Reflection of the Pro-D events

This is the first time I joined a Pro-D day event as a student-teacher. I was excited and curious about everything including the process. First, I realize to I have to make good plan and do my research before I could make a decision on which conference I could go to.  And there is a fee which teachers have to pay instead of supported by the school board or minister of Education.  And most of the conferences are organized by the BCTF, the union of the teachers which one teacher paid their membership fee to. Second, there are so many different conferences at the same time which offers the opportunity for teachers to follow their interests and needs. However, I am thinking if the BCTF could make everything to be available to every member might be even cool. I mean they could put all the material or slides on the website as resources. Third, the CUEBC offered lots of new ideas on using technology in teaching. I joined three conferences; two of them talking about the new ideas on using either game or apps. Both of them using the tools which are still developing. Teachers can help them to test and enrich them.
The day of Oct 25 is raining, but 400 people gathered for the conference of  CUEBC. I met a guy on the bus who fought from the northern part of BC for the event. I was touched. Our note-taking event in the morning was "Social media Wellness: Helping Teens and Tweens Thrive in an Unbalanced Digital World".  The speaker Ana Homayoun suggested to form a supportive team to facilitate teen's effective regulation and safety on social media instead of trying to control them. I like her on revealing the issue by two expressions " me to my child ' why are you so entertained watching other kids play video games on YouTube? also me 'turn on HGTV watch other adults buying houses. " Audiences were laughing. Yes, we might not realize that distraction and procrastination have similar syndrome both for adults and teens. We should show our empathy and support to young people.
After the keynote, I joined a session about Computational Thinking and Visual programming. The session was held by a teacher Kelly Nichols from Crofton House School in Vancouver. The session introduced a software of c3d.io, which allows students to build their own VR and learn to code. The software is easy to handle by grade 8 or above students, and students have the opportunity to create their own 3D animation and play on the web. Therefore, it might be a good one to blend the programming concept with creativity.  Nichols also offered a practical sample of the worksheets. Another session I joined was held by Adam Sheer, a team from UBC. There showed an application for collaborative learning notes. The app can help teachers to embed other sources in their classes, create acquisition active and assess students on their own level, also the app can integrate with other platforms, such as Canvas, Blackboard or Google Classroom. However, two software are still in developing, but open to Beta test for the teacher to use and offering suggestions. 
Another session I joined was for IT infrastructure. I expected to learn about the situation in public school, however, the speaker showed research instead of detail of the school setting. I learned but didn't reach my goal.
The Pro-D day conference opened my mind and I am looking forward to the next one, a better one. I will plan better and make a better choice next time.

Puzzle of Scale Problem

1) condition given: x1+x2+x3+x4=40,

                             x1<x2<x3<x4 

                          and x1,x2,x3,x4 are whole numbers. 

and the 4 sales can be used on both sides, so the 4 scales will use as   -1, o, 1 time for each weigh. 

-1 means the sale was used on the cookie side, 1 means the sale is used on the opposite of the cookie side. 

So because the lowest weigh is 1g, so the x1=1g, 

for 2g, we can use another one scale or use the x1 on the cookie sides.  In order to use fewer scales to measure,  I choose 2=x2-x1, then x2=3g, 

so for 3g, 3=x2, for 4g, we use x2+x1, both 1 and 3g, 4=x1+x2

for 5g, we put x2 and x1 on the cookie side, and start to use x3,  then x3=5+x2+x1 therefore x3=9g, 

6g=x3-x2, 7g= x3-x2+x1, 8g=x3-x1, 9g=x3, 10g=x3+x1, 11g=x3+x2-x1, 12g=x3+x2, 13g=x3+x2+x1, 

now we think about x4, move to the 14g=x4-x3-x2-x1 so the x4=27g. 

x1+x2+x3+x4=1+3+9+27=40g

so the solution is 1,3,9 and 27g scales. 

2) I only find this solution. 

3) I can ask students to think about if they have 5 different scales, what is the widest range of weight they could measure. 

By using the idea of the original question, we can extend to find the 5th scale, 

by solving the equation 41=x5-40, then x5=81, then the weightiest they can measure should be 81+40=121g. 

   

Entrance Slip: curriculum of Eisner's

Eisner's ideas include the explicit, implicit and null curriculum which include the education which is expected and offered through the required subjects, the hidden curriculum which training the students with rules and social culture, and the options which students to choose not to do. I do agree with him that the school is training students with compliance, competition and the options which have huge impact on students' future lives. When some of the students complained about what they learned in school are useless for their future lives, they also complained the school didn’t offer adequate skills and knowledge for their future. Making a decision when they were not mature enough might affect their adult lives lots.

