Interview Write-Up 1

My name: Jenna Graziadei

Initial to Address the Student: E

Age of Student: 6

Gender of Student: Female

Grade of Student: 1

Pertinent Information: This child is a typically-developing first grade student.

Time of Implementation: During the morning routine, 8:30-9:00 on October 13, 2017

Questions asked:

1. How high can you count?

2. What number comes after 8?
3. What number comes after 19?
4. What number comes before 21?
5. What number comes after 27?
6. What number comes before 30?
7. What number comes after 73?
8. What number comes after 100?
9. Can you count by twos?
10. Can you count by fives?
11. Can you count by tens?
12. Can you count by one hundreds?
13. You have 5 apples. Your mom gives you 3 more apples. How many do you have altogether?
14. You have 4 toy cars. Your friend gives you 7 more toy cars. How many toy cars do you have
now?
15. You have 14 toy cars. You give 5 toy cars to a friend. How many toy cars do you have left?
16. You have 6 marbles. How many more marbles do you need to buy to have 13 altogether?
17. There are 8 boys and 5 girls in the room. How many children are in the room today?
18. Can you tell me how many 10s are in 32?
19. Put out a set of 16 chips; ask the child to count the chips then to read the numeral written on
the card. Circle the 6 with the eraser of a pencil and say, Show me that part of the number
with the chips. Then circle the 1 and say, Show me that part of the number with the chips.
20. Give the student digit cards 0-5. Ask the child to make the largest 2-digit number possible
from those cards.
21. Show the child a drawing of a circle. Say, Imagine that this is a cookie. Can you show me
how you would share this so two people can each get the same amount?
22. Show the child an assortment of shapes. Ask, Which of these figures are triangles?
23. I left the house at 7:00 PM and came home at 9:00 PM. How long was I gone?
24. I have $27 and then my brother game be $45. How much do I have now?

Analysis:

Item 1:

One point for analysis that helped me learn about the students thought processes was
exhibited within questions 2 through 8 listed above that were more generally about determining
values preceding and following a given number in the number sequence. I observed this student
mouthing and whispering the numbers surrounding the correct solutions both counting up and
down depending on the prompt. This behavior proved to me that she had a strong understanding
of the number sequence and the patterns that can be found within it. For instance, when she was
asked, What number comes after 8?, the student thought out loud saying 6, 7, 8, 9 before
responding with her solution. E did not feel the need to begin counting all the way from 1.
Rather, beginning at 6 seemed to be an acceptable starting more to get a feel for where this
mathematical problem lied within the number sequence. This understanding was useful when the
problem contained larger numbers. Not only did she utilize the same tactic, but her
understanding of counting patterns such that 0 through 9 can be found to repeat within every ten
values helped guide her through the task. Although 73 is a large number, when asked What
number comes after 73?, her dialog included 71, 72, 73, 74 to which she responded with her
answer. Important in this pattern acknowledgment is that she does not yet work with such large
numbers in the mathematics lessons. Therefore, these skills and understandings that she has
developed will help her in future endeavors educationally and extracurricularly.
Taking the analysis of Es thought processes a step further, this gave me insight into a topic
that has been recently discussed in the course, which was her mathematical model. Es ability to
visualize the number sequence showed that she had a strong sense of the number line that is a
mental map that younger students are guided to develop before proceeding to more advanced
topics and activities. Given that mathematical models are representations of relationships that
mathematicians have been constructed over time as they have reflected on how one thing can be
changed into another and as they have generalized ideas, strategies, and representations across
contexts (Fosnot & Dolk, 2001), E was able to use her mental map to visualize the problem and
swiftly strategize to utilize the most useful approach. Her mastery of counting, and especially
number line estimation skills (Clements & Sarama, 2014), as well as the internal images and
knowledge of number relationships, including ones embedded in tens, to determine relative size
and position (Clements & Sarama, 2014) not only allowed her to successfully approach and
complete these problems, but the skills that were evident would enable her to participate in
activities that involve numerosity estimating, an important evaluation skill as E develops into a
mathematically literate individual.
Item 2:

