Cristine Boles

Teacher Work Sample

Hellgate High School, Missoula, MT October 1-2, 2013

Component 1: I co-taught a lesson with one of my colleagues about writing ratios and solving proportions. The Algebra 1 class I taught was comprised mostly of freshman, but included some sophomores and a few upper classmen as well. Students just finished learning how to solve multi-step equations involving addition, subtraction, division and multiplication. Next, students will use the techniques they have already learned such as multiplying by the multiplicative inverse to solve proportions. In the following section, they learn the quicker cross-product method. Ratios and proportions have many practical and relevant real-world applications. Many students already have an intuitive understanding of ratios as demonstrated in homework and in the post-test. An understanding of ratios and proportions is useful for increasing portion sizes in recipes, switching between units (e.g. seconds to minutes to hours) and making predictions about a large sample size. Ratios are all around us. Miles per hour is a ratio and have you ever heard the phrase, Based on the online poll, 25% of Americans Social researchers base their conclusions on ratios they find in smaller representative sample sizes. After our lesson, we expected students to be able to define a ratio and proportion, write a ratio in simplest terms, use ratio language to describe a ratio relationship between two quantities, set up and solve a proportion, solve real-world and mathematical problems using ratio reasoning

through tables, solve unit rate problems including those involving unit pricing and constant speed and solve multistep ratio problems using proportional relationships. The lesson aligns well with the sixth and seventh grade Ratio and Proportions Relationships domain of the Montana Common Core Mathematics Content Standards. The content standards addressed are listed in the lesson plan in Appendix A. To introduce ratios to the class, we composed ratios on the board based on class statistics. For example, number of left handed people versus number of right handed people, blue shirts, red shirts, blonde hair, brown hair, etc. Then, we asked the class for suggestions and demonstrated different ways to express a ratio. One common mistake students make when setting up proportions is aligning the units incorrectly. In order to avoid this problem, I taught them how to use a table to make sure they lined up the units correctly. The following is an example taken from the textbook that illustrates how a table can be used in this way.

After the lecture, time was given for students to work on their assignment so we could walk around and offer help as needed. The following day, students practiced writing ratios by counting colors in a bag of M&Ms. In the end, students use their new knowledge about

proportions to estimate how many blue M&Ms are in several bags of candy. The full description of the activity can be found in Appendix A.

Component 2: The pre-test given to the class covered more than just my section about ratio and proportions so in my spreadsheet I included additional columns that correspond with the questions on the pre-test that directly tested the concepts I taught. A full copy of the pre-test can be found in Appendix B. The relevant questions are highlighted. 69% of students answered question 5 correctly. 54% of students answered question 9 correctly. 46% of students answered both questions correctly. 31% of students answered one of the two correctly. 23% of students answered both incorrectly. The average score for the full test was about 50%. The average score on the ratio and proportions section of the test was a little higher, about 62%.

Component 3: Of the 26 students in the class, 12 students answered both questions correctly. Students with higher total scores were more likely to do well on the questions 5 and 9 too. Most students understood simplifying fractions, but 4 students didnt simplify completely or made an arithmetic error. Only 4 students in the class did not attempt the problem which means they didnt know, ran out of time or didnt care to try. Since the majority of the class understood simplifying fractions, we touched only briefly on this concept at the beginning of the lesson. Students practiced simplifying ratios in the context of in-class examples and homework problems.

Fewer students completed Question 9 about solving proportions correctly. Darla, Michelle and Zeek cross multiplied correctly. 9 more students recorded the correct answer, but did not their work. It seemed two more students remembered learning about cross multiplying, but could not remember exactly how it worked. For instance, one student multiplied horizontally instead of diagonally. Gladys and Jenny solved the problem correctly using traditional algebra methods such as multiplying by the multiplicative inverse. Nine students did not attempt the question. To prepare students for the post-test and to ensure students were grasping the concepts, we assigned homework that specifically addressed our learning objectives. I graded homework based on the following rubric:

Points Earned Student completed 5 4 3 2 1 all the problems. at least two-thirds of the problems. at least one-half of the problems. less than half of the problems. less than one-quarter of the problems.

