me?" --not spoken in kindness.
I understand her frustration. Much of middle school math is a review, part of, to the students, an endless spiral. They should be kidding her; they should know. It is sad that they do not.
I get the same students a year later, still unlearned in math skills, getting bogged down because they don't have basic computational skills.
Still. . .
One student in my observation, a "regular" student, struggled to find an answer. In trying to see it from his perspective, I found the mathematical world a blur of incomprehensible concepts tied to multiplication. In isolation, he understood the volume of a prism and how to calculate it. In practice, he could not multiply 2 x 8. to get an answer. In 8th grade.
So, if I'm to shout 'NO!' it will be at home, at the system that passes him without mastery. And, in the classroom, it's to continue on, encouraging.
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