Reflection In Guided Practice

[At the beginning of the lesson, the teacher acted as the sage on the stage, because she was instructing and modeling. For example, she explained how a fraction can be illustrated as a number line. Then, she drew a line and divided the line in four equal sections. She labeled the four sections, ¼, 2/4, ¾, and 4,4. She circled ¾ to show what that fraction looks like on a number line. In contrast, she acted as the guide on the side when the students were more involved during guided practice and independent practice. For example, she would give hints or steer students in the correct procedures, and the students practiced this skill by themselves. The teacher modeled the correct procedure for teaching, because her lesson included the gradual release …show more content…
The teacher expects quick, mathematical processing and production, and she discourages students who do not meet these expectations. However, the students did learn from their mistakes during guided practice and independent practice, because the teacher provided some sense of redirection. For example, students tend to unequally partition a number line, but a fraction implies equal parts; therefore, the students learned to make equal section otherwise the number line will be inaccurate. Also, students seem to incorrectly mark a fraction that equals one whole before the actual labeled one whole. With guidance from the instructor, they learned that 4/4 would be located at the one whole marker. In contrast to Making Sense, she did handle mistakes with optimism and grace, and she did not meet students where they were. Instead, she shamed students for their mistakes and demanded their papers to look like hers, destroying some of their positive mathematical identities.] d. How did students determine if their answer is correct or not? Did the authority reside in the mathematical reasoning or with a person?
[The students determined the correct answer by the teacher’s or person’s authority. The teacher instructs the students to copy her examples down perfectly, and they do just that. Most of the students will even wait for the teacher’s answer before writing anything to save energy. In contrast to Making Sense, the teacher does not succinctly explain the mathematical reasoning to justify the answer. Instead, she classifies incorrect answers or improper behavior as “wrong”. Perhaps, she should express the importance of the reasoning, helping students grasp the