Artifact # 6
Math assessments, a group of assessments that focus on students’ mathematical understanding
Context
These math assessments were conducted during my pre-service
training at Appalachian State University within the course, “Mathematics
in the Elementary School.”
Impact
Through completing these assessments, I learned how to
understand children’s mathematical thinking and how to adapt instruction
to their understanding. I also learned about myself as a “mathematician”
and assessed my own mathematical thinking and its impact on my future classroom.
As part of the assessment, we were required to conduct interviews with
young mathematicians (our students), collect and evaluate classroom sets
of papers, and document one student's mathematical progress throughout
the semester.
Alignment
Most of the assessments that I conducted were informal,
but gave me a very clear understanding of my student’s mathematical understanding.
Learning about students’ attitudes and feelings towards certainly made
me reevaluate the way I approach math in my classroom. For some students,
overcoming a negative attitude towards math will be my most challenging
task. Assessing a classroom set of papers helped me to better understand
how to evaluate the progress of the entire class and the steps my instruction
needs to take to further their progress. Following one student over a period
of time required me to think about the ways in which I will handle individuals
with differing needs and abilities in my classroom. Instruction may have
to be modified in a number of ways to ensure everyone's success in math
(INTASC #8).