Assessment Journal Article

Albert, L., & Antos, J. (200). Daily Journals. Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, 5(8), 526,527,528,529,530,531.

SUMMARY

This article was all about using daily journals in the classroom. The article followed a fifth grade class where around two students a day would take home journals and write about how they used mathematics outside of the classroom. They started this on the first day of school and continued it throughout the last day of school. Students were not only encouraged two write stuff down but to also take pictures, draw pictures, diagrams, or any other ways that they could put things in their notebooks. Every day their mathematics class would start with students sharing their journal entries. By doing this the students would create problems for the class to solve. This was used to help the students connect their math to real life experiences in a way that related to them. The things students wrote most about was money, elapsed time ,and measurement The assessment for this project was shared between the student and the teacher. Students are given a guide and are told to use it as a self assessment tool throughout the process. The teacher than looks at this assessment and sees if the student provided sufficient support and reasoning in their process of evaluating themselves. At the end of the marking period students select their best two or three journals to hand in. These journals are used as part of their portfolios. This all allows students to take ownership of their own learning.

EVALUATION

This article was extremely beneficial! I really enjoyed it. I learned a lot about journals ways of using it as an assessment. Journals are a perfect assesment for students at any ability level. Even though some journals may not be as detailed as others, the journals still show a certain level of understanding that will demonstrate knowledge gained. Also for students who have trouble writing, they can use pictures and diagrams to help explain their thoughts. This is good because students can show their understanding in a way that may be easier for them to demonstrate. Using journals is also a great way to connect mathematics to a students real life. By having students go home and write about how they used math in their lives outside of school, it allows students to see that math is all around us, and that we use it everyday in a lot of our activities. By allowing students to see that they actually use the concepts they use in class outside of the classroom it allows them to build a better understanding of the topics and promote the want for more learning. Students will be able to see that we actually use math all the time and will want to learn more about it so that they will be able to see how it relates even more to their lives.

Journal Article #2 March

Switzer, M. (2010). Bridging the Math Gap. Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, 15(7), 400.
SUMMARY

Bridging the gap between elementary school and junior high school is very important. A lot of times the mathematical concepts that students learn in elementary school are not connected to what they are learning in junior high. One of the first things that a junior high math teacher should do is find out the prior knowledge of their students. They should know what the students know, and the different ways that they learned to do things. Instead of students using traditional algorithms, it is important to have your students try to come up with methods of figuring out answers and being able to explain how their methods work. Students need to not only understand number sense, they need to understand how to apply that number sense to problem situations and know how to use them.

In a school district there is always a math curriculum facilitator. This person is in charge of teaching the teachers what the students in previous grade levels have learned and how they learned them. Teachers need to understand the different types of algorithms that the students know, so that they can be able to build upon their students knowledge in a positive and effective way.

EVALUATION

This article was extremely interesting. Even though I have thought about teaching mathematics in both elementary and junior high school, I never really realized about the gap between the two. This gap is very important and as teachers we need to pay close attention to it. When students go from one school to another, the teaching may be different. The way one student may have learned long multiplication in elementary school may be completely different than how the teachers do it in junior high school. This is why it is important for teachers in the elementary school and junior high school level to be in constant communication and make sure that the techniques being used are very similar. This article really stressed the importance of this, and I completely agree with it. Another important topic brought up is that teachers should understand various algorithms for different types of math. This way if a student comes into the school learning a math process differently than it is being taught, the teacher will be able to understand what the student is doing, and better help them. The concepts brought up in this article are very important. I believe that any teacher, in all subjects not just math, should always think about the gaps between different grade levels and schools, and how to help bridge those gaps.