Synthesis of Course

At the beginning of the semester I was (a little) doubtful that I would learn a lot about how you can use literacy in math and how math uses literacy.  It seemed like other subjects used literacy but math was math and so it didn't.  Wow, was I wrong!  This course really opened my eyes to how mathematics uses literacy and when it does it can be very beneficial to student's learning.
I want to touch a two specific topic.  For example comprehension instruction in math.  How many of us read through a math story problem and feel like this:

I now know how to help students look at this and comprehend what they are reading. I will use before, during and after reading activities and strategies to help students comprehend what they read.  I will also help students prepare for readings (or word problems) by activating background knowledge and setting a clear purpose for the reading.  

In this class I also learned how to structure my classroom so that students can have the opportunity to communicate using oral language.  I want to have think-alouds be a very common thing in my classroom.  I think that they really help students in learning.  Additionally if a student is thinking-aloud I, as the teacher, can see exactly what they do and don't know.  So if a student says they don't understand I'm not guessing at what they don't understand, instead I can see what part they don't get from the think-aloud.  

To put it simply, I learned many helpful techniques and strategies to using literacy in mathematics.  I will be using these techniques and strategies in my classroom in the future.  I also learned about language and the many aspects thereof.  I feel like I know what literacy and language are now and I can affectively implement them into my teaching in the future.  

Reading

What an experience I’ve had with reading!  I remember being in second grade and whenever the reading specialists would come to our class I was always one of the students being pulled out to get help with reading.  I was one of “those” students.  Honestly, I didn’t know how to read until part way through second grade.  I would cry at home to my mom because I was so bad at reading.  I hated reading aloud to the class because I was so slow and stumbled over words.  I even remember when I used to read by looking at the first few letters of a word and guess the rest so that I could move onto the text word and do the same.  I was quite embarrassed by the whole reading thing.  You could say I had a rough start in my reading career. 

However, because of good parents and teachers I learned how to read.  In fact I actually started liking to read.  On a 20 hour car drive to Canada I remember reading most of the time and finishing a book (amazing for me)!   When I got to high school I felt like an average reader.  It definitely wasn’t my strong suit but I could read aloud and not be nervous or embarrassed.  Now, one of my most favorite things to do in my “free time” is read.  My favorite types of books to read are historical novels.  I look forward to the day when I won’t have textbooks waiting to be read but novels and pleasure books.

As a teacher I will make sure my students feel confident in their reading.  I won’t ever call on students to read that don’t feel ok with reading aloud.  Also instead of always giving students textbooks to read I will also include the reading of trade books in my classroom.  For example, this last summer in one of my classes I had to read a math trade book.  This was the first time in my entire schooling that I had been asked to read a math book that was a math textbook.  I read the book “The Numbers Behind NUMB3RS” by Keith Devlin and Gary Lorden.  It was so interesting and engaging for me.  I loved how I was still learning about math but it wasn’t a typical way of learning about math.  I want to provide students will opportunities like this in my teaching.              

Writing

I don't necessarily think of myself as a writer.  Maybe this is because I never felt like a "good" writer.  Mostly, as a child I would write whatever I was assigned in my classes.  I was never one of those students who would write a story or write at all, for fun (or for recreation).  I prefer to express my ideas today through drawings in some ways.  For example if I am writing a mathematical proof I like to include diagrams or picture to help clarify what I am writing.  I think that pictures can be very beneficial in making writing more clear.  The writings that I do recreationally now are through texts, Facebook, Twitter and my personal journal.

Writing assignments that I have enjoyed in the past and now are usually ones that I know exactly what the teacher wants and can successfully complete the assignment.  I feel comfortable writing throughout the assignment because the teacher has prepared me well for the assignment.  They have taught me the things I need to know and built me up to be able to successfully do the assignment.  On the other hand, writing assignments that I did not enjoy in the past were ones that I didn't feel comfortable writing.  I felt inadequate for the assignment.  Usually the assignment wouldn't be preceded by small assignments preparing us for the bigger writing assignment.  This is why I didn't feel prepared for the writing assignment and consequently didn't like the assignment.

I will structure opportunities for my students to write by first preparing them for the writing so they feel comfortable and prepared for the writing assignments.  If they are prepared they will succeed in the writing assignment.  I won't just assign a writing assignment without first preparing my students.  Such a writing assignment in my discipline of Mathematics might be a proof of a conjecture.

Cooking & Math

I remember as a little girl always loving to help my mom cook.  As I got old enough she would have me help more.  She would measure out the sugar and I got to dump it in.  Later when I got to start measuring things out, she taught me about fractions.  I learned that 1/4 of a cup was smaller than a 1/2 cup.  I learned that there are four 1/4 cups in 1 cup.  I learned that 1/3 cup plus 1/3 cup equaled 2/3 cup.  These were all little thinks I learned along the way from making different recipes.  My mom would point them out and I would learn.

As I went to school and learned about fractions in math, I remembered back to cooking with my mom and learning the same things.  Fractions weren't hard because I could relate them to cooking.  As a teacher I would like to teach middle school math.  I can draw from students' background experience with cooking and teach them about fractions.  I believe some students have preconceived notions about math and especially fractions.  Before they even know what fractions are they believe fractions are hard and they won't be able to do them.

I would introduce fractions by having a cooking lesson.  We would discuss measuring things and go through how we would make a specific recipe.  After we would talk about how measuring in cooking is the same fractions as in math.  This way students would lean on their background experience of cooking to learn about fractions and not their preconceived notions about how hard fractions can be.  Drawing from students' background experience and connecting it to what you are teaching helps students have a personal connection to the mathematical material.  I know whenever I had a personal connection to what I was learning in my I seemed to understand it more.  

Introduction

Hi, I'm Clarissa Fackrell.  I am from Cedar City, Utah.  This is my second year here at Utah State.  I enjoy camping, jeeping, motorcycling, running, reading, quilting, and being with family & friends.

Some interesting facts about me are I am the 5th of 6 children, I am the shortest person in my family, my sister was married in August and her husband is more than a foot taller than me.

The subject I wish to teach is Mathematics and Statistics.  Math to me is being able to work through a problem and find a solution that gives you the information you are looking for.  I am an organized person and like having a routine.  This is partly why I like Math, because for some types of problems you follow a routine/process.  I was drawn to my discipline by wanting students to have a patient teacher who understands that math doesn't always click.  I can relate to students who don't understand a math concept right off the bat and I want to be the kind of teacher who is willing to help these students come to understand and master different math concepts.  Right now my definition of literacy is being able to read, comprehend, and communicate.  I do think that literacy relates to math in that students must understand what a problem is asking them.  Students need to be able to read through a problem and know what they should do.  This is how literacy relates to math from my point of view.