Throughout the course, we have had a multitude of different assignments and activities to work on.

All of them encompassed the foundation of statistically-rich material, and have allowed us to focus on the analysis of student success with statistics and probability. Weekly meetings allowed us to focus on readings at hand and truly dive into enhancers of the teaching experience, and the virtual meetings allowed for a nice change of pace in terms of work completed.

The five projects that were presented in the course were very different from standard methods class assignments, allowing us to analyze student work on a first-hand basis, as well as scrutinize and critically review articles and lessons regarding statistics and probability.

There are some major components of the course that truly resonated with me, and I plan to integrate these elements and principles in my future teaching.

It seems rather unfair to simply lecture to students about a topic and expect such a high success rate without any explanation as to WHY or HOW the relationships/intricacies are connected. This course with the activities and the overall philosophy presented allowed for us to work in such a way to where discussion of a subject was embraced, which naturally allowed for a deepening of thoughts and stances. With every week being revolved around the ideas and observations of reading assignments, case studies, and other events throughout the semester, it is now understood that verbal communication is a tremendous medium to show understanding.

Rather than having students simply being told about a formula or relationship that is taking place in the realm of statistics, allowing those same students to explore and observe tendencies in data with self-generated sets provides a much greater result in understanding and analysis. This was completed through FATHOM, TinkerPlots, and TI-Nspire based activities.

The times of calculating correlation coefficients by hand are long gone. The myriad of applications, testing software, and activities students can use to obtain a stouter conceptual foundation are boundless.

It is important to recognize how to effectively implement technology into the classroom. For a teacher to provide a student with a tablet, have them play and wander on it, and ultimately expect some sort of measurable result is near impossible. We as educators (as displayed in the class numerous times) must be a guide for students, consistently asking questions about observations seen within the technology and data, and attempt to show a sense of practicality with what is being presented. Nonetheless, it is an incredibly efficient way to model and visualize statistical representations.

Attempting to find a deeper sense of understanding with the material is the ultimate goal of every teacher, and the case studies we made definitely made an impact on how we evaluated student work. By focusing on conceptual-based questions rather than computation, as teachers we are able to identify more quickly the misconceptions that have been constructed, and in turn strive to eliminate those misconceptions.

Focusing on more than simply right and wrong, it is our duty as educators to understand why students are answering the way they way they are, which can be completed with requiring explanation and reasoning behind EVERY answer.

By initiating a consistent stream of reflection throughout the classroom (and especially in this course) we have been able to reflect and internalize our own thoughts with individual readings, activities, and discussions. The practices we have implemented throughout such as peer evaluations, case studies of student work, assessing statistical lesson plans have given us numerous tools to use in our own classroom, and ultimately have shifted my mindset from one of stagnancy to one of growth.

It is with the understanding and overall embracing of my flaws and tendencies from the practices throughout the semester that has allowed me to work to become a better educator overall.

Common sense ≠ Common practice.

Using "checkpoints" throughout the course may have been a great way to see progress throughout student work, with additional revisions being completed as needed.

I feel rejuvenated and fired up after this semester- I have many tools and activities that I will definitely be using in the future. To name a few:

•FATHOM

•TinkerPlots

•NCTM and CCSSM standards and resources ( especially Core Math Tools!)

•Numerous databases for research articles

•TI-Nspire

•Simulation generators


A tremendous thank you is extended to all of you for the course! I have learned an unfathomable amount.