Julie A.

Douglas
December 16th, 2015
LBS 400
Math Reflection Essay
There are four main areas that an elementary school teacher should have general proficiency in in order
to successfully teach math. These areas are geometry, measurement and data, number and operations, and
operations and algebraic thinking. I personally could you some review in all areas of mathematics. I have
not had a math class in about three years, and because of this I have not had the chance to practice many
of the concepts taught through these standards. I would need to take the time to ensure that I am fully
educated on a particular standard, so that in return I could fully educate my students to the best of my
ability.
The mathematics classes I have taken in the past, both in college and in grade school, have been very
helpful and prepared me to be able to teach mathematics in the classroom. For instance, while taking a
math class for teachers at Cerritos College, I learned all about fractions; specifically, notating fractions into
decimals. Because I have learned this already, I will be able to help my students learn it. I have also been
prepared to teach this material thanks to my early mathematic concepts class. It was in this class that I
learned how children learn, what is developmentally appropriate for them, and the best ways to teach
them so that they will learn.
I feel most prepared to teach operations and algebraic thinking, as well as geometry. I suppose I feel
most prepared in these areas because these are the areas that I did best in while in grade school, and the
areas where I had the most interest. I feel I have a good grasp on the material and that I would be able to
be creative with my lessons while teaching these subjects.
I dont feel as confidant in my skills to teach fractions, as well as measurement and data. These are
subjects that I have struggled with as a student myself, and therefore teaching them might be difficult. I
would really need to take the time to study these areas before teaching, so that I am able to fully educate

my students on the subject. I will also need to reach out to my fellow colleges for help in these areas.
Hopefully someone else is better in these areas, and is able to help me create and implement those
lessons.
The artifact that I have chosen to share for this area of my portfolio is the lesson plan I created for
LBS 400 and a sample of my test that was taken during a math course at Cerritos College. The lesson plan
that I created demonstrates my knowledge of the subject matter, as well as my ability to teach the subject.
I believe the math lesson that I created is a great representation of my understanding of what students
need to be able to learn a math lesson. It demonstrates hands on experiences, visual examples, practice,
and reflection on the lesson. The lesson plan is also a good representation of how I will work hard to fully
understand a lesson or concept so that I am able to teach it to my students. My test example represents my
personal experience in learning mathematics. It shows both my strengths and weaknesses, as