Teachers participate in professional development opportunities, collaborate with colleagues, take additional classes, do individual research, follow other educators on social media, and more, all in an effort to become better educators. I spend time throughout each school year on self-reflection and determine the areas of my teaching that were successful, as well as aspects that need to be tweaked or totally eliminated. Using this approach, I start each new school year with refreshed hope and new ideas of how to make that year the best one yet for both the students and myself. These new ideas I implement are usually small steps towards becoming a little bit more efficient or activities that seem more engaging than ones I’d assigned in the past. I can say with certainty that each year I taught became a bit easier, but never too drastically different. Moving forward, I’d like to be more bold with my changes. I plan to utilize what I’ve learned throughout my masters program to tackle some of the more difficult struggles of teaching I’ve come across, like lack of engagement from a group of students each year, and take advantage of the technology that’s available to make math education reach all of my students. My approach to doing this will have three parts:

​

1. Flipping the classroom

2. Learning to talk less

3. Create math portfolios

​

These changes will increase the time I have to connect with my students individually, improve student engagement, and help students feel more invested in their math education.

 

​

 

 

In the traditional classroom setting, teachers spend class time lecturing students on new information, perhaps providing them some in-class time to ask questions and practice concepts, and then send students home to complete further practice at home. Flipping the classroom has become a more popular practice with the increased accessibility of technology both at school and at home. This practice reverses the traditional roles of homework and classwork. Students learn new information at home and spend class time practicing what they have learned. Although this idea has intrigued me for a while, I never fully committed to this model for fear that it would fail miserably. It also requires a lot of upfront preparation that I never felt I had the time for in the past.

The COVID-19 pandemic, despite all the heartache and chaos it brought with it, forced me to try out new teaching techniques. Although I did not fully flip my classroom, teaching virtually gave me the opportunity to test out the waters in this area using tools like Edpuzzle. With additional knowledge and experience, I can really see this model working for my teaching style. I’ve always felt that I don’t have enough time to assist students individually and in small groups, but with this flipped model, I can dedicate almost 100% of the class period to differentiated practice activities during which I am able to help the struggling students the most. I plan on learning more on how other teachers have integrated this teaching model into their classrooms by looking over case studies in mathematics classrooms and hearing directly from educators through blogs and social media accounts like this one. 

​

​

​

​

If you’ve ever been talked at for more than just a few minutes, especially on a topic that doesn’t particularly interest you (think big lecture halls in college or human resources presentations), chances are that your mind wandered and when you tuned back in, you probably lost track of what the person was saying. Despite knowing this, in the name of getting through the curriculum faster, teachers, myself included, find themselves lecturing at the front of the room more than we’d care to admit. In order to transform my classroom, I know this is one of the first teaching habits I need to break. I plan on using tips from this video a teacher made on tips to reduce teacher talk time and increase student talk time to make this happen.

​

 

​

 

Cultivating a portfolio throughout the course of a year is no easy feat. It requires both thoughtfulness and dedication in heavy doses, but results in a collection of student work that demonstrates growth that students can be proud of and showcase. It also provides a framework for goal setting and reflection that I am not consistent in implementing in my classroom. A high school math teacher outlined the way she has her students create a portfolio in this blog post, which I plan to use as a starting point. Students will be required to incorporate technology-based components, like excel and desmos, that will require deeper understanding of math concepts and teach them invaluable skills they can transfer to future classes and even the workplace. 

 

These changes will take time and a lot of trial and error, but the end goal of more engaged students who are invested in their learning is worth the struggle.