The Essential Question for My Research

Essential Question:

"How does the use of brain teasers in class help students develop their problem solving skills and improve their learning environment? Also, how can I persuade teachers at my mentorship to incorporate brain teasers into their lesson plans?"

Over the past two years, I have been able to do a lot of brain teasers with Mrs. Brooksher's class. I like to do this with them because the students think that they are really fun, but I would like to know if it improves how well they learn. I feel like brain teasers helped me learn more in the classroom as I grew up, and I would like to know if it is the same for other students. Also, I am excited to discover if they do promote greater learning because then maybe I can persuade teachers at Chestatee Academy to use more in class. This would allow me to leave a positive impact on the place that has done so much for me. This question does show that I really want to find an answer because it incorporates an action that I would like to achieve by the end of my research.

What My Mentorship Has Been Like / An Influential Class

My mentorship is a lot different from how it was last year. I've been doing a lot more grading for Mrs. Brooksher, and a lot less teaching. This is because Mrs. Brooksher has even more content to cover this year than she had last year, and she also seems to have more grading to do than before. However, I do enjoy getting to learn a different side of teaching than I did last year. Whenever I am not grading, I am helping students one-on-one as I did before. One of the things that is a little disappointing this year is the brain teasers. Because of both Mrs. Brooksher's and my busy schedule, I have barely been able to do any brain teasers with the class. However, I understand that Mrs. Brooksher has to make sure she covers everything she has too.

One class that helped me with my mentorship is the calculus class that I had last year. This is due more to the teacher I had, Mr. Skogman, than the actual class itself. Mr. Skogman is a teacher who is very knowledgeable in his content area and is very likable. This is how I try to model myself after to Mrs. Brooksher's students. He finds a way to explain math in a higher and more academic way than most high school teachers. I try to do this with the students because I feel like it would be good for them to be learn math in a way that will prepare them for high school. Mr. Skogman is highly respected not only for his mathematical ability, but also because of how entertaining he makes class feel. He is able to make students laugh in a very nerdy way. I thought that if I was like this with Mrs. Brooksher's students, than they would see me as the cool high school kid and would be able to learn from me better. I think that modeling myself after Mr. Skogman has worked well, and I this is the type of teacher I will be.

Youth in the Workplace and Social Intelligence

Besides experience, the youth face many challenges when entering the workplace. One of which is the ability to have a relationship with coworkers, especially bosses, that are of a different generation. One reason it is difficult is because the culture of today's youth is much different than the culture of older generations. Because of this, young employees and bosses can come off as rude and disrespectful to each other. The following link is to an article that discusses how young potential employees can fix this problem.

http://growingleaders.com/blog/first-soft-skill-develop-students/

This article suggests that the youth lacks social intelligence. Social intelligence is the ability for a person to empathizes with someone and build a connection with them, despite any differences. Social intelligence is important in the workplace because it allows to work to be done between employees despite differences, such as age. This can keep employees and bosses from coming off as rude to each other. Social intelligence also can create a good first impression to a boss for applicants and beginning employees.

Something that I noticed about this article is that it classifies all of the youth into one group. It assumes that all youth is the same, and it points out only negative characteristics about the youth. It also places the blame for the disrespect in the workplace completely on young employees, when bosses are also to blame.

My Profile

My Profile: Ever since kindergarten, mathematics has been a large part of who I am. Math was something that I found to be both skilled at and passionate about. I see math as something beautiful that can be used to explain the world. Also, the very discrete sections of mathematics are very interesting to me just because I like to see how numbers and functions can work together. This past summer, I had the honor of attending the Governor's Honors Program at Valdosta State University where I majored in mathematics.

One of my favorite things about math is the puzzles that math can create. Beginning at a young age, I was given brain teasers by all of my teachers, and I fell in love with them. Brain teasers were the most exciting part of class to me. These were what sparked my interest in mathematics, and I hope to somehow incorporate brain teasers into my future career.

Throughout my schooling at McEver Elementary, Chestatee Middle School, and currently at Chestatee High School, I have been lucky enough to have some of the best math teachers that Hall County has to offer. Each teacher I have had has inspired me in some way with their passion for learning to want to become a math professor one day.

