Exit slip topic: Your thoughts on praise, blame, mindset, and student engagement in learning

After the discussion, I think teachers, as a role model, try to foster an environment which everyone appreciates other people’s contributions and praises each other (social praise). Then the one who gets praises would not be embarrassed or isolated. Teacher should also praise students based on their actions, not their identities. Regarding mindset, it is important to help students develop a growth mindset so that they keep improving themselves. A growth mindset can help student engaged in learning because they know they can make themselves better in term of knowledge and skills. No one likes being blamed by someone. So I think the best way to do it is to interpret it as a responsibility to students. This would make students become more responsible for what they do.

Entrance slip about Max Van Manen on 'tact in teaching'

"But a problem with giving recognition is that it may lead to feelings of inequality." Teachers always want to recognize brilliant students but this may simultaneously embarrass those students too. Therefore, teachers should figure out the most appropriate way to recognize students, i.e., publicly or privately, under different situations. To have this tact, teachers should develop a practical wisdom to sense the norms of students in classrooms. Some students love to be recognized in public but some do not. Therefore, teachers should understand the students' characters and backgrounds, creating a carefree and comfortable environment for students to learn. This would be beneficial to both students and parents, but teachers need to spend some time to study the norms of their classes.

"....teacher practical knowledge must play an active and dynamic role in the ever-changing challenges of the school and classroom." This is not easy for teachers since the world is changing so fast. Thus teachers should keep track of the changes of the society and the learning style of students to "update" their practical knowledge. Nowadays students like to use digital tools to learn and so teachers need to make use popular technologies like AR, VR and 3D printing to enhance the learning experience of students. Also, practical knowledge is acquired through experience and to develop this tact, teachers should expand their horizons in different teaching environments.

"professional practice also requires active judgement that relies on interpretation and metaphoric association, on ways of seeing and imaginatively understanding what is required in practical changing situations." Active judgement is not something that can be learnt from textbooks. To have this tact, teachers should face and handle different real situations and reflect themselves after making decisions. They need to have opportunities to work in different classroom environments and learn by experience. Therefore, it takes considerable time for teachers to develop active judgement. When teachers have this tact, parents would feel more secure to let their children to learn at school.

Exit slip about the flipped classroom

I like the concept of flipped classroom. Students can watch the videos at their paces at home and teachers can spend more time to help their students answer their questions. Also teachers can check the progress of students based on the "record" of watching the videos. I think this type of teaching can work and be used as a supplement to traditional teaching. It is useful for many subjects, especially mathematics, science, chemistry and so on. However, some concepts are better to be explained in classes.

I think the online courses can help teachers spend more time to discuss the students' problems. Teachers can focus on other aspects about the subject or teach something else which takes more time to do. In general, I believe technology can help teaching a lot and make it fun. Students like technology a lot nowadays and so students may get more engaged in learning.    

Entrance slip about "On becoming a reflective teacher"

1.) Although it was written in a different time and place, this article really "speaks to me" as a new teacher candidate in Vancouver in 2017. The authors mentioned 3 attitudes (i.e., open-mindedness, responsibility and wholeheartedness) that a reflective teacher should have and I totally agree with them. Good teachers should be open-minded, responsible and take active control over their teaching. They should be open to changes since the world is changing everyday and their teaching should try to fit their students' needs. I also feel the authors' passion and professionalism in teaching. They mentioned teachers should consider the consequences and be responsible of their teaching, and this touches me so much. A teacher is not just a job but a professional. Also, the mention of the basal reader containing all white characters seems dated because this kind of readers is not popular nowadays as multiculturalism and inclusion are implemented in many countries.  

2.) After reading this article, I think the open-mindedness and the willingness to compare with others can help me develop my ideas in teacher inquiry and critical thinking. Good teachers should be open to all new ideas and not constrained by certain frames or policies. They should think out of the box and have independent thinking to consider what is good to students. No systems are workable forever and so the differences of students' learning, as well as the social change, should be included in the teacher inquiry.

Exit slip about the Frank McCourt's video

After watching Frank's McCourt's video, I think the teacher inquiry meant to McCourt is that teachers should understand their students' background. This can help teachers merge with the students' culture so that teachers can easily build rapports with students. He is also honest to his students and this helps him build trust with them so that students can learn more easily from him. He also mentioned that a teacher should always keep learning and I totally agree with him. A teacher who does not learn continuously is not a teacher.

Entrance Slip-Inquiry Topic Possibilities

The three areas of education I am passionately interested in may be engaging students in classes, evaluating my teaching methods and helping students apply what they learn in their daily lives. If students can't focus in classes, they can't learn anything so I think it is important to engage students in classes. The possible way to do it is to integrate innovative games and interesting videos into the classes. Also I want to know whether my style of teaching is effective and helpful to students. If students do not get what I expect them to know, my teaching effort is totally wasted and so I really need to find ways (e.g., feedback forms or other indirect methods??) to evaluate my teaching method for later refining or modification. The final area that I want to investigate is how to help students apply what they learn in classes. I always hear that students complain about what they learn at school is not applicable to their daily lives. Therefore, I hope I can find a way (e.g., design projects) to help them apply their knowledge in practical use.

After discussing with Ashley, she suggested I can create some homework related to students' daily lives so that they can see how their knowledge can be applied.

Six controversial statements about (mathematics) education - exit slip

Initially I believe the teaching of mathematics is merely about solving mathematical problems, not relevant to the history and philosophy of mathematics. However, after discussing with my group-mates and listening to the comments from other groups, I was mentally struck that it would be helpful to include the history and philosophy of mathematics in the teaching and to introduce some confusion in mathematical problems to help students learn mathematics. Mathematics does not come from nothing and the history and philosophy of mathematics can increase students’ motivation to learn mathematics. Stories behind some mathematical theories can give students an idea about the human side of mathematical knowledge, e.g., the bathing story about Archimedes’ Principle and this can engage students in learning mathematics as they know mathematics is not so abstract and its concepts can be developed from people’s daily lives. I also originally think teachers should not confuse students because this would discourage students to learn mathematics. However, as mentioned by one of my classmates, when a manageable amount of confusion is included in the mathematical problems, students can be induced to think deeply about the problems and this helps them develop their logical thinking in solving mathematical problems. I think this is a good way to train students how to handle problems they have never seen before. Therefore, when I become a mathematics teacher, I should include the history of mathematics in my teaching and introduce some confusion in the problem solving.

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