9/17/2008 - my first day

Today was my first day at Ypsi High. I had met Mr. MacGregor briefly at the teacher/fellow pairing session but we didn’t have time to discuss plans for the time I would spend in the classroom. We did decide that I would come every Wednesday for two freshmen algebra classes, a repeat algebra class, a calc class, and a math support class. I wasn’t sure how the day would be structured so I decided that I would just introduce myself and tell the students a little about what I did and why I was in the classroom. I talked about my education – going to the University of Cincinnati for mechanical engineering then moving to Ann Arbor to get my Masters and then PhD in mechanical engineering. I also told the students some of my career goals including becoming a professor so I can teach engineering students and work on cool projects that fix problems and help people. I also told them that I was there to help them with math and show them some interesting things they can do with math. The algebra students just stared at me but the calc students were more involved and asked me a couple of questions about going to Cincinnati and Michigan, about what I do as a mechanical engineer, and I even got a couple of statements like “Oh, I want to be an engineer.”

After my short introduction to the algebra classes the class moved into its normal cycle of reviewing the homework from the previous night, completing the problem of the day, then beginning the homework for that night. Since we hadn’t discussed my role in the classroom I sat and watched the students while I listened Mr. MacGregor go over the homework at the board. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of participation in the freshmen algebra classes. Students participated if they were right or not. At one point Mr. Macgregor had to ask one student to wait to be called on because he answered every question correctly as soon as it was asked. He let the student know that he appreciated his participation but he really wanted others to be able to participate as well.

After reviewing the homework the students were instructed to first work on their problem of the day then begin their homework for the next day. Students began asking the teacher questions and began wandering around the room to answer, so I did the same. I only worked one-on-one with about dozen students but they were accepting of me and wanted my help. I’m looking forward to working with more students and showing them things that may peak their interest in math.