Unit+Reflection

Reflection After creating an extensive and realistic unit plan, I am surprised at not only the work required to plan units but also the details that are needed for every single decision in teaching. When I originally sat down to write this unit, I was naïve to think that it would be effortless. Even though I am currently teaching at a private school, this unit plan required much more attention to detail and reminded me of the great importance of analyzing every choice I make while planning my lessons and units. It was a great refresher as a teacher and student!

The part of the unit that challenged me the most were the activities. I feel very confident with my actual content knowledge, but planning the activities really forced me to step into a student’s perspective and gauge whether or not what I chose was the BEST way to teach a specific concept (fractions). Grouping students for these activities also challenged me. There are two perspectives on grouping, one being that lower and higher students should work together so that the high students can demonstrate true mastery by teaching lower students. There is also the perspective that students should be grouped homogeneously so that students can work at the same pace and also challenge each other on the same level. In this unit, I tried to vary the grouping as I believe both of these perspectives are correct. Students should experience all types because all students learn in different ways.

In terms of content, much time went into figuring out how to explain WHY you multiply by the reciprocal while dividing fractions. I learned in middle school how to divide fractions, I have been practicing with my own students that I currently teach, but the WHY really frustrated me. One, I didn’t want to necessarily put the time into the analysis of it, but also, I didn’t really realize I hadn’t thought of it before. After practicing and re-phrasing an explanation it made sense. I realize this is a question that I will be asked at some point and I need to be able to explain with practical reasoning so that students can comprehend. If students can explain to each other the WHY of how math works, they will be able to handle critical thinking questions that include those types of problems, whether it is fractions, equations, etc.

One of the downfalls to creating this unit was trying to figure out what these imaginary students have learned in terms of prior knowledge. It’s easy to assume that because they are in middle school they should have learned the foundations to be able to multiply, divide, add, and subtract fractions but in reality, that’s not how teaching really is. After teaching in private school and also observing at James Martin and Randolph, prior knowledge can be one of the greatest questions teachers need to know. Some students do not need some of the material I have planned for my unit while others may need more than I have in my unit. It felt like I could have planned endlessly not knowing exactly where each student stood in terms of prior knowledge. I tried to include in my unit extension for students who learned the content quickly and easily.

I think students will be most interested in the introduction of fractions that I planned. I decided to use the pizza activity to create interest in a topic that they are knowledgeable about (pizza) and excited about. While planning this unit I really wanted students to be engaged and be able to somewhat relate even if they have never encountered fractions. I think when students feel defeated or feel they cannot relate, they give up. In this unit, I also included activities like cutting paper plates. Students in middle school learn well when they are participating with hands on activities and I took this into account while planning the unit. I think that math is misunderstood in terms of hands on activities for the students. Math can be engaging and fun if the time is put into figuring out creative ways to teach it. I hope that this unit reflects that.

In conclusion, I think this unit plan was challenging and beneficial. I learned that my content area can be hard to explain all of the WHY’s that I don’t always consider that I’m sure students will ask. It was a beneficial unit to plan because it’s something I will really use in my own classroom. I feel that I put forth 100% effort and I feel the end result really paid off. I am excited to teach this unit to my students when the time shall arise.

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