My Mentorship: When deciding on who my mentor was to be, it was obvious that it had to be Betsy Brooksher. Mrs. Brooksher was my seventh grade math teacher, and she has inspired me the most to follow the career of teaching. Mrs. Brooksher teaches at Chestatee Academy and has been my mentor since the beginning of last school year.

I have two class periods with Mrs. Brooksher. For the first period, I am with her during one of her advanced classes. During class, I grade papers, enter them into Infinite Campus, observe
Mrs. Brooksher's teaching strategies, and answer students' questions. Every once in a while,
Mrs. Brooksher lets me give a brain teaser to the whole class. During the second period, I am with her during her planning period. This allows me to sit in on math department meetings, sit in on entire grade meetings, and discuss with her and other teachers about what life as a teacher is like.

My Future: After this year, I plan on attending a four-year university, hopefully at Georgia Tech. In college, I plan to major in Mathematics, and later, earn a teaching certificate. This mentorship not only looks good on my college application, but also has allowed me to figure out the path of my schooling that we lead me to becoming a teacher.

My Perception of My Mentorship

I've always know that it takes a lot of work to run a school, but I never realized quite how much that workload is. Teachers are some of the hardest working people on the planet! Not only do teachers have the responsibility of educating future generations and preparing them to be contributors to society, but they also have grade (I've learned that there is always something that needs grading), sit through meetings, fill out paperwork, and deal with about 100 kids a day that are all going through puberty, all of this while having to be positive role models. Despite how difficult the job is, teachers are always trying to improve their trade. One way that they do that which surprised me was through high amounts of collaboration. The teachers at Chestatee Academy share tips and assignments, and they give advice to each other on ways to improve their teaching. The math teachers collaborate through a weekly meeting where each teacher discusses where they are at in the curriculum and plans for the current week.
I feel like I've been keeping up well with the work intensity that goes on in the school. However, I feel like I could improve and become a better inter by taking more initiative. A lot of times, I wait for Mrs. Brooksher to give me jobs to do. She is very busy, and it would help her and make me look impressive if I took responsibility and did tasks for her, like grading, on my own.

What I Have Learned So Far

I am learning a lot from my mentorship so far. Mrs. Brooksher is really educating me on how to be a teacher even more than she did last year. This year I'm getting to learn a lot more about grading. Mrs. Brooksher is always busy trying to balance her family, work, and other obligations, so she always has a lot to grade. I've been making her life a lot easier by being able to do some grading while she teaches. By doing that, I have also learned how Infinite Campus works and how teachers use it. I am actually enjoying grading (something I probably won't be saying a few years from now), and I enjoy helping out Mrs. Brooksher. However, there are some things about teaching that I realize are very boring. Teachers have meetings ALL THE TIME! Mrs. Brooksher has a 7th grade math department meeting every Tuesday and usually another type of meeting later on in the week. What makes the meetings boring is that some of them are the same meetings that the teachers have to sit through. They are interesting to me because I am learning more about teaching, but at the same time, I realize that the veteran teachers in the room have been in the same type of meeting at least over 5 times. However, meetings are very important to the education system and the rest of the job is worth having to sit through them. I'm really excited that I am getting to learn so much about my future career now before I even enter college. Chestatee Academy is really being a partner in my education.

