Math 149 field experience

Math 149. Capstone Mathematics for Teachers. Spring 2012.
Field Experience You are expected to complete at least 20 hours total of field experience (you should spend at least 12 hours in the math club/extracurricular activities setting; the remaining time, up to 8 hours, can be regular math lesson observation in grades 9-12).

Lesson observation
Choose a few classrooms to observe. Try to observe a variety of math courses in a variety of grade levels (preferably high school, possibly middle school if your schedule does not permit observation of high school lessons), taught by a variety of teachers. Every class is different, and every teacher has a different teaching style, so it would be best to observe different practices.
You may either choose schools/classes from the following list, or make your own arrangements. However, any of your own arrangements have to be pre-approved by your instructor. So if you choose to make your own arrangements, please let your instructor know as soon as possible which school(s) you would like to observe classes in.
The following teachers have agreed to occasionally have observers from our class. However, you should keep in mind that some days may be inconvenient (a test may be given; or a teacher may have other committment and have a sub; etc.) For that reason and also to be polite, before you go to observe a lesson, send an email to the teacher (copy to your instructor) stating that you are a Fresno State student taking the Capstone Mathematics for Teachers class, and asking whether it would be OK to observe their lesson on such and such date. Remember to arrive in advance so that you have time to find the building and the room and to introduce yourself to the teacher before class. Ask where you could sit so that not to disturb the class. Stay quiet, don't talk to the students, and don't disrupt the class in any way. You must stay for the whole class because if you leave in the middle of class you will disrupt the class.
University High School
Please remember to email the teacher (copy to your instructor) before attending any class, asking if it would be OK to observe a class on a certain day (more or less any day will be fine, but the teacher would like to know that you are coming, and also you need to confirm that there will be no test that day).
Teacher: Daniel Jones (djones@csufresno.edu)
Room: 104 (UHS)
Days: any, Mon through Fri
Classes:
Geometry starts at 9, 10, 1, 2
Discrete starts at 11
McLane High School
There is a small visitor parking lot in front of the school. However, very often all of the spaces are taken and you may have to park on the street (there is a small street across Fresno street from the school where there is no time limit. Nune, Angela, and Terry are Fresno State graduates - feel free to contact them with questions about parking or anything else, they may be of more help than your instructor. In any case, allow enough time to find place to park. You will also need to sign in at the office before you go to the classroom. Please remember to email the teacher (copy to your instructor) before coming to class.
To be posted

Upon completion, you must turn in:

time sheet (template here - this semester, there is no form that the teacher has to sign, just make sure to record (on the time sheet) the teachers' names),
your notes (handwritten),
your reflections: describe the concepts taught, including definitions given, theorems stated and/or proved, and procedures/algorithms described; were the definitions and statements and/or proofs rigorous? Could they be given more rigorously? If so, how? If not, why not (i.e. what additional knowledge would be needed that is not covered in high school)? Were the procedures/algorithms explained (i.e. explained why they would work, under which conditions they would work, etc.)? Which questions did the students ask? In particular, did they ask to clarify any concepts/theorems/procedures? Which of the teacher's answers or examples were most helpful to the students? Feel free to include any of your thoughts or comments or suggestions. While our main focus is on the content, comments on any teaching styles observed are welcome too. A good detailed paper is expected to be at least 2 pages long (for each lesson observed).

Grading: Your observation notes and reflections will be graded by your instructor.

Observing, assisting with, and leading extracurricular activities (for advanced students; not tutoring!)

Below are a few opportunities: math teams/clubs that are interested in working with us, and CSUF Math Field Day practice sessions. Choose any that you would like to lead/help with. You should team up with other people in our class, and work in small groups (of 2-4 people), or just let me know which days would work best for you and we will see who else wants to work on those days. You will need to meet before each club meeting/problem solving session to go over the concepts, problems, and solutions. Let your instructor know when your group is meeting so that the instructor can attend your meeting if possible.

Hoover High Math Club
Location: Hoover High School.
Materials
Thursday, March 15, 2:50-3:50: Bases other than 10 (Joline, Kaylin, Robyn, Saenal)
Thursday, March 22, 2:50-3:50: Counting and probability (Diana, Joline, Julio, Kaylin)
Thursday, March 29, 2:50-3:50: Proportional reasoning, ratios and rates (Joline, Kaylin, Robyn, Saenal)
Thursday, April 12, 2:50-3:50: Coordinate geometry (Diana, Joline, Julio, Kaylin)
Math Field Day Preparation Sessions
1. Saturday, March 3, 1:30-3:30 PM, S2 107
  - middle schools
    Various topics (contact Agnes Tuska (agnest@csufresno.edu) to sign up)
  - high schools
    Topic TBA (contact Maria Nogin to sign up)
2. Saturday, March 17, 3-5 PM, S2 107
  - middle schools
    Various topics (contact Agnes Tuska (agnest@csufresno.edu) to sign up)
  - high schools
    Topic TBA (contact Maria Nogin to sign up)
Math Field Day
Saturday, April 21, the event is approx. from 8AM-4PM, the exact time of your assignment will be determined by you and the Math Field Day coordinator, Dr. Carmen Caprau (ccaprau@csufresno.edu). Typically assignments are approx. 2-4 hours long.
As many volunteers as possible are welcome!
Other opportunities will be announced in class as soon as they become available.

If you would like to work with any other school/math club, let your instructor know as soon as possible. Any of your own arrangements have to be pre-approved by the instructor.

The instructor will attend and observe some of your meetings. So let your instructor know as soon as you have your schedule.

Upon completion, you must turn in:

time sheet (template here),
activities/problem collection/photocopies of any materials used/etc,
reflections/thoughts/suggestion for improvement,
evaluation filled out by you (top part) and the teacher (bottom part).
peer evaluation filled out by you for each group member.
peer evaluations filled out by your group members will be submitted by your group members directly to the instructor.

Grading: Your activities/materials and reflections will be evaluated by your instructor. Your performance will be evaluated by the teacher (if applicable), group members, and instructor.

Finally, you should prepare a short presentation (about 5 minutes long) about your field experience. You may choose the topic you want to present on: a class activity you liked (whether the class was taugh by you or the teacher you observed), your lesson plan, teaching strategies you learned, etc. Since you will be often working in groups, presentations may be prepared by groups as well. However, in this case, make sure that all of the group members are involved in preparing the presentation as well as presenting.

For extra credit
Complete additional hours leading/helping with extracurricular activities (i.e. in excess of 12 hours in that setting and in excess of 20 hours total of field experience). You will get 1 point (1% of your grade) for each additional hour.

This page was last revised on 17 February 2012.