Morning Routine and Mathematics 2.

5hrs 4/6/23

At the start of the day, as the students come into the classroom, they instantly

grab their Chromebooks from the tech cart. Next, the teacher has students pull out their

homework while a student comes around and collects it. She also then reminds them

during this time they are to go on reflex to achieve their green light for the day. The

teacher informed me that the first 30–45 minutes of school typically looks the same

every morning. Reflex is a math platform that allows students to practice their basic

skills such as multiplication and division. Of course, this is at a 5th-grade level, but the

platform also caters to lower grades. I like how students have a morning routine

because it sets the day up with the structure. I also noticed how the teacher used this

time for any last-minute preparations.

Since state testing is right around the corner, teachers have begun to prepare

their students. The first 30 minutes of the math block have been dedicated to going over

skills that have been learned in the 5th grade. In fact, the practice assignment is

categorized by operations & algebraic thinking, operations in base ten, fractions,

measurement/ data, and geometry. Each morning, students work together as a class to

complete 3 problems of each category. Mrs. Terrones put the math problems under the

document camera and had students access the PDF version on their Chromebooks.

She then had students get a separate piece of paper to work out the problems and write

down their answers. First, she would give students enough time to complete the

problem, and then she would call a volunteer up to show the class. I enjoyed this

technique because it kept the students involved and excited to possibly come up and

show their peers. However, something I would have changed is how the students have
access to the problems. I think students should have hard copies of the math questions

in front of them, so they are able to work out the problem right next to the corresponding

question. This also allows them to go back and review past skills they have already

learned in the 5th grade.

Now that the review block is over, it is time to transition to the lesson of the day.

Since this is a 5th-grade class, the teacher makes transitions by displaying what is next

on the projector. Today they will be learning how to plot coordinates on a graph. This

district teaches math and science through a platform called Nearpod. This is what Mrs.

Terrones is using to teach her lesson. It is a live participation presentation, which means

as the teacher is giving instruction, the students are answering questions and

completing activities on their computers throughout the lesson. The lesson opened up

with students being asked what they notice and wonder about a coordinate plotted on a

graph. Students then type their responses or drag and drop their points. At the very end

of the Nearpod presentation, there is a poll that asked students how confident they are

about the material they just learned. This is a useful tool because it gives the teacher

feedback on how well the students understood the material. In fact, the teacher

expressed to me that the results tell her which students she may need to work with. At

the end of the lesson, students are given an exit ticket that consists of two math

problems covering the material that they just learned. Prior to taking the quiz, a student

passed out privacy folders to every other student. This helps students stay focused and

quiet while taking the assessment. I walked around while they were taking the exit

ticket, and I noticed the students had mastered the new skills they learned. It is safe to
say that students are ready to move on to the next building math skill, which is going to

be making shapes using coordinates.

I am glad that I had the opportunity to observe an entire math lesson. Mrs.

Terrones did an excellent job at providing an opening, teaching the skill, and then

assessing students at the end. I think formative assessments (exit tickets) are very

important because it allows educators to determine if they need to revisit a lesson or

provide extra resources to students. This helps prevent students from falling behind

throughout the school year.