Mentorship Narrative

Today at my mentorship, I noticed a lot more things about Chestatee Academy then I usually do. As I walked in the building, I began to observe how every employee was dressed. Everyone was dressed appropriately and professionally, and the teachers who had important meetings that day bumped it up a notch on their wardrobe choices (this included my mentor who had a meeting a central office that day). Some teachers even had their own iconic look, such as Mr. Bennett who dressed everyday like he was on some type of business vacation at the beach. However, the ones who dressed up the most were the administrators. I think their decision to dress nicer than everyone else is partly a subconscious one as it symbolizes a hierarchy within the school.
As I walked down the hall, I began how teachers interacted with each other. Teachers acted towards each other like how their students act towards one another. The teachers cracked jokes and referred to each other by first name unless a student was around. It was eye opening to see the adults who were my teachers 5 or 6 years ago act like regular human beings. Teachers referred to me opposite to how they refer to each other. They like to call me Mr. Passmore and follow it with a chuckle because they are used to calling me by my first name. Teachers treated administrators a little different though. They friendly to them, but talked in a more serious tone and were not as relaxed as they had been when they were talking to another teacher.
When I got to Mrs. Brooksher's class, all of the students greeted me very loudly. I sat down at my desk and began grading some quizzes and entering them into Infinite Campus for Mrs. Brooksher. When I finished that, students called me over to answer their questions. Mrs. Brooksher then walked out of the class to go to the restroom and let me watch over the class. When she arrived back, it was time for me to head back to the high school.
I came back for her planning period. Today, the seventh grade teachers had a meeting with one of the assistant principles. I walked Mrs. Brooksher to the meeting room with a stack a papers in my hand that I would grade for her while I listened to the meeting. When it started, the assistant principle lead the meeting. A sense of teamwork and inspiration was coming from him, and I thought of it to be a little cliché. I began to notice the teachers in the room and how much it reminded me of a classroom. Some teachers were paying close attention and taking notes to what he was saying about the new copier policy this year, some were discussing about something that happened the past weekend, and others (namely Mr. Bennett), out of no disrespect of course, did not care a single bit about what the assistant principle was saying. It was as if the teachers were students and he was the teacher. I assumed that it was alright to act most anyway you wanted in a meeting, as long as you understood what to do and did not break any rules. I finished grading and had to leave before the meeting finished.

College Interests

For this week's assignment, I took a survey on collegeboard.com about the type of college I want to attend. It asked questions such as whether I would prefer a 4-year or 2-year school, or a private or public school. Next, I had to find 3 colleges that I would apply to from the list and look at their degree program. Then I had to make my own criteria for the type of college I wish to attend. Finally I had to find scholarships that I could apply to. The purpose of this assignment is to continue the college search process.

List of Colleges and Doctoral Degree Programs

• Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, GA): www.gatech.edu 
• Washington University in St. Louis (Saint Louis, MO): www.wustl.edu
• Northwestern University (Evanston, IL): www.northwestern.edu

My Criteria for a Quality Program

• Doctoral Program offered
• Emphasis on Mathematics and Sciences
• Small classes where student and teachers get to know each other
• Offers students many different opportunities to follow what they are passionate about
• Many scholarships offered
• Low acceptance rate
• Accepts AP scores
• Beautiful, safe, and well-kept campus

Universities that Follow My Criteria

• The 3 colleges that I listed above
• Most Top Schools in the Nation

Additional Entrance Requirements for Mathematics

• Previous study in mathematics
• Taken high-level mathematics courses (such as Calculus)
• Supervised student teaching experience
• Licensure in the state that you planning on teaching in

My Criteria for a Quality Ranking and Educational Program

• Medium to large size
• Should be in location that is not too rural or too city
• Should offer athletic opportunities and other extracurricular activities to students
• Student body should represent different cultures from around the world
• Most funding should go to research projects

Ranking for Program

• Georgia Institute of Technology: 7th Overall in Academic Excellence Among Public                                                                        Universities
• Washington University in St. Louis: 14th Overall Best University in the Nation, Top 10% in                                                                  Best Universities in the World
• Northwestern University: 12th Overall Best University in the Nation, 12th in Research                                                        Universities

Associations Related to Field of Study

• National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
• American Mathematical Society
• Mathematical Association of America

Potential Scholarships

• Coca-Cola Scholars Program
• Tommy Aaron/ Charlie Aaron Foundation Scholarship
• Gail Ingram Scholarship
• Northeast Georgia School Superintendent's Scholarship

