Feedback for Alison Schwanz Learning Experience Solving Inequalities

Gina Stout

EDU327: Teaching to the Standards

Feedback for Alison Schwanz Learning Experience “Solving Inequalities”

September 24, 2009 Warm Comments Cool Comments

1) Relation to Standards 1) Relation to Standards  I believe the lesson was aligned well  My only suggestion would be to with the NYS standards. include a word problem if possible. For  Also, the essential questions are clearly example, describing the inequality in stated and easily understood by words. Then, requiring the student to students in grade 9. write out the inequality themselves and solve.

2) Intellectual Challenge 2) Intellectual Challenge  There were additional practice sheets  Once the students master the material, it for students who were struggling with may be a good idea to have more the material. challenging problems available.  The students were provided with a rubric at the beginning of the LE. This set clear expectations of what the students needed to do to reach their goal.

3) Assessment Plan 3) Assessment Plan  I liked the idea of the pre-assessment.  The pre-assessment questionnaire does  I thought it was a good idea to monitor not inform the teacher of what the the progress of the student’s progress student does or does not know if they throughout the learning experience by indicate ‘somewhat’. assigning homework and giving a final  Perhaps there should be an area for the quiz at the end. student to explain what they already  I also like the warm-up questions at the know or what they are not sure about. beginning of class. It gives the students a chance to clear their heads and focus on math class.  The rubric was relevant to the material being covered.

4) Engagement 4) Engagement  Modeling is a great way to engage  I think that maybe allowing students to students in a lesson. Guided practice in pair up is a good idea. Sometimes this lesson always incorporated teacher working one-on-one helps student modeling. understanding.  I believe the teacher choosing two students to go up to the board was a good idea because it gives the students motivation to complete their problems correctly.

5) Adaptability 5) Adaptability  It was a good idea to ask the students to  The lesson appears to be targeting only write the steps to solving an inequality. one skill level of students. This demonstrates that the students really know the material if they can describe the steps in addition to completing a problem.

6) Technology Integration 6) Technology Integration  Using the technology available is  The technology was somewhat limited. always good. The overhead projector is  I believe that using a powerpoint a great tool in mathematics. presentation, if available, would not  I liked how the lesson incorporated the have benefited the students. Overhead use of graphing calculators even though projectors allow the teacher to go step- inequalities can be completed without by-step through math problems and one. help in student understanding. Although it would have been possibly appealing to visual learners, students would not know what steps to take in order to get through the problem successfully.

Note: Additional samples of learning experiences can be found on-line at: http://daemen.edu/~jarnold/KWLE http://daemen.edu/~jarnold/Ellen/home