BC curriculum includes all the three kinds of the curriculum which Eisner described. In BC, a high school graduate must finish at least 80 credits which include 48 required courses and some selected courses through grades 10 to 12. The required courses include language, math, science, social, history, etc. At the same time, more technical courses are listed on the elective courses include computer science. At the new curriculum, BC math curriculum emphasized problem-solving and critical thinking instead of computing skills. I believe the changes might be intended to educate students with transferable skills for their future lives.

Reflection of Group Microteaching

 

	Planning	Actually lived lesson	The process of evaluation
What I learned	This lesson plan is focused on a real grade 10 math class. How group worked together for the Planning, I learned from them on organizing the parts, including the introduction, formulas, and integrate the active and lecture.	The lesson plan includes the Active sheet and practice sheet. We planned the extra content-practice sheet for preparing the moment when students are very capable and move fast. Plan more. How to keep the students' attention is a challenge here especially two classes at the same time and space, distraction happens.	This process I paid more attention to the quality of the delivering of the content. The biggest challenge for this teaching is timing and pacing. Fifteen minutes is short in lecture, especially when we want to include active and practice. However, I learned from some groups to structure better.
What worked well	Our group worked together well. We selected the content together, shared the textbook, and worked together on making the lesson plan. All members contributed to the final version of the lesson plan.	Two of my members did most of the speaking because of my illness. Our active is the main part of our microteaching and students well accepted. Also, we controlled the timing well, we finished the main parts in 15 minutes and didn’t use the extra practice sheet.	My classmates encouraged us on the structure of the lecture, the in-call group activities and preparation.   Our team members also felt good about the result. I felt confident in our performance.
What to do next	Next time, we might need to add more ideas on connecting the content with the students' real life, try to improve the motivation of students.	In the class, try to practice before teaching and improve the confidence of group members, also integrate the class parts better. Next time, we might leave more opportunities for students' questions.	The process of the evaluation improved the teaching candidate’s confidence. Next time, I will pay more attention to offer more useful suggestions. This time, I felt hard to organize my idea and express in English within a limited time.

Microteaching Group Lesson Plan

Trigonometric Ratios

The Sine & Cosine Ratios

Remember that the two sides of a right triangle which form the right angle are called the legs, and the third side (opposite the right angle) is called the hypotenuse.

Sin B = length of Opposite / length of hypotenuse

Cos B = length of Adjacent / length of hypotenuse

MATH LESSON PLAN FOR MICRO TEACHING

Subject: Math	Date: Oct. 16, 2019	Duration: 15 minutes
Introduction	Trigon" is Greek for “triangle”, and "metric" is Greek for measurement. This lesson will help students to understand the concept of the primary trigonometric ratios are special measurements of a right triangle (a triangle with one angle measuring 90°) and it's importance.
Class Profile	Foundations of Math and Pre-Calc Grade 10 Class. A small group of 8-10 students. (role-playing with EDCP 342 Teacher Candidates)

Big Idea(s) https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/curriculum

“Trigonometry involves using proportional reasoning to solve indirect measurement problems.”

Curricular Competencies https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/curriculum	"Visualize to explore and illustrate mathematical concepts and relationships." “Represent mathematical ideas in concrete, pictorial, and symbolic forms.”
Content Objectives	"primary trigonometric ratios" -       Sine and Cosine -       Right angle problems -       Contexts involving direct and indirect measurement
Language Objectives	Review: Right Angle, Similar Triangles, Hypotenuse New: Sine (sin) Ratio, Cosine (cos) Ratio, Adjacent Side/leg, Opposite side/leg,

What the students will do

Students will apply sine and cosine ratios and solve for unknown values in right-angle triangles.

Materials and Equipment Needed for this Lesson

Activity Sheet, Whiteboard with markers

	Lesson Stages	Learning Activities	Time Allotted
1	Warm-Up	Students will be asked to identify right-angles, hypotenuses, and similar triangles, based on visuals provided by the teachers. *If students struggle to review these concepts, more time will need to be allotted to review before introducing trig ratios* Questions for assessing understanding: “Where do you see right-angles or right triangles in everyday life?”	1 minute
2	Group Activity	Candidates work on given Activity Sheet, to measure and get the idea of the trigonometry ratio. Walk around and give hints to groups, help them to correct any errors made.	5 minutes
3	Presentation	Conclude the activity and introduce “What are the sine & cosine ratios?" How to use the formulas to find the sine and cosine ratios and solve examples.	3 minutes
4	Practice and Production	Candidates work on given problems in groups or individually. For a mistake made by most groups, gather all students and explain the concept.	4 minutes
5	Wrap-up and review	Given them a short worksheet for classwork Assign homework for practice for them	2 minutes

Assessment/Evaluation of Students’ Learning

Students should demonstrate the difference between the Cos ratio and the Sin ratio. Students should consistently identify the adjacent, opposite, and hypotenuse sides of a right-angled triangle.

Circle Puzzle

Which number is diametrically opposite to 7?

The number is 22.

(From the UK Association of Teachers of Mathematics book, Eight Days A Week)

• What process did you use to work on and solve this puzzle?

