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The Classroom:
I get to assist in two different 8th-grade algebra classes. Each class has about 20 children. The Northfield Middle School is a very modern and clean school, and the students, faculty, and staff have a lot of school pride. Many students wear their school’s maroon shirts. I have only spent three hours with the teacher, Mrs. Laura Ann Talbot Peterson, but from these first impressions, I have seen that she is a wonderful teacher to her students. She has been teaching for over 15 years. This is obvious in the confidence she has when she leads her classroom, but what impresses me more is her genuine enthusiasm. Having sat in during her 2nd period and 7th (last) period, I can confirm that she’s excited about teaching math even at the end of the day. The 2nd-period class is an advanced group of students, while the 7th-period class has children who need more assistance with math. The 7th-period has significantly more cultural diversity than its 2nd-period counterpart.
Pandemic Influences:
Speaking briefly with Mrs. Talbot between classes, I learned that the learning gap between her advanced and regular classes has only increased since the pandemic. This is a common trend across the US. Students receiving help from guardians at home managed to stay on top of their schoolwork and learn. However, many students in her 7th-period class did not have the same home life to foster the same level of learning during the pandemic. A lot of what she is focusing on in that class is reviewing last year’s topics.
Piaget’s Stage Theory:
The students in the 8th-grade class, aged 13 to 14, are in the formal operational stage. According to Piaget, these students should be able to solve abstract problems through systematic experimentation and have developed metacognition, hypothetical and propositional thinking, among other skills. The ones I have listed above are evident in the classes I have observed. To solve expressions such as 6t(3t-1), the students use physical blocks to mimic the quantities on their paper.
This is an example of systematic experimentation. It is a very slow way of solving the problem, but it provides them with tools to solve abstract problems. Additionally, I have noticed that some students, though they may know an answer, will keep it to themselves. This demonstrates that they have concerns about their social position in the classroom. It could be costly for them to give an incorrect answer in front of their peers. One technique that Mrs. Talbot uses to help her students is to assign animals to the letter variables. For example, if a problem is 3k+1-2k, she would create a hypothetical situation to help her students visualize. “If three kangaroos are born and two die, how many kangaroos are left.” The students are able to understand this because, by Piaget’s standards, they can think hypothetically.General Observations:
I am so surprised at how quickly the students have adjusted to having me in their classrooms. They do not hesitate to ask for my help. This has made me realize that the way they see me and the way I see myself are very different. Additionally, I was surprised about how hands-off Mrs. Talbot is in terms of my involvement. She gives me a few pointers briefly at the start of each class period as students file in and then we are off. This makes me assume that college students who have sat in her classroom have done a great job of reaching her expectations, and I hope to do the same.
Since I have not spent much time with middle-school-aged children, I had forgotten how joyful they are. While middle school is a rough period for many students, it is clear that the majority of them enjoying coming to Mrs. Talbot’s class. It’s clear that her positive energy and constant reinforcements encourage them. Also, many of them are just happy to spend time with their friends. The students seemed very comfortable with each other when they collaborated on worksheets together.
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