EDUC+509B+Group+1

Personal Learning Environment

Some students appear to be indifferent about mathematics. The class gets loud and is sometimes difficult to hear the teacher speak. There are language barriers, since most students are native Spanish speakers (ELL students). Students do not appear to be curious about math.The host teacher only uses direct teaching, and does not provide real-life examples. Students are given problem practice worksheets to complete on their own after the lesson has been given. Many students take the worksheet home to finish || * __Getting Along__ Students do seem to get along with each other. They are respectful to the teacher when speaking to him. However, there are times when the teacher has to stop explaining the lesson because students have their own conversations. Desks are situated to work in groups of 3. However, most of the classwork is required to be completed individually. Some students have difficulty with foundational math skills such as multiplying and subtracting. Therefore, there is a handful of students who struggle to add new math topics to their understanding. || * __Socioeconomic Background__ Belmont HS is located in West Downtown Los Angeles, and is part of a low socioeconomic community. The majority of enrolled children are second-generation Hispanic immigrant students. The nearest public library is Los Angeles Central Library, which is about 20 minutes away walking. The classroom in which I am conducting my observations, is low tech. There is no access to computers or projectors. ||
 * School || Mathematical Disposition || Social Development || Family and Community Context ||
 * Belmont High School || * __Student’s Attitudes__
 * __Curiosity__
 * __Persistence in Math__
 * __Experience in Expressing Themselves__
 * __Solving Problems__
 * __Community Resources__
 * __Classroom Resources__
 * Panorama City High School || The school does offer a lot of advanced math classes, but they are not nearly as filled as regular/remedial math classes are. Teachers and students have a clear divide in authority and are not amiable with each other. The tension in the classroom is evident, and students are not enforced to learn. Many students arrive late to class, and the host teacher punishes them, which discourages students from learning even further. Additionally, the class is teacher-focused, and while there are varying amounts of group work, most of the classroom time is taken up by the teacher lecturing. The teacher also does not deviate from his set lesson plans. If the class does not understand something, instead of explaining it differently, he just repeats the lesson. Students as a result get bored, or frustrated and would rather not work at all.

In the remedial classes, students are hardly are ever given time to work together, to solve problems, or learn on their own. Most of the lessons/worksheets are considered busy work, and most students do not turn them in. In the more advanced classes, students are put into groups to finish work together, but only after hearing the teacher’s lecture. Most work is individual, and group projects are usually worked on at home or out of the classroom. || Students seem to get along with each other, at least in the classroom. Outside of the classroom, during times of breakfast, lunch, and after school, it's not rare to find a fight breakout between 2 or more students.

As a result, teachers and faculty are wary with every single student. They do not speak to them with amiable tones, and demand respect. Students often backtalk or throw attitude back, understandably.

This tension often causes disruptions during lectures, as the teacher has to completely stop to argue with a student. || The community is composed of mainly Latino and Filipino people. It’s part of a low socioeconomic neighborhood. Most students are considered English learners. The classroom i was observing did not have any computers. I only saw that most of the computers used in the school were in the library, but the library is closed off during lunch and afterschool, which severely increases the student’s technological gaps. || What is Similar? All three schools are located in low socioeconomic status neighbors consisting of predominately Hispanic students and minority students. All three classrooms are not equipped with high technology such as working computers, laptops, and/or iPads. In addition, the location of all schools is located more than five miles away from the local public library or community centers. All in all, the schools that our group is observing is clearly lacking financial, academic, and technological resources.
 * 24th Elementary School || There are 2 second-grade classrooms at this school and they are both working on multiplication. My teacher pointed out that her class students are doing exceptionally well with understanding and solving multiplication table by using different types of methods (dice, adding, and ice-cream method). When the teacher first works on some problems with the entire class, students are responsive, raises hands, and participants actively in providing steps in solving the problem, explaining the rationale behind their solutions, and etc. Roughly 70% of the students finished their assigned multiplication problems early. The teacher actively walks around the classroom to stamp students' worksheets after checking for the correct answer. The teacher also knows exactly who usually needs additional assistance, so she goes over to them and gives them extra support and scaffolding. Students generally do not seem bored, and they are focused. They are excited that they are solving multiplication problems. || Students get along with each other very well. There are five tables in the classroom with 4-6 students per table. Students help each other with math problems, and when some students finish early, they try to help their classmates out. Students respect each other and when it is time to work on individual work, most students obey the teacher's direction and work quietly. However, there are some students (2-3) who talk without raising their hands, or interrupting other students. However, the overall social environment is welcoming, and friendly. || This school is located in the border of Koreatown and East L.A. and is part of a low socioeconomic community. Most students are second-generation Hispanic students with a few African American students (2-3 students) in my particular observation class. There were two computers in the classroom, but it seemed untouched for many months. When students are learning math, they are not using any technology gadgets. However, they might eventually incorporate using technology in the future to learn advanced math concepts. The nearest library is located 20-30 minutes walking distance from the school and is open from Mon to Saturday with limited hours (closes at 5:30 pm on most weekdays). ||

What is Different? There's a difference between the way high school teachers and the elementary school teachers influence the student's mathematical disposition. In high school, students aren't given much time to discover answers to questions themselves. Instead, they're given busy work when asked to work in groups. Elementary School students are given more independence. A difference between Panorama City and Belmont is the way teachers view their students. Often enough, teachers and faculty in Panorama City do not view their students as friends, and rather as persons that need to be controlled and demand respect even when they themselves don't respect the students. There is a very minor, but important, difference between the two high schools and the elementary school. With technology, neither high school classrooms had computers to access, while the elementary school had computers (albeit very old).