Think Aloud Reflection

Me, doing my Think Aloud. 

Yesterday, I presented my Think Aloud to the class…and I believe that my presentation went fairly well! I was really nervous about presenting, but once I got up there and got going, I became much more comfortable. I chose to do a math worksheet, since math is my primary emphasis. After looking through several worksheets found from the GPS’s recommended resources, I settled on a 7^th grade proportion problem about building shelves of a bookcase. The worksheet involved a good amount of reading and interpreting, which I thought would be perfect for a Think Aloud.

Me, when I first saw this worksheet.

The only problem with my worksheet was its organization. It gave dimensions for objects, but didn’t clearly specify what was the length, width, or height. To solve this, I tried to explain to the class that we’d have to draw the objects in 3-D and attempt to makes sense of the dimensions by logic. The 9 inches matched, so they must both the length (from the wall); 1 inch must the height of the plank of wood, etc. Then, on the backside of the worksheet, it was a mess. The actual problem, which was a table, was located at the bottom of the page. But above it was poorly organized different pieces that fell into the table (i.e. lines on a graph, descriptions, and equations). To address this confusing organization, I made sure to tell the class “wow, ok this backside it a little confusing. Let’s make sense of it.”

Overall, I think I did pretty well. I received a lot of encouraging feedback! My favorite comment was that someone liked how I personified things (i.e. I call each line on the graph “him”). If there’s one thing I could improve on, it would be that this sort of worksheet was almost too long for a Think Aloud. Especially in a real classroom setting, I couldn’t think aloud this whole worksheet; the students would get bored and impatient!

323

Emily 

Subjects Matter Chapter 7 Response

I really enjoyed reading this chapter because we got a break from talking about textbooks, and instead learned about the importance of building community within our classrooms. Regardless of the grade level, course, subject, textbooks, etc., your student’s ability to succeed in, belong in, and find value in your class is arguably the most important duty we have as teachers. How can we expect our students to care about our class when they feel as though their teachers do not care about their interests and needs? How can we make our subjects more interesting and understandable if we never allow our students to collaborate and get creative with their peers?

There are so many little ways that teachers can build a better sense of community within their classrooms. For starters, I think it’s essential for teachers to make a point to get to know their student’s personal needs and interests from Day 1. A simple survey could ask the students about what they’re nervous about in the class, what they’re excited about, and also what their personal interests are. Teachers can use these answers throughout the semester to guide their lessons and activities. For example, I had a math teacher once who would use student’s names and something about them (i.e sport they played) to form word problems! We always loved that. 

Another simple way to build community is to value each students questions and answers. We’ve all had those teachers who tell you “That’s a dumb question,” or, “No, you’re wrong”. How will that ever help your students feel valued and encouraged to keep learning? Lastly, I think its super important that teachers allow students to have many opportunities to work with their peers. Sometimes concepts are better understood when explained by a classmate. And sometimes students just need to talk instead of sit in their desks and listen to you lecture all day!

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Emily