Use of Class Time

Time	Phase of Lesson	Instructional Strategy	The teacher is…	The students are…
11:20-11:25	Warmup	Group Work	Taking attendance and discussing upcoming events [at front]	Working in groups to solve a problem on the board
11:25-11:33	Warmup	Lecture	Explaining the method and solution to the warmup problem [at front]	Comparing their solution to the teacher’s and asking questions about any difference they might have.
11:33-11:36	Transition	Lecture	Explaining how we don’t have the right tools to accurately solve the warmup problem as a lead in to the lesson [front]. Then collects the warmup problems and hands out a worksheet[walking through class]	Listening, then handing in their warmup problems
11:36-11:39	Initiation	Lecture	Filling in the initial parts of the worksheet on the document camera [front]	Copying down the teacher’s notes onto their own worksheets
11:39-11:41	Development	Individual Exploration	Asking the students to answer the first few questions from the worksheet [front]	Working through their worksheets individually
11:41-11:44	Development	Class Exploration	Asking students to explain their work and writing their solutions on the board [front]	Discussing how they solved the problems on their worksheets
11:44-11:50	Development	Lecture	Explaining SOH-CAH-TOA and using it to solve the next problem [front]	Copying down the acronym and meaning onto their worksheet. Then copying the solution to the problem onto their worksheet.
11:50-11:52	Summary	Lecture	Reviewing important points from the class [front]	Packing up their bags to leave
11:52-11:54	Closure	Free talk	Discussing specifics from the class and the upcoming school event with individual students [front]	Talking to each other and waiting at the door for the bell to ring

1. Describe how the teacher’s use of time and the instructional strategies facilitated or hindered the accomplishment of the main objectives of the lesson. 

This class took place on the same day as the school carnival, thus, classes were shortened and students were likely to be distracted. At the same time, My CT really wanted to cover the basics of trigonometry before the end of the week. This meant he had to be very specific about his time and classroom management to make sure the students understood this important concept. He told me afterwards that while he usually likes to give the students time to explore and figure out concepts in their own groups, the combination of the time issue, plus the fact that SOH-CAH-TOA is more of an axiomatic aspect of mathematics than something that can be derived, made a more traditional lecture focused class more effective for this day. 

I think he was very successful in this regard, the change in teaching style sent a message to the students that SOH-CAH-TOA was something that just needed to be memorized instead of figured out. Afterwards I heard them discussing how the acronym worked when usually I hear very little math based discussion at the end of class. 

2. Based on your observation and interview, how are you thinking about the ways in which you hope to use class time in order to achieve your goals?

I picked this day to do my time management discussion because I knew time management would be particularly important. It showed me that often the teacher has to consider many factors beyond just how best students usually learn. There can often be special circumstances that will take precedence. If I was a new teacher who hadn't considered this, I might try to just teach a regular lesson on the school carnival day. If this meant students were suppose to discover a concept by working in groups they very well may have spent their group time talking about the carnival (This isn't to say that students will be on task the whole time while in groups, but this day there was a particularly distracting factor). Then the shortened class time would mean that even if I realized this was happening, I wouldn't have time to make the necessary correction. In the end, the whole day would have been wasted and I would've been better off just showing a movie and at least catching up on my grading during that time. 

I believe that exploration and discovery is the best way to learn mathematics. However, this is not always viable and I have to keep in mind situations where it isn't. I need to keep the state of mind of the students when planning the lesson to be able to use my time effectively.