Subtract two points if the student did not show their work.

In Richards homework assignment he depended on logic to find solutions to the proportions. I included his answer below. His responses show his intuitiveness and sound mathematical reasoning.

I commented, Good logic. If you can use the multiplicative inverse like we did in class, it will help you when we start to encounter more complicated problems. Richard lost points on the post-test because he did not solve an application problem using proportional reasoning. I think he should have been given credit, however, because there is often more than one way to solve a problem. Students shouldnt be penalized or discouraged from using their intuition and coming up with creative ways to solve problems. One student, Zelda, multiplied the numerator and denominator by the multiplicative inverse, essentially multiplying by 1. These are snapshots of a couple of her answers. She did not make these errors in the post-test.

Component 4: We designed the post-test to correspond with similar questions in the homework assignment. The post-test analysis spreadsheet, in Appendix C, gives a side-by-side comparison of student performance on the pre-test, homework assignment and the post-test.

The following is a table of the post-test questions pertaining to our topic and the homework questions that they correspond with.

Homework Question = The table shows the number of pizzas sold at a pizzeria during a week. Use the information to find the specified ratio.

a. Small pizzas to large pizzas b. Medium pizzas to large pizzas. c. Large pizzas to all pizzas. A student can read 7 pages of a book in 10 minutes. How many pages of the book can the student read in 30 minutes?

Corresponding Test Question = You and your friend Jasmine, walk into the local food store. In the produce section you find 64 kiwis, 30 apples and 22 oranges. a. Write the ratio of the number of oranges to the number of apples. Simplify if possible. b. Write the ratio of the number of kiwis to the total number of fruit in the local store. Simplify if possible. You know Jasmine spent $16 to buy 32 kiwis, but you only have $4. a. Using the given information, set up a proportion that can be used to find how many kiwis you can buy with $4. b. Solve the proportion.

Component 5 #14, 17 and 18 were the three questions on the post-test that pertained to our chapter. I recorded each students score all three of these questions, added them together and found the average. As you can see in the post-test analysis, the average student score was about 74% on the ratio and proportions portion of the exam. I found the standard deviation to be 24% which tells me most of students scored between 50- and 98-percent. Richard and Zelda demonstrated understanding of the concepts on the post-test, but missed points for other errors. I chose to point out these two students, because their homework assignments illustrated interesting errors and thought processes and because their post-test scores showed improvement. Students scored best on #14 which tests their ability to solve a proportion. This is understandable since a majority of the homework problems were very similar to #14. Students who completed the homework tended to score better on the post-test as is expected. This was an obvious factor on student performance. Students struggled most with setting up a proportion and using ratio language. I dont think I need to re-teach any of the material, but extra practice would illuminate errors specific to individual students. If I could go back, I would adjust the homework assignment to include more real-world problems and fewer problems about solving proportions with an arbitrary x. I learned how to use tables to check that proportions are set up correctly. I also learned the distinction between a ratio and a proportion. In English, often people use the words interchangeably, but technically a proportion is an equivalent statement involving two ratios. When I assigned homework and designed assessments, I practiced choosing questions that aligned with my learning objectives and the common core math content standards. Regular,

short quizzes are great indicators of student progress. I am skeptical of the value of homework assignments when a large portion of the class does not complete the homework. It is certainly valuable to the students who finished the homework, but what about the students who didnt? They are often the students who are the most confused, but how are you supposed to gauge their progress your only indicator is graded homework assignments? If I tried this lesson again, I would tweak the M&M activity some. Instead of asking students to predict how many total blue M&Ms are in the classroom based on a given count , I will ask them to predict how many total blue M& Ms are in the classroom based on their own count. After watching a video of myself, I notice myself trailing off at the ends of my sentences. I need to speak up more, especially at the ends of sentences and make more eye contact. My confidence should show through my body language. I am thankful for the opportunity to co-teach in Mr. Hays classroom at Hellgate High School. Through collaborating with my peers, designing assessments and lesson plans aligned with common core standards and speaking in front of students just like my future students, I got a taste of what it feels like to be a professional secondary teacher of mathematics.