Inquiry Plan Week 3

Inquiry Plan Week 3

My student is making progress in both basic math operations and solving simple algebraic equations using PEMDAS. At first, my student would look at the problem and say “can’t do it.” Now he actually takes the pencil and begins to work. He still struggles in some areas when working the equation (what you do to one side-you do to the other) and isolating the letter (x, a, b, whatever). But, he is now beginning to look at the problems and eliminate steps because he does it in his head. For, example he will see 6 + 2x = 4 and say “Ok, I move the 6 to the side with the 4 and it becomes a -6, so 2x = 4-6.” Big step for my student because he didn’t believe when I assured him he would reach this point in our interventions.

Building his confidence is icing on the cake. He now tries to help others and is willing to try problems rather than push the paper away and refuse. Progress.

My video is complete and hopefully I will post it also today. Looking forward to your comments. My student didn't want his face to be seen when filming this video so he is facing me but you can hear his comments.

Inquiry Plan Week 2

After reviewing our last time together, I gave my student a basic math sheet of addition, multiplication, division, and subtraction. The first comment he made "I don't know a lot of these." After completing the worksheet without a calculator, he was surprised at the amount of problems he could answer on his own. His mistakes included multiplying with 0 (2 x 0 = 0), and problems with multiples of larger numbers such as 8 or 9 (3 x 9 = 27). He didn't attempt those problems.

I reviewed PEMDAS and took it slow, step-by-step. His confusion is "what you do to one side of the equation you do to the other." It will come in time and with practice. With each problem I ask him to tell me at what point he has questions and we discuss.

He finished the worksheets and rated himself higher than the first sheet. Most of his ranges are now in the 5-6 range verses 0-2 of last session.

Using the interventions and teacher made tests as review before each session seems to help reinforce what he is learning and continues to allow me to assess his problem areas. If I had not taken the time to find his weakness in Mathematics, he would still be struggling in this area. I believe taking the time to allow him to understand the concepts before moving to the next is very helpful to him and gives him more confidence in Mathematics.

Week 1 Inquiry Plan

Assessments

I reviewed what areas of Mathematics my student struggles with by assessing Scantron scores.
According to his GLE score (grade level equivalent), my student is functioning at a 7.4 grade level.

When asked, my student completed A Math Goals Self-Assessment sheet. This sheet consisted of 14 operations in which he rated himself as: Can do now, Can do some now but need practice, Want to learn, Want to learn later, and not important to me. My student's responses were mostly in the Can do now list or the Can do some now but need practice. What he was concerned most with are: Subtraction of Whole Numbers, Multiplication with many digits, Division with big divisors, and Fraction division. Through interview process, I learned he also struggles with simple Algebraic Expressions and Order of Operations.

I gave my student a pre-test of Basic Math Operations ranging from addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Also I included Order of Operations, multiplication and division of fractions, and simple decimals.

Observation / Journal

Through my observation of his pre-test, my student seemed to struggle with problems that he didn't know how to begin. For example, when he began Algebraic Equations, he hesitated, rolled his pencil in his hands, and bit his lip. He would skip the problem and move to the next, but showed signs of frustration. My student was confident on the problems he knew, but when it came to something he wasn't sure of, he didn't ask for help but wanted to quit the test.
After a quick answer check, I began to review with my student. I started with Order of Operations. I explained PEMDAS and worked a few problems to illustrate my instruction.

Assessment
At the end of our session, I asked my student to complete a Self-Assessment Problem Solving sheet. The scores on this assessment ranged from 0 - 10; I don't understand the problem - I can explain this problem; this was a difficult problem - this was an easy problem; I don't know where to start - I can solve the problem and explain my solution. He scored himself between 0-2 on each question.

Interventions
I designed several teacher-made tests (formative) to help build his confidence and re-teach the Mathematics concept (intervention) to be given to my student when I see him Tuesday. I also printed off a list of operations, definitions, and examples for him to use as a guide while completes his worksheets.