Focus On The Students

Mrs. Behrens’ area of focus is special education, however I have come to respect her as a teacher who expertly teaches across a wide base of subjects and levels. This specifically got me to think about how the individual  students feel about their experience in Mrs. Behrens’ classroom, their perception of learning and what they believe their teacher’s role is in their educational experience.

In order to accomplish the task of learning more about the student perspective I decided to interview three of her students. I have assigned the pseudonyms John, Mike and Tom to the students. They are all fourth grade boys assigned to Mrs. Behrens special education class. All three boys have an Individual Education Program (IEP), a contract designed to help these students succeed.  The interview was not private as all of the boys were present during my questioning and all were very cooperative within the context of my interview.

Student Interview:

Question: What is your favorite subject to learn about?

John - My favorite subject is animals, I will read anything I can about animals. I like Mrs. Behrens’ room mostly because of all of the animal pictures on the wall.

Mike - I kinda like art, I like to do art but I also like to learn about art. Did you know that art doesn’t have to have paint?

Tom - My favorite subject is reading, I like reading stories more than other kinds of reading.

Question: Do you enjoy hands-on learning assignments more or less than reading assignments?

John - Yes! I like to do stuff, it helps me remember things better. But, like I said, I will read anything about animals.

Mike - I like hands on, I don’t sit still very well or for very long – I am usually in trouble.

Tom - I love to read about things.

Question: Are you able to easily obtain all the supplies you need for homework and assignments when not in class?

John - Yes, I guess so.

Mike - Sometimes.

Tom - Usually yes.

Question: Do you think that the textbooks you are using for your classes are good texts?

John - Yeah, but I like worksheets and regular books better than textbooks.

Mike - I like the textbooks.

Tom - I would rather do worksheets the textbooks are boring.

Question: How often do you complete your homework assignments?

John - Mostly.

Mike - Usually.

Tom - I was very smart in kindergarten, now I am not good at homework

Question: Do you enjoy paper work or working on a computer more?

John - At home I like the computer. I like to search the web for animals and look at pictures and read about them. I also play games on the computer that help me with my math.

Mike - I would rather work with paper. I don’t like reading things on the computer.

Tom - I like the computer better, we don’t use the computer in school though.

Question: Would you rather present a subject to your class or write an essay about that same topic?

John - That is a hard question. I think I would like to do both.

Mike - I would much rather talk to the class about it, I am not shy.

Tom - I don’t like either very much, I think I would rather present a subject to the class. But, I would have to like the subject.

Question: For how many minutes are you able to focus on a teacher lecturing?

John - Usually the whole time in here, in my homeroom somewhere like about five minutes.

Mike - I don’t sit still very well, I am usually in trouble.

Tom – I don’t know.

Question: What is your favorite quality in your favorite teacher?

John - I will try really hard if my teacher likes me. Some of my teachers hate me and for them I don’t even try. My kindergarten teacher was my favorite, but Mrs. Behrens is my second favorite. I have come to her room for more than this year and I like it.

Mike - I like teachers who are nice and it seems like most of them teach in kindergarten or first grade. I like Mrs. Behrens because she acts like she likes me, most of the time, no she does like me.

Tom - My favorite teachers are the ones that know my name. Sometimes teachers call me the wrong name and I think I should call them the wrong name, but I don’t.

Question: When you have to memorize facts, what strategy do you use?

John - I had a really hard time with math until I started playing computer games. I still am faster and get the answer right more often in my head and on the computer than I do when I have to write it down. My hand just messes it up when I have to write.

Mike - Practice, practice, practice, practice, practice……

Tom - My mom taught me to make flash cards. I sometimes have help making my flashcards but I use flash cards all the time. I even have some computer apps that are actually just like flashcards.

Question: Would you rather watch a documentary on a topic, listen to a lecture, explore the internet or read a book?

John - I would rather use the internet. I learn a lot on the internet, if I get bored I can just look something else up.

Mike - I would rather watch a documentary, I remember better if I see it plus I don’t get as confused.

Tom - I think I learn more if I read about something. Like with Harry Potter the movies are good but the books are better.

Question: How do you remember things? Give me some examples; show me what you do

John - I don’t remember things I don’t care about. I probably don’t remember much.

Mike - I practice. I write spelling words like five times and sometimes I do ok on the test. For math I use the worksheets that have like 100 problems on one page and I try to do it really fast. We used to do it as a class in like third grade but now I just do it with Mrs. Behrens or Ms. Norma. I plan to get better.

Tom - I told you, I use flash cards. Lots and lots of flash cards.

Question: How does you teacher help you remember things? Give some examples.

John - My teachers just tell me stuff and they say remember it. I usually don’t. Mrs. Behrens helps me to get things better, she makes things clearer.