Diametrically opposite: that means we can cut the total number in half. So, the first half is 1-15, the second half is 16-20, so the 16 is diametrically opposite to 1. 7=6+1, so 16+6=22.

• Could you create other extended puzzles related to this one -- some possible, some impossible?  (Is there any value to giving your students impossible puzzles?)

30 students stand in a circle playing hiding game.   The 12th student who hides a treasure behind the students who is 90 degrees with him clockwise.  Which student is in front of the treasure.  

•What makes a puzzle truly geometric, rather than simply logical?

People can draw a truly geometric shape to find a pattern and solve it without using logic. So it could be act-on.

Reflection: Mathematics Education

Reflection: Mathematics Education

The writer used “assumption” when it talked about the mathematics in the first paragraph. I do agree with mathematics is abstracted from the real-life questions and used to solve similarly or extend problems in real life. Math is real. The connection between students’ lives and mathematics concepts is important. The feeling of the connection will encourage the student to inquire more. For example, I have talked with a student who likes to play games and hate to work on a math problem. So, we discussed the game, he realized the game took his input as the variables, such as the stress he used to push the keyboard, and the speed of his action. There might be some polynomial equation used in the game to judge his action fail or success. If students can observe the phenomenon in their daily life, they will find more connections to the math theory. Math will not be an assumption in their mind.

I do not support to have a standard method of teaching or learning math. The conservative and progressive theory could use to do research, however, when the teacher stands in the classroom,  he/she must integrate all the effect factors from both theory to increase the efficiency of the teaching result. Currently, students like to use a calculator to do number operation, and some of them have to depend on the calculators to solve the factoring within 100. I was shocked. In any learning, memory is the base of inquiring knowledge, including mathematics. If the students only can depend on the calculator, they will become the screen of the computer. When the power of computer is turned off, there is nothing left on the screen. Lack of basic fluency, students could not connect the problem with solving the solution easily. They will be stuck, and loss the interesting to continue, they are the robot which depends on the calculator to help to operate.  

The article mentioned a shortage of specialist maths teachers. I really want to know the reason. Math is the foundation of science and technology. Without a strong math foundation, Canadian youth will lose their place on the global job market. Therefore, society needs to solve the problem of the shortage of specialist maths teachers and research on the causes. 

Reflection: Microteaching

Reflection for Oct 2 Microteaching 

     Today, I had the first Microteaching which is teaching Chinese through Chinese Children's song "找朋友”. I enjoyed the process and learned lots. 

	Planning	Actual lived lesson	The process of evaluation
What I learned	I learned about the main structure of the lesson plan, opening, teaching, practicing and closing, and how to organize my teaching content and practice into the lesson plan.	The lesson plan increased my confidence in the lesson. However, I might need to adjust regarding the real students. Still, it’s always better to plan more than less.	Helped me to understand the key factors for having a successful class. Also, I learned from classmates, how they could present the information well.
What worked well	The structure of the lesson plan is good and guided me to organize the real lesson later. By doing the lesson plan, I planed the students’ sheets and prepared the video slip which helped me in a teaching session.	I met challenges in the lesson, two of my students are Chinese. So, Daniel became the only real student to learn Chinese. However, Wangyi and Hugo cooperated with me well. Also, My lesson followed my plan, and I managed time well.	My classmates encouraged me on class design, time management and cared about everyone. Also, they pointed out that I should pay more attention to the clarity of presentation and activities, and the learning objectives.
What to do next	Next time, I should pay more attention to timing. Ten minutes is not much. So I need to choose the topic which is reachable within a limited time.	Pay more attention to clarify of delivering information and consider students' interest. Prepare plan B.	Offer more positive feedback for classmates, because their feedback increased my confidence. That’s important.

Lesson Plan for Microteaching.

Lesson plan: Learn Chinese through Children’s Song

Overview

•   Age group: Adults

GOALS:

• Experience Chinese language learning by singing
• Practice singing
• Learn to speak Chinese word, 你, 我, 好, 朋, 友, 找

Opening (1 minutes)

• Check students about children’s songs, and how children’s songs used.
• Check how much they know about greeting in Chinese.

Teacher presents and practice (6 minutes)

• Introduce the Chinese children’s song “找(Zhao)  朋 (peng) 友(you)”  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNxmF9k8ISE (49’ for pure melody)
• Show the lyrics of the song, and teach group to pronounce the keywords: 找(Zhao), 你(ni), 我(wo), 好(hao), 朋(peng), 友(you), and  
• explain the meaning: Look for, you, I, good, friend.
• Playing the melody of “找(Zhao)  朋 (peng) 友(you)” and try to follow.

Activity: (2 minutes)

• Pair people and practice.
• Support when needed.

Closing (1 minutes)

• Check if the group can use Chinese greeting each other and call each other friend.
• Or sing the song together