Roles and Responsibilities of Teachers and Students

Both teachers and students have responsibilities they must fulfill in order to ensure student success. Teachers are sometimes held responsible for poor student grades because their test was "too hard" when in fact poor student grades falls under the lack of responsibility by the student.Students have roles inside and outside of a classroom which they sometimes don't realize. Teachers also have roles inside and outside of the classroom - different from the students' roles. 

Example: Student receives poor grade on test 

Student must:

• review concepts taught in class
• complete all assigned homework 
• attend class
• ask for clarification or assistance as required (seek extra help)
• put in effort to achieve high grades

Teachers must:

• teach concepts based on curriculum expectations 
• prepare lessons and practice for students (in class and at home) 
• help students as required
• answer questions students may have
• provide students with feedback on how to improve/what to work on
• provide materials needed 
• address different student needs 

Now, as you can see there are many factors that may have contributed to a student receiving a poor grade on their test. To say it is the teacher's fault or the student's fault is not fair. To find out more it, other factors need to be considered such as the marks of other students in the classroom. If they all did poorly it is likely the fault of the teacher but if it is just one student then it is likely his/her fault. 

Understanding the roles of both student and teacher are important because when combined together it is likely to result in students' academic success. Explaining these roles/responsibilities is essential at the beginning of the semester so that expectations are set and both student and teacher know what they must do. A great classroom arises from a mutual understanding between teacher and student.  

Teaching Strategies

Within a classroom it may be hard to think of a fun activity, get that activity started, manage your classroom, etc. I would like to share a list of strategies I have learned in my math class

Strategies when trying to organize students in groups:

1. Use a deck of cards 
2. Number students off 
3. Use an online group maker 
4. Allow them to choose their group 
5. Make your own card with 4 categories with a different item in each category (ex. Category: Animal, Item: Cat, Dog, Frog, Wolf, etc.
6. Have students pick lollipops out of a bag and group them based on the colour at the bottom of their lollipop
7. Have students draw out of a hat
8. visibly random groups   

Strategies when creating/during group activities:

1. Organize different activities by keeping them in large zip lock bags 
2. Use small white boards to compare different group responses 
3. Use laminated paper so it can be written on and reused
4. Use manipulatives to make the activities interesting and engaging
5. Have some "easy" activities not just "hard activities"
6. Desmos can be used as a great group activity especially when there are graphs involved
7. There are many fun and interactive games (What would you do?, parabola headbanz,etc)
8. Use vertical and horizontal permanent and non permanent surfaces.

Technologies to use in classroom: 

1. Ipads/laptops/phones/chromebooks/computers
2. Document camera 
3. Projector 
4. Smart board
5. Motion sensors 
6. Calculators/graphing calculator 
7. Online programs (desmos/excel)
8. Assistive Technology (hearing aids/microphone/speakers) 

Below are some pictures of examples