Mike - Mrs. Behrens sort of pays attention to when I know something or when I don’t. She is hard to fool. My other teacher is easier to fool. If I don’t understand something Mrs. Behrens will try to explain it in different way anyway then I usually get it.

Tom - She (Mrs. Behrens) helps me a lot! She goes over things and always smiles at me. I think she knows if I am having trouble and sometimes she will make me a flash card.

Question: How do you know that you know something? Give me some examples.

John - I know stuff that I like to know about. Remember I like animals, ask me anything about animals. I know every animal. Someday I am going to get a pet and I will know everything about it.

Mike - I just do. I don’t know why. Maybe I will know after the AIMS test, that is what matters the most the AIMS test.

Tom - I do well on a test. If you don’t do well on the test then you don’t know it. That’s why they know I don’t know much, I don’t do well on tests.

These three students expressed a number of similar characteristics. The most striking – to me – was their observance of the feelings that teachers hold toward them! They all mentioned to some degree the importance of  feeling liked by their educator as well as the knowledge that they are not always - in fact, sometimes rarely - liked. They also had a collective agreement that Mrs. Behrens plays an important role in helping them to organize their materials and helps them to find the methods that promote their individual style of learning. 

MTBI - another exciting STEM Opportunity

Because of the Civil Rights/MLK holiday on Monday of this week I was not able to meet the time commitment I usually dedicate to my internship with Mrs. Behrens. Fortunately, I have recently learned about an exciting research opportunity for this summer and I spent the afternoon at ASU researching the details.

The Mathematical and Theoretical Biological Institute (MTBI) is an undergraduate/graduate research program that was founded by Carlos Castillo-Chavez in 1996 at Cornell University.  The program was moved to ASU in 2004 and offers an intensive eight week summer research experience that “prepares promising young scientists interested in working at the interface of mathematics, statistics and the natural and social sciences for the rigors of graduate studies.”

Dr. Castillo-Chavez is a Regents Professor at ASU and he has designed this program primarily for underrepresented minority students and women who are interested in pursuing advanced degrees. His success lies in the creation of an “environment where mentorship, cooperative learning and leadership training play a critical role.” The goal of the program is to provide participants with comprehensive research experience including: literature reviews, formation of research questions and models, analyzing models and exposing students to current issues while fostering interdisciplinary collaboration.

Eligibility is restricted to undergraduates who have completed 60 credits and are majoring in math, biology or a related field. Applicants must have at least one year of calculus.  (It sounds tailor made for S-STEM!)

This years’ program is scheduled to take place from June 5 – July 27. The application deadline, however is MARCH 1! Complete applications must include: the MTBI application, personal statement (500 words), official transcripts and one faculty letter of recommendation.

Successful applicants will receive room and board as well as a $3,000 stipend. They also have a $500 travel award for those coming from outside the Valley of the Sun.

The link to access more information and the application is:
http://mtbi.asu.edu/home

CSUMS @ASU a fantastic research opportunity!

Knowing that many of you are interested in research I wanted to share some information about an opportunity at Arizona State University. Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Computational Science training for Undergraduates in Mathematical Sciences (CSUMS) project provides $10,000 in stipends to students who are interested in research programs in computational mathematics.

Some of the projects include mathematical models of biological processes, such as brain tumors, cellular transport and cell networks. Students work closely with faculty and the “state of the art High Performance Computing Center and Decision Theater.” Many of the projects produce material suitable for publishing, if you are considering Barrett at ASU this is a fantastic way of completing your Honors thesis!

Eligibility requirements include:

·             You must be a US citizen or permanent resident

·             Computational Mathematical Science major or a Mathematics major (can be a second major)

·             Sophomore or junior standing

·             GPA of 3.0

·             Recommended course work includes; calculus 3, differential equations, linear algebra, scientific computing and data structures.

Student selection is based on academic achievement, letters of recommendation and a personal statement.

Selected students begin their CSUMS experience in the spring semester and then participate in a summer project. CSUMS meets once a week for an hour and a half during the semester (lunch is provided) and daily for eight weeks during the summer. Approximately eleven students are selected each year. In addition to the stipend CSUMS students are given the use of office space on the Tempe campus and a laptop computer.

For more information: http://math.asu.edu/CSUMS

To apply: http://math.asu.edu/about-us/csums-applicationu

If any of you are interested in this program I strongly encourage you to contact Dr. Kostelich Kostelich@asu.edu (480)965-5006 or Dr. Welfert welfert@asu.edu (480)965-7195, they are both extremely wonderful mentors.

Step One: Observation

Though I hope to become a contributor to the classroom learning experience, my first visit to Mrs. Behrens’ classroom was one of strict observation. Because I had expressed an interest in mathematics Mrs. Behrens invited me to observe during a fourth grade math lesson. There were eight students were present, five boys and three girls. Mrs. Behrens began the lesson by announcing that everyone should take out their red folder, the red folder is used exclusively for math. Using a scaffolding technique she began a problem involving the order of operations on the board. After reviewing the mnemonic Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally (parenthesis, exponents, multiplication, division, addition, subtraction) she encouraged the entire class to verbalize the steps necessary to proceed through the problem. As she performed this operation I noticed she maintained the student’s engagement in a variety of ways, maintaining a position where she did not turn her back on the classroom and smiling at them seemed the most effective. She talked continuously throughout the lesson, verbalizing the steps obviously aided the students by controlling any impulsive behavior to skip steps as well as reinforcing the mathematical concept. The lesson continued in this manner until the class period ended. The lesson I learned during this observation is that student engagement is a necessary ingredient to productive learning, especially in the area of mathematics. Mrs. Behrens stood at the front of the room, she constantly kept her eyes toward the students and smiled throughout the exercise. Ms. Norma, the aide, unobtrusively walked around the students. She was checking the students work and occasionally gave positive reinforcement – smiles and nods - to the students, or pointed at areas that the student had lost track of the process. The students were actively listening and participating in the vocalized recitation. This was obviously not the first time these students had participated in such an activity and their acquired expertise was very remarkable and even inspiring.

Let the internship begin...

The school, that I was fortunate enough to receive permission to internship at is Houston Elementary, one of 26 elementary schools within the Gilbert Public School (GPS) system. GPS has a total district enrollment of over 39,000 students (Gilbert Public Schools). The Town of Gilbert is a suburb of the Phoenix Metropolitan Area, the 14th largest metro area in the United States. Gilbert itself has a population of 208,453 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011). With an average family income of $98,213 over 92% of the citizens of Gilbert over the age of 25 have a high school diploma or a GED, 35.5% have a Bachelor’s degree and 10.46% have a Master’s degree (“Gilbert, Arizona”). Houston Elementary is located at 500 E. Houston Ave in Gilbert, Arizona. It currently serves 556 students in grades K-6. Houston offers full day kindergarten, Amanacer Preschool and kindergarten prep. At present there are 44 full time teachers and 40 classrooms with a student teacher ratio of 13.05:1. This exceptional ratio is 16.4% lower than average for all public Arizona schools. The faculty at Houston Elementary has an average of nine years of experience and receive an average salary of $43,102. In 2011 Houston students were performing better than 75.4% of other public schools and 30.8% qualified for free/reduced lunch(Gilbert Public Schools). The class I am interning in is that of Amy Farmer-Behrens. Mrs. Behrens has been teaching special education at Houston Elementary since receiving her Bachelors in Secondary Education/Social Studies from Northern Arizona University in 2006. Because of her position she began taking graduate courses in special education and completed her Masters in December of 2010. Mrs. Behrens has one full time teacher assistant, Norma, who has worked with her in the classroom since 2007. This year their classroom consists of both fourth and sixth graders. She has a total of 19 students with between 4 and 9 in each class period. There are two Hispanic, two Native American, one ‘other’ and 14 Caucasian students. Gender distribution is 3.2:1.

Cells are the smallest unit of life, all living things are made of cells, and cells themselves are alive. Multicellular organisms can be made up of hundreds of trillions of cells, these cells perform different functions. For example, in humans we have thousands of variations on the main categories of cells. These main categories include types like; epithithium, nervous, mesenchymal, lymphocyte, melanocyte, neuroendocrine. Less complex organisms are made up of fewer cells or may be unicellular which means they consist of only one cell! I think this video is a beautiful introduction to the world of cells. I hope that it clears up some misconceptions that people have about cell, though I think the important lesson is that cells are both component parts of larger living organisms and they are individual units of life. Cells are important, like the life forms they combine to create, they undergo specific processes, have genetic material and attempt to pass that genetic material to future generations through the process of reproduction. There is no more grand a mystery than the cells of our own body. It is hard to imagine the vastness let along the endless wonder and inquiry that these tiny organisms bring out. In the area of STEM there is nothing more relevant than the study of the cell. The cell can serve as a foundational focus for all areas of STEM– science, technology, engineering and math - and the culmination of this study and the compilation of knowledge unmistakably has the potential to truly affect our 21st century world. I hope that you find this video as captivating as I do. I found it to be entertaining, educational and most importantly it stimulated my curiosity and just made me want to know more!

November 9, 2012

Hello! My name is McKenna. I am currently enjoying my second year at Phoenix College. As a STEM Scholar I am enjoying many of the excellent opportunities that PC has to offer.  In May 2013 I will graduate with my A.S.  degree  and am hoping to transfer to Arizona State University. While at ASU I plan on triple majoring in global health, mathematics and education.