Excerpt E: I understood the concept.
The first half of the class we were doing some sample math problems. I hadn’t done anything
like this for several years and I didn’t remember how to do them. When we finished—or gave
up—Alan divided the class into groups. We would review the problems, and then someone
who had trouble with the math would teach the problem to the entire class. In my group it
was going to be me.
The people in my group tried real hard to help me but I still wasn’t getting it and I pan-
icked. Alan came over to see what was happening. He sat down and took off his shoe. It was
silly, but we started to all compare our shoes and now I understood the concept. When I
went up to the front, I explained to the class about congruent shoes and congruent triangles.
When Alan took off his shoe he caught my attention, it got me to relax, and I was able to
learn and teach the math. In the second half of the class we watched and discussed a video
with a math teacher who found all sorts of ways to get her class into the lesson. She allows
them to build, cut, play games, and she sings and dances, whatever it takes to motivate stu-
dents and explain the concepts. Sometimes the more ridiculous you are, the more interested
students become. I think I am starting to understand just a little bit of what math is all about.
***JOIN THE CONVERSATION—REFLECTING ON YOUR EXPERIENCEQuestions to Consider:- Which of the experiences described in this section comes closest to your own as a stu-
dent? Explain. - Alice and many of the students in this class were very concerned about being graded
and assigning grades to their own students. How do you feel about being graded?
Why? - Maritza lists things she learned from watching student-taught mini-lessons in class.
What did you learn from your first mini-lesson? - What did you learn from Alice and Maritza?
5.Write a letter to either Alice or Maritza comparing your experiences as students and in
teacher education classes with theirs.
SECTION G: ALAN’S PEDAGOGICAL CREED—
WHAT I KNOW ABOUT TEACHING AND LEARNING
(with apologies to John Dewey)
Earlier in this chapter, I discussed John Dewey’s “pedagogic creed,” in which he listed his
basic beliefs about education. In bringing this chapter to a close, I would like to list some of
my basic beliefs. Most of Dewey’s writing was heavily philosophical. However, in his peda-
gogic creed, he was much more concrete and practical. The ideas I present here are also in-
tended to be concrete and practical, but as with Dewey, they are grounded in my broader
philosophy of education and society, my experience working with students, and my goals as
a teacher.
I am not calling the list a pedagogic creed because I think my ideas are on par with
Dewey’s. I am simply borrowing his approach and using it as a way to honor him for his sem-
inal contributions to education.
GOALS 31