Annotated Bibliography Graphic Organizer 1

Annotated Bibliography Graphic Organizer

Name: Austin Passmore

Source #____ Bibliography (APA) 10 pts	Rao, A. (2014). REASONING IN GEOMETRY THROUGH      SMULLYAN. Mathematics Teaching, (238), 27.
Annotation: (Describe ALL info. that might be important for your paper. Explain to the reader and/or summarize what might be found in this source) 35 pts	This article discusses a technique for teaching logic to students. The author, Rao, learned this technique at an ATM conference from the book The Islands of Professor Smullyan by logician Raymond Smullyan. The technique was to look at the most important sentence in a logic puzzle and to simplify it and any contradictions. Rao tested it by giving two logic puzzles to her Year 7 students and told them to focus on being able to convince the other students of their answer. This technique helped teach the 11-year-old students how to solve logic puzzles. Rao states that this technique can be used when teaching geometry.
Potential Quotes: (Are there any significant quotes you can use or paraphrase from this source?) 15 pts	“The skill was in finding the one crucial statement that was a contradiction or that had the key, usually hidden beneath layers of other statements.” p.27 “This was a skill, it dawned on me, that students needed to use in a variety of topics, not least geometrical reasoning.” p.27 “That weekend my inbox was packed with questions from excited 11-year-olds, asking for hints, expressing exultation at having solved a puzzle and frustration at not having solved another. At school, the class was abuzz.” p.27
Assessment: (Analyze and explain why this source is credible) 15 pts	This article is from the scholarly magazine Mathematics Teaching. The article is written by a mathematics teacher that received the information in her article from an ATM conference, and cites credible logician Raymond Smullyan. This article was also found in Galileo’s database.
Reflection: (How will you potentially use it?) 25 pts	My research this year will be focused on how logic puzzles and brain teasers affect students. This article shows how logic puzzles create excitement within students and make learning fun while being challenging. This article also revealed a technique in teaching logic to students that I will use in class.

An Internship: A Twelve-Week Long Interview

The following link is a blog by Tim Elmore: http://growingleaders.com/blog/

Tim Elmore blogs about how unprepared college students are for the workforce. After a friend of his gave six college students a twelve-week interview, the friend admitted that he wanted to dismiss them after a month. Elmore then gives suggestions about how a student should handle a mentorship/internship. He advises that an internship should be treated as a twelve-week interview. An intern is constantly being observed, and because an internship can lead to great career opportunities, it should be treated like an actual job. He also writes that the qualities that make an intern stand out are a great work ethic, a great attitude, responsibility, and a hunger to learn.

As this is my second year with Mrs. Brooksher, I am looking at this mentorship year in two different ways: the second half of a two-year long interview and the first year of a new job. I am continuing to take on this interview with great passion as I did last year, but I am also taking it on knowing that I already have prior experience and treating it as if my "interview" from last year was a success. My attitude last year stood out to my mentor, I am continuing to show all the qualities that Tim Elmore wrote about in his blog. I am beginning to give brain teasers to the class again like last year. Besides the same things that I did last year, I feel like Mrs. Brooksher has confidence in me to give me more freedom in the classroom. Although I am, in a way, already past my interview, I need to continue to grow and enhance my qualities every week to continue to stand out.

First Impressions

First impressions are a key to starting off a job or internship successfully. Both the "Getting to Know Your Mentor" worksheet and the "Making Positive First Impressions" podcast stress the importance of appearance, attitude, willingness to learn, and determination. Dressing professionally tells your mentor that you are taking your opportunity seriously and that you are treating it as an actual job. However, your professional attire should not draw attention to yourself, be distracting, or be inappropriate. Having a positive and friendly attitude reflects a good character. A positive attitude should be shown by looking your mentor in the eyes and saying hello to him/her with a smile every day and by being very respectful to them and their coworkers. The most important way to make a great first impression is to show how much you want to learn from your mentor. You should prove to your mentor as early as possible that they are someone that you look up to and that you share a similar passion with them.
By this point, my mentor has already been confirmed, and this is my second year with her as my mentor. Luckily, I have known my mentor for 5 years now, and we are far past first impressions. She already knows how hard working and passionate I am about what she does. Although we are done with her impressions, it does not mean that I should stop acting like I did when we first met. I continue to show a positive attitude, and show that I am always willing to learn something new from her. Along with first impression with my mentor, I also need to have a good first impression with her class as I'll be spending the entire year with them. I have gotten to be with them a few times, and I think that they are starting to like me and get used to me. Continuing the way you act towards your mentor goes a long way and should make a greater mentoring experience.