I was able to get a more detailed vision of Es concrete mathematical understanding within
the word problems, such as question 13 listed above that pertaining to addition. Her skills were
strong enough such that she could take this verbally prompted mathematical problem, which was
a method that she did not have exposure to prior to this, then implement them in a hands-on
approach to act the situation out and visualize the problem. This acting out was more functional
when including herself within the situation such that E had 5 apples and her mom was giving her
3 more. By including her in this, she was attentive to the details that were required to solve the
problem. Once acknowledge, I saw E take two different colored ten-trains of unifix cubes that
were broke into the parts of the problem. She has had a great deal of practice with that in the
present school year given that since the start of school through the end of the week that this
interview was conducted, representing number bonds with unfix cubes was the main focus.
Therefore, E approached this problem similarly. She had a stack of 5 yellow cubes representing
the 5 apples that she started with, and another stack of 3 red cubes that represented the 3 apples
that were being given to her by her mother. E chose to connect the two unifix cube towers and
proceeded to count the cubes one by one to find an answer. This act of connecting the towers
exhibited to me that she understood that the term altogether would be associated with addition.
With an accurate response of 8 total apples, her thought process that was easily visible to myself,
the interviewer, appropriately guided her through the problem. Thus, she was able to utilize
previously developed mathematical skills without any hesitation.
This behavior of acting out the problem that E used is consistent with Juanita Copleys
technique and emphasis that acting the problems out can enhance the learning of the students by
engaging them further within a problem to establish relevance and a more realist aspect. With
the idea that situations in childrens real lives can be wonderful contexts for investigations
likely to elicit mathematizing (Fosnot & Dolk, 2001) in mind, this question posed to E was
presented in a fashion that is could realistically be a problem that she experiences outside of
school with her mother, for instance if they went apple picking. Since children are naturally
curious individuals, it would have been likely that she would have desired to find out how many
total apples there were, which could have been done by counting them one-by-one. Due to the
fact that this was a hypothetical situation, she acted it out in a manner that would coincide with
reality. The spoken problem became a visual that was hands-on in that she could practice the
physical aspect of adding items or values. This acting out can be attributed to prior mathematics
lesson as I had mentioned such that the program utilized in her school uses a concrete approach
to teaching the subject. Pictures, word problems, number bonds, and number sentences are given
and the behavior that educators guide the students to follow afterwards entails acting it out by
using unifix cubes or other resources that are available. Other students who are typically
developing first graders, and more specifically those who attend this school would likely
approach this problem in a similar manner to E given that they would be using prior experiences
to address the question, and all have been taught the same techniques. The ability to carry these
with her and simulate them in situations beyond the regular mathematics classroom period shows
that the teachers have followed the right course of instruction that has resulted in particular
understandings and strategies to be engrained in the minds of their students.
Discussion

What you learned about the challenges of mathematics teaching and learning:

Through this experience with E that entailed conducting a mathematics-based interview

with a typically developing first grade student, I learned that a challenge in teaching is ensuring
that the differentiates lesson without forgetting about those who academically fall in that middle,
typical group. By this I mean that some teachers fail to acknowledge the importance of
differentiation. Thus, the result can be that the subject progression pertains more to the pace of
those who are gifted, or the diverse students, such as ELLs or those with IEPs. If the pace of the
lesson is tailored to the needs of the gifted students, or rather those who master the topics swiftly,
one is under the false assumption that others have reached the same level of understanding. On
the other end of the spectrum, if too much time is spent on a given topic reviewing the concept
over and over again, the typically developing and gifted students are likely to become distracted
or frustrated that progression is not taking place at a faster rate. The result would be that while
the diverse learners are getting more out of this act of slowing things down, the learning of
others will be impacted. I see in Es classroom that the same topics are repeated frequently to
further engrain the concepts in the minds of the children. However, these are concepts that many
students have mastered and can fully articulate verbally and in writing. I often see E drawing in
class after completing the problem requested by the teacher because her skills enabled her to
approach the solution tactfully and rapidly. To be blunt, she is bored. It does not appear that
valuable data is collected on a daily basis that could signal to the educator that perhaps some
differentiation should exist for those who are ready to move on to more advanced concepts. This
is important so that the teacher can ensure that the students are consistently actively learning in
the classroom and not resorting to alternative activities that are not conducive to the learning
environment.

How the availability or lack of manipulatives affected the interview (same for 3 interviews):

The classroom resources allowed the students to choose from unifix cube ten-trains and
ten-frames with chips. These are manipulatives that the student have extensive exposure to from
both kindergarten and the time that they have spent in first grade. These are items that have been
used on a daily basis during math lessons since school began this year to help the students
understand the mathematical concepts in a more concrete, hands-on manner. They have been
carefully instructed and through practice have mastered the functionality of using these items to
visualize mathematical strategies, particularly in addition and subtraction. This description is
being included within each interview write-up because all three students chose to use their
manipulatives, especially the unifix cubes to complete the problems that I had asked. These were
particularly important in the interview because I was presenting word problems to them in a
purely oral form, which was an unfamiliar tactic for the children. Therefore, the availability of
items to create visuals with helped bridge this oral approach with prior experiences that they felt
could be utilized to devise a response that they were confident in. The students exhibit to me the
use of the unfix cubes for counting, as well as identifying the parts and whole of the problem. I
observed different color cubes being used to represented the different values to enhance their
visualization. This is evidence of the importance making manipulatives and other math tools
available to students during lessons that can enhance their learning and supports the goals of
research that has found that visual cues and pathways in the brain are key to the teaching and
understanding of math (Cooper, 2016).

What you learned about yourself (same for 3 interviews):

Through this experience, I learned that I have a strong interest and motivation to learn
about my students to a deeper extent that goes beyond what can be learned on an everyday basis.
This one-on-one attention with each student helped me work through their personal thought
processes to analyze strengths and areas of need. Each of the students went about answering
these questions and interacting with the tools, as well as myself in their own way. I wanted to
know more about these children, must like I would desire in my future classrooms. Numbers or
work shown on a piece of paper are not enough to understand the strategies that the child
understands and has the ability to use. Within the connectionist approach allowing to students
explore their own strategies while also instructing them through alternative methods, the
educator can encourage the students to think out loud or discuss and explain ideas to their work
groups so that when he or she moves around the classroom, the teacher can learn about the
unique thought processes. This information is important for the educator who not only values
learning about each student, but also acknowledges the critical aspect of tailoring lessons and
activities to the needs of the students. If it is made evident that there is a lack of clarity causing
thought processes to take place that are not as valuable to the given topic, the lesson the
following day should be a more detailed and focused approach to the concept. Furthermore, as an
educated adult, my mind no longer works like those of elementary-age students. Therefore, short
interviews and other methods of exploration to analyze the minds of these children will provide
me with valuable information to individualize instruction for each and every one of them, not
just the diverse students.

What you thought went well and what did not go so well (same for 3 interviews):

Throughout each interview I used encouragement frequently to not only help the students
remain positive and motivated, but to also ensure them that I valued all responses as they were
taking their time to help me out for this assignment. Encouragement is useful for all students
because those who excel, those who are typical, and those who struggle can all use reinforcement
from a teacher so that they know that their efforts are being acknowledged and are purposeful. It
gives them that extra push to keep trying within the growth mindset that is to be maintained.
Beyond this, it is not what did not go well, but rather something that I need more practice with,
which is allowing the students to work through problems on their own before repetition,
scaffolding, or offering prompts to guide their work. Given that this interview had specific
instructions to follow the script, I did not disobey these, but within each question posed I had to
remind myself to not speak until it was truly necessary. It is important to give students to explore
math in an inquiry process to become determined and self-guided. If the educator is consistently
present and not allowing gradual to complete freedom, the children will not benefit because they
will not always have a hand to hold when utilizing math skills in future situations. Therefore, I
need to make a strong effort in the future to continue to remind myself to not allow my good
intentions for the students interfere with their learning processes.

What you would do differently if you were able to conduct this interview again (same for 3
interviews):

Consistent within each interview was the issue of the environment it was implemented
within. Due to scheduling and constraints associated with my role as a pre-student teacher, the
interviews were conducted in the morning as students were arriving to school, getting ready for
the day, and completing their morning activities. It was a very busy location that contained many
distractions and a great deal of noise, which was not conducive to focus and learning. Therefore,
if I were to conduct this interview with a student of my own once certified, I would choose to
bring the child to a quiet location free of distractions that could impeded upon their thought
processes and solutions. Additionally, I would desire to have more time to conduct the interview
in a future situation to learn even more about the thought processes of the students. However,
considering the duties of a general education teacher, a longer time frame is not necessarily
feasible. Therefore, I would approach this by varying the questions to a greater extent to get a
better sense of how they approach problems associated with a variety of topics. Within this
interview, I learned a lot about the thought processes of these children when using cubes for
addition and subtraction, but I did not feel that I got a good sense of any other strategies that they
have experience with. For an educator to formulate a perspective of the student that encompasses
the child in a wholesome manner, it would be useful for him or her to make the list more concise
perhaps by focusing on a single mathematical concept at a time, or limiting the questions
associated with the same topic.

What you would do next if you were this childs teacher:

If I were Es teacher, my analysis of this interview would encourage me to find ways to

challenge her mathematically. The mastery of certain skills that she exhibited to me, which were
topics being discussed in the classroom, made it evident that there is a lack of challenge during
lessons. I would not challenge E to the point that it was unrealistic or frustrating based on her
abilities, but I would choose to differentiate to an extent that more advanced problems would be
available. For instance, she would be required to complete the assigned activities. However, once
complete, rather than allowing for boredom to set in and doodling to begin, students such as E
who mastered the topic would have a challenge worksheet or game that could allow them to take
their thinking to the next step. With this, E would be actively engaged, and she would also have a
chance to work at a pace more individualized to her needs, or rather her strengths in this case.

Anything that surprised you:

 As mentioned, I have consistently observed E resorting to doodling in the middle of class
on her individual whiteboard after completing the assigned problem. I had viewed this before as
a combination of being distracted, as well as not being interested in being actively involved in
the lesson or activity. However, after analyzing her mathematical skills through this interview, I
was quite surprised by the strengths that were made evident. I would have initially guessed that
perhaps she would struggle with the interview questions. However, she completed most of them
with accuracy and ease. This relates back to the need for a challenge. When she is doodling, it is
likely that the teacher does not realize that E understands the concepts. Due to her mastery, there
is perhaps a lack of interest that could be resolved if there were more advanced options to
supplement her learning.

Resources

Copley, J. V. (2010). The Young Child and Mathematics (2d ed.). Co-published by NCTM and
NAEYC.

Fosnot and Dolk. (2001). Young Mathematicians at Work: Constructing Number Sense,
Addition, and Subtraction. Portsmouth, N.H.: Heinemann Press.

Clements, D. H. & Sarama, J. A. (2014). Learning and Teaching Early Math: The Learning
Trajectories Approach (Studies in Mathematical Thinking and Learning Series) 2nd ed.
New York: Routledge.