Extra Blog: February

This month I began work on my independent component 2. In my independent component 2 I am going to be mentoring a group of students so that they may participate in a math field day at my mentors. Before I was able to do this however, I had to find the correct students and prepare practice problems and tests. In order to find students I chose from the top students in the class and had them take a test and the ones who scored highest were allowed to be on the team. After that I had to create practice problems. The most difficult part about that was finding problems that were difficult for the students to complete but still important for them to learn. I started off with basic linear equation problems and the group seemed to understand it more so next I will be working on implementing word problems. The math field day questions are essentially simple problems worded in order to confuse the students. So I believe it would be good to get students to take apart a question and see what it is truly asking. This will help students later in the math field day and in higher level math classes.

Blog 16: Answer 2

1. What is the best technique to teach Algebra in terms of maximizing scores on standardized tests?

2. The best technique to teaching Algebra in terms of maximizing scores on standardized tests is by implementing teamwork in the classroom.

3. The best technique to teaching Algebra in terms of maximizing scores on standardized tests is by maintaining good communication between students and parents?

4.1 Good communication allows for constant monitoring of students.
4.2 Good communication allows teachers to seem more approachable about aspects of the class that students might find difficult
4.3 Good communication also allows teachers and parents to assure one another that everything is okay with he student and that they are excelling in class.

5. Gallegher, Emily. "The Effects of Teacher-Student Relationships: Social and Academic Outcomes of Low-Income Middle and High School Students - Applied Psychology OPUS - NYU Steinhardt." The Effects of Teacher-Student Relationships: Social and Academic Outcomes of Low-Income Middle and High School Students - Applied Psychology OPUS - NYU Steinhardt. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2014.

6. "Building Parent-Teacher Relationships." Reading Rockets. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.
"The Positive Teacher-Student Relationship." The Positive Teacher-Student Relationship. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2014.

7. I beleive that without proper communication between teachers students and parents, not much can be completed in the classroom. However, with the correct amount of attention and constant communication, students can easily prosper in the class and in life.

Blog 15: independent component 2 approval

1. For the next 30 mentor ship hours, I intend to prepare students for a math field day. My mentor is in charge of a group of students who have excelled in their class and are being considered to attend a math field day where they will go head to head with some of the brightest minds in the area. Here, these students will use their previous experiences and other skills they learned, to achieve the highest score and bring back awards for the school. I will be in charge of these students this year, I will act as a mentor for them. I will create lessons to prepare them for difficult concepts and subjects that will most likely appear in the field day. I will be going after school, and prepare the classroom, and then prepare students by teaching and assessing their strengths and weaknesses.

2. I will be helping students for 1-2 hours after school everyday, and I will also be setting up lesson plans and mock test to prepare them for what they might experience at this field day. I will also be attending the field day as their one of their coaches, since I am not a teacher, I will not be able to be the main coach, but I will work with the students regardless.

3. This will help me explore my topic more because it will show me what it is like to work with students of a high caliber, and also allows me to understand what it is like to work with students one on one. It will also show that through communication and relationships with the students, we can achieve more and perform better at the competition.

Independent component 1

• LITERAL
  (a) Write: “I, Nicholas Ayala, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.”
  (b) Cite your source regarding who or what article or book helped you complete the independent component.
• Mr. Murillo
• "CPM EBooks." CPM EBooks. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2015.
• Dean, Ceri. "Mathematical Practices for Deep Understanding." Educational Leadership:Getting Students to Mastery:Mathematical Practices for Deep Understanding. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2014.
(c) Update your hours in your Senior Project Hours link. Make sure it is clearly labeled with hours for individual sessions as well as total hours.
• (d) Explain what you completed.    
• With the help of mentor, and through setting up previous lessons, I have set up a lesson that I will teach to my mentor's class. 
• INTERPRETIVE 
  Defend your work and explain its significance to your project and how it demonstrates 30 hours of work.   Provide evidence (photos, transcript, art work, videos, etc) of the 30 hours of work.  
  
• My lesson is important to my project because it gives me a chance to have a first hand experience with these students and allows me to implement some of the ideas that I learned and see what works and what doesn't. To prepare for this, I helped my mentor set up some of her lessons and sat in on her class while she taught to see what it was like. I also helped teach the Saturday school classes, and after school programs. 
• APPLIED
  How did the component help you understand the foundation of your topic better?  Please include specific examples to illustrate this. 
• This component is important because it shows me first hand what teaching students is like, and how they interact with the teacher, and what techniques are best to get everybody to understand what is happening.