Teacher Candidate Impact on Student Learning

Student’s First Name, Middle Initial(s), Last Name

Institutional Affiliation

Course Number and Name

Instructor’s Name and Title

Assignment Due Date

Table of Contents

Abstract 2

Introduction. 4

Contextual Factors. 4

Pre-Assessment 5

Worksheet 5

Pingo Game. 6

Pre-Assessment Performance. 6

The Instructional Unit 7.

Unit Description. 7

Designing Specific Learning Experiences and How They Addressed the Identified Learning Needs 7

Resources Sourced. 8

Differentiation Strategies. 8

Classroom Management Techniques. 8

Formative Assessment 9

Post-teaching Assessment Tools. 9

Post-Assessment Results. 12

Differences in Learning Proficiency Between Pre-and Post-Test Results. 12

Discussion. 13

Conclusion. 14

References. 15

Teacher Candidate Impact on Student Learning

Abstract

Number reversal is a prevalent challenge among children of 7 years and below. However, this scenario does not always imply that the learner has developmental problems or conditions such as dyslexia. Indeed, most children only require extra help to them to write the number correctly. This project aims to invent instructional strategies that can help the students with the challenge of reversing numbers. The digits ranged from 2-9 because these are the numerals that most learners encounter problems in knowing the correct way and direction of writing them. The study focused on two students who did several tests, and the expectations were that one could generalize the findings to help other students experiencing the same problems. The paper has six major categories including introduction, pre-assessment, the instructional unit, post-assessment, discussion as well as the conclusion.

Introduction

Number reversal is a common phenomenon in children aged seven years and below. Most of these learners only require extra guidance to write them correctly. The persistence of the reversal results from the directional confusion as well as failure to develop memory strategies and generalization concerning symbol systems (Fischer, 2011). Most people hold that reversing numbers interferes with the understanding of mathematics. However, the digits that such a child uses is right. The only issue is that they miswrote the numbers. The Teacher Candidate Impact on Student Learning (TCISL) assignment involved helping two children aged seven years to overcome the problem of reversing numbers. The study happened at home, and it included various assessments and exercises to assist the students in eliminating the challenge. Their previous exams indicate that their overall performance is excellent. The reason for choosing this objective is because number reversal is a prevalent problem among children despite them performing relatively well in academic work. Hence, intervening for the needs will enable them to have a better performance.

Contextual Factors

Several contextual factors affected the teaching and learning process. For instance, the school’s community, including the availability of resources and the curriculum. They do not have computers to do school activities. Besides, the learners attend schooling in public schools that focus on English and Arabic languages. Sometimes due to the higher populations in such institutions, instructors can have problems providing individualized teaching. Other contextual factors affecting the students included age, gender, and personal interests. Younger students exhibit some challenges with paying attention to some lesson activities. The gender factors influenced the attitude of the girl towards mathematics, and initially, she thought that it is a tedious exercise. However, with time she overcame the problem and performed well in the subsequent tasks. The understanding of these contextual factors enabled me to anticipate the needs of the students based on the information gathered.

Pre-Assessment

Worksheet

For the first student, I used the sheet, which had numbers from 2 to 9 written in both rightly and wrongly. The purpose of the case study was to determine if the learner knew how to write the figures correctly. For example, I would ask him where number 7 is, and then they would choose and circle it. Out of the seven numbers provided, the learner got only three correctly. This activity indicated that, indeed, the student had a problem with writing numbers. Besides, he had not practiced number writing for long. However, training him using the right methods would contribute significantly in helping him to overcome this issue.

Pingo Game

We played the pingo game with the second student. The objective was to determine if she could write the numbers correctly. I provided the student with a paper containing numbers ranging from 2 to 9, written in both the correct and incorrect way. Out of the seven digits, the student got two right. However, she exhibited significant knowledge of numbers, its value, and the challenge was only knowing how to write it correctly. Besides, she is a fast learner who has a unique memorizing skill. It was clear that her mathematics teacher tended to focus on the knowledge of numbers without paying much attention to whether she wrote them in the right manner. Therefore, helping her practice using the most appropriate strategies would help her to improve in this area.

Pre-Assessment Performance

The following are the results obtained from the pre-test. The names of the two students are fictitious.

NAME

SCORE

JESS

3/7- 43%

RENE

2/7- 29%

Table 1.0: Pre-Test Results

The pre-assessment activity was crucial in helping me to understand the essential learning aspects and identifying the areas of weakness of each learner with a view of developing the most appropriate intervention strategies to rectify the problem.

The Instructional Unit

Unit Description

This unit focused on number reversal. The activities involved helping the two learners to write numerals correctly. The objective was that by the end of the lesson, each learner would know how to write numbers without reversing. Therefore, I incorporated countless tracing and copying exercises to enhance the children’s memorizing skills.

Designing Specific Learning Experiences and How They Addressed the Identified Learning Needs

I developed number cards with the seven digits to enhance their visual abilities. Besides, there were several activities of tracing and copying to allow the students to make connections and develop a sense of direction and avoid confusion of the correct way of writing the numerals (Mather & Healey, 1984). For instance, both learners did several tracings and copying, which allowed them to remember and write every digit. Repetition played a pivotal role in building muscle memory. Often, I administered formative assessments between sessions to assess the understanding of each student and to know which areas to emphasize. Other strategies included recommending their parents and other caregivers to display number cards in the rooms where the children stay. Besides, I encouraged them to help the children practice the numbers in real life. For example, while walking on the streets, they can ask the children to identify the numbers on car number plates.

Resources Sourced

I used the mobile phone number sequence to enhance their understanding of how numbers looked like and the direction they should face. I started this exercise by asking them to count all the digits they can see sequentially in loud voices. After identifying all the numbers correctly, I gave them the task of typing the figure that I mentioned on the screen. They enjoyed playing with the cellphone while practicing how to write the numbers as they appeared on the screen.

Differentiation Strategies

Differentiated instruction refers to a framework of effective teaching that involves providing all learners with a range of diverse avenues for understanding a given concept. Using differentiation enables one to intervene for the different needs of all the learners. Some of the differentiation strategies I used, including the use of number cards with seven numbers ranging from 2-9 and asking the learners to identify the figures which I mentioned to them. Another method was to assign many tracing and copying exercises to help them build muscle memory (Fischer, 2013). Besides, I conducted formative assessments to ensure that learners were attentive and to promote active learning. I designed the lesson based on the learning styles of each student to help intervene for individual needs.

Classroom Management Techniques

Although the study took place at my home, I had to employ various classroom management strategies to maintain the learning interest among the learners. First, I kept a model behavior, which included the use of polite language and maintaining eye contact while teaching the children. Second, I offered praise to students each time they did their exercises well. The approvals contributed significantly to inspiring the learners, boosting their self-esteem as well as reinforcing the acceptable rules and values. The strategy promoted positive behaviors, and learners exhibited advanced problem-solving skills.

Formative Assessment

I used several assessment tools, including pop quizzes that involved identifying the correctly written numbers, for instance, in a worksheet. During sessions, I called the names of the students to maintain their attentiveness. While doing various exercises such as circling the correctly written numbers, I monitored and provided individual assistance and guidance to each learner. Besides, we played classroom games such as pingo, where the students had to apply what they learned as I gauged their level of comprehension.

Post-teaching Assessment Tools

The post-assessment tools included administering a worksheet test with numbers written both in the right and wrong way. I asked the student to choose and circle the correct digits. Besides, I provided them with sheets of paper where I asked them to write numbers 2-9 without referring anywhere. Although the learners still encountered a few challenges while writing some numbers. They substantially made a remarkable improvement. I used these post-assessment tools to evaluate the understanding of the learners as well as my teaching strategies. Hence, discovering areas that I did not communicate well to the students.

Week 1

This week’s objective was to create a sense of direction for numbers ranging from 2 to 9. To achieve the goal, the students performed several tracing exercises. Therefore, I provided them with a worksheet that involved tracing numbers from 2 to 9. By the end of the week, I gave them a blank paper whereby asked the learners to write the digits that I mentioned. Indeed, this was a great way of practicing number writing because the learners got a few figures correctly. However, they still exhibited some problems writing several numbers precisely, such as 3 and 5.

Week 2

The objective of this week was to build the muscle memory of the learners. Therefore, they engaged in activities that encourage memorization and repetition. Hence, we participated in various activities such as using card numbers, whereby students had the opportunity to observe, read, and rewrite the numbers on the cards. Besides, we performed various copying exercises where I gave the student worksheet with all the numerals written many times, and the next line left blank for each digit. By the end of the week, I administered several quizzes to assess their understanding of the concept of numbers. They wrote most numerals correctly and had problems with only a few.

Week 3

Among the numbers that the learners encountered challenges writing the correct way included 3 and 5. For instance, Jess would forget about the right direction and would right it as a reversal. Similarly, Rene would also invert number 3. Therefore, the objective was to provide individualized teaching to intervene and address the needs of each learner. Week 3 activities focused on helping Jess to recognize number three and write it correcting without encountering any difficulties. However, to maintain the interest of the other learner, I gave him other challenging exercises of tracing and copying numbers. Occasionally, I helped Rene to locate, dot, and copy the digit. Finally, she was able to identify the numeral and write it correctly.

Week 4

During this week, the objective was to help Jess to overcome the challenges of writing number 5. However, to maintain the interest of Jess, I gave exercises involving copying and tracing different numbers. At first, he encountered a significant problem and could reverse it all the time. However, we did tracings, doting, and copying exercises together until he memorized the number. I provided him with a blank sheet of paper and asked him to write the number without referring anywhere. I used positive reinforcements such as praises whenever he wrote the figures correctly. Besides, I gave the two learners a mobile phone and asked them to discuss the numbers amongst themselves by typing them on the screen as they rewrite the numbers on a paper.

Post-Assessment Results

Before beginning the next lesson, I conducted a preview of the previous session each time I got to class. This practice ensured that the learners understood the concepts learned. The advantage of previewing was that it contributed a great deal in examining the understanding of the learners and the areas that needed extra remediation activities. However, the students kept on improving throughout the weeks. Besides, they performed well in the various exercises, as shown in the table below. The names are fictitious.

NAME

WEEK 1

WEEK 2

WEEK 3

WEEK 4

JESS

5/7- 71%

7/7- 100%

6/7-86%

7/7- 100%

RENE

4/7- 57%

6/7- 86%

6/7- 86%

7/7- 100%

Table 2.0: Post-Assessment Results

Differences in Learning Proficiency Between Pre-and Post-Test Results

The post-assessment results indicated that although the learner encountered difficulties in writing some numbers, they learned the numerals correctly. Therefore, I used two strategies, including tracing, copying as well as a worksheet, to enable them to copy the numbers as many times as possible, which could lead to improvement (Babbin, 2019). Besides, I recommended the displaying card numbers in rooms where the children stay to boost their memory on the correct way of writing the numbers. Both learners made notable progress and exhibited excellent proficiency in the post-test activities compared to the pre-assessment quizzes. The results were far much better than their previous performance before undergoing the instructional process.

Discussion

The proficiency in the numbering concepts and proper knowledge for the existence of number reversal problems enabled me to have a clear vision of the goals of instruction and specific mathematical content relevant to help the students overcome the challenge of number reversal (Sornson, 2014). I used the knowledge flexibility to practice, appraise, and adapt instructional materials to allow me to present the content appropriately and invent the relevant assessment strategies. Notably, the use of worksheets and number cards allowed a more understanding of concepts and maintained the interest of learners throughout the lesson. The gaps in knowledge included having challenges in identifying the direction of some digits, such as three and five. Therefore, the memory strategies, including tracing and copying in this area was necessary to help them to confirm the directionality of letters and digits. I observed that teaching using various memory strategies had a significant impact on assisting the children in dealing with the challenge of reversing numbers. The high performance of the students in the post-assessment tests provided meaningful feedback that the learners understood the concepts. Factors including appropriate instructional strategies and intervening for the needs of the learners explains why there was a tremendous improvement in the post-test results.

Conclusion

The entire session enabled me to gain valuable insights while helping learners overcome the problem of reversing numbers. I discovered that the most appropriate way of approaching this issue is to use teaching strategies that can enhance the memory ability of children. The results indicated that my strengths included the ability to engage the learners and maintain their attention throughout the lesson. Besides, I was able to incorporate various instructional strategies to make the experience more meaningful. My greatest weakness included perfectionism, whereby, I expected that the learners would understand the concept by the end of the first session. This notion made me create unrealistic goals sometimes. If I happen to have another chance of teaching the unit again, I will set more realistic goals to enable me to achieve the intended objectives satisfactorily. I would encourage the students to do more tracing and copying exercises in school and at home to build on the knowledge acquired. I would advise the teachers to pay more attention and ensure that children at this age wrote numbers in the right manner besides helping them to know the digits. The parents should know that it is developmentally normal for children to reverse numbers and that they only require extra help to write them correctly.

References

Babbin, E. (2019, August 5). Why Do Some Kids Write Numbers Backwards? Understood | For Learning and Thinking Differences. https://www.understood.org/en/learning-thinking-differences/child-learning-disabilities/visual-processing-issues/my-son-writes-numbers-backwards-why-is-that-and-how-can-i-help

Fischer, J. (2011). Mirror writing of digits and (capital) letters in the typically developing child. Cortex, 47(6), 759-762. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2011.01.010

Fischer, J. (2013). Digit reversal in children’s writing: A simple theory and its empirical validation. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 115(2), 356-370. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2013.02.003

Mather, N., & Healey, W. C. (1984). The efficacy of a memory strategy for eliminating reversal behavior. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 17(2), 84-88. https://doi.org/10.1177/002221948401700206

Sornson, B. (2014). Essential Math Skills: Over 250 Activities to Develop Deep Learning: Over 250 Activities to Develop Deep Learning. Teacher Created Materials.