Tiffany Ebner
MED300
Dr. Cushman
Journal #6

Date:Monday, March 19, 2007

	Today, at Lafayetter we worked on solving problems involving circles. We asked the students to find the
radius and diameter of a circle. We provided them with a compass to draw an accurate circle on a set of axis's.
Abdul came in with about 10 minutes left in the period so we only really had time to work on the anticipatory set. 
He had a hard time recalling with the radius and diameter of a circle were. When we reminded him he got the hang of
it pretty well. He still continues to struggle when it comes time to write something down. He always questions where to
write what. I tried to help him again by setting up an example equation for him to look at and follow so he could see a
way to organize he writing and understand what he is doing. For the most part Abdul did a good job drawing the circles and measuring the radius and diameter. Although, he did have some problems finding thecenter of the circle. He thought it was always at the orgin (0,0). I decided to give him a point (2,3) and i told him to draw a circle with a radius of 3. He started drawing it a the origin with a radius of 3 but he didnt understand the start at the point I gave him. Afterwards I told him he had to remember to read all the information in the problem and make sure he is drawing what is being asked. He did a good job for the rest of the problems that we had time to try.

Date: Wednesday, March 21, 2007

	Today, we continued to practice problems involving circles. Abdul was again the only student we had to work with in our group. Today, we asked him to find the area of a circle. We provided him with a visual of a frisbee and asked him to measure the diameter using a measuring tape. We then asked him to recall the formula to find the area of a circle. He didn't know so we wrote it on the top of the page for him. Then we asked him to use the formula and the measurement he had just taken to find the area of the frisbee. He struggled at first because he didnt know how to substitute into the equation. I reminded him of what we did on Monday and I asked him to find the radius. Then I told him to represent the radius with r. So he wrote down r=3. That helped a lot because then he could see to substitute 3 into the equation for r and then he used his calculator to find the rest of the problem. Then we asked him to do the same thing with a miniature frisbee. After he had found the area of both circles we asked him which circle had the larger area. Then we showed him how this made sense with the size of the 2 frisbees. 

Date: Tuesday March 20, 2007

	Today, from 12:00pm - 3:00pm I observed classes at Hamilin Park School #74. Througout the duration of my time there I observed a variety of classrooms and teachers as well. I spent the morning observing Mr. Namulala, a math resourse teacher at the school. I went around with him and observed a 7th grade inclusion class and an 8th grade regular class that he was helping in because the former teacher quit and there was a long term substitute filling in for the time being. The 7th grade class was very responsive to both Mr. Namulala and the classroom teacher. They were working on a lesson involving percent, rate, and time. The kids were really into the lesson because the teacher asked them what something is that they wanted to buy and one boy said a hummer car. So the teacher used that as an example and all the kids wored well with it. In the 8th grade class it was a differnt story. After we ate lunch, we went upstairs to the 8th grade classroom where the previous teacher had just quit and there was now a long term sub in the class. It was obvious she had no control of the class. The kids were very wild just talking to each other and shouting about random things not involving math or the class. Mr. Namulala was able to settle down most of the kids and I went over and sat with a group of students that were talking and I asked them about the problems they were supposed to be going over in their work book. They started working on the problems for a little while and then another girl in the class was shouting about something and left the classroom swearing at the substitute. Afterwards the students were asked to copy down 5 words on the board and find the definition in the workbook. They were more cooperative with this part of the lesson but a few kids who didnt have their workbook were distracting eachother and a few of the other students. After observing in the 8th grade I went downstairs to a 6th grade classroom and observed the math lesson for the rest of the day. The class was much more under control. The teacher I observed also had a student teacher in the classroom and then the specified math teacher who taught the lesson. After the lesson was over another resource teacher came in to help a few students with an assement quiz based on the lesson just taught. The class was very cooperative and respectful of everyone in the room. It was definitly one of the better classes I observed for the day. Except the heat was broken in the room and it was about 90 degrees in their and all the windows were proped open which cause a little bit of a distraction. Some students were making fans with their papers and complaining of a head ache. I felt bad for them because I was sitting there sweating and thinking I dont know how they are going to take a quiz on this when I can't even concentrate sometimes because it was extremly warm in the room. The teacher who taught the lesson did an ok job except he used some pretty big words for sixth graders. I think I will be observing 2 of his classes on Thursday.

Date: Thursday March 22, 2007
	Today, I spent the afternoon observing Mr. Namulala again at school #74. Again we went into Miss Burcos's class who is currently filling in as a long term substitute. Today she went over perimerter and area with the 8th graders. She had them find the perimeter of rectagles and then derive formula's from the work they did and develop equivalent relationships. The students were pretty responsive to the lesson. It went much better I tought then on Tuesday. The class stil was a bit rowdy but for the most part the students were participating and involved in the lesson. Afterwards, I again observed the 6th grade math class. They also were studying perimeter but they used square blocks and grid paper to help them understand the concept of perimeter. The student teacher, Miss V, was teaching the lesson today. I was impressed with how well behaved the students were for her. I assumed that they would have been a bit rowdier for her but they were active and paying attention to her lesson. I worked with one group of boys and I helped them to see how the area of they shapes doesnt change based on the dimensions of the shape, but the perimeter can change. Overall it was a productive day. Tomorrow I will be spending the morning observing Mr. Gothgek, who the students call Mr. G squared.

Date: Friday, March 23, 2007
	Today, I spent the morning observing Mr. G squared. The first class he taught was 7th grade. They were studying ratios, proportions and percent. For the most of the class he allowed them to work in partners on a worksheet that was based off his lesson from yesterday. He collected the paper at the end for a grade. The next 2 classes I observed were 8th grade. They were learning how to factor. The lesson Mr. G taught was very good, I thought. The students seemed to grasp the idea for the most part however, there were a few students who struggled with the material. It was kind of frustrating to sit there and watch him teach and not be able to get involved. I am really looking forward to teaching in my own class someday. Overall I really enjoyed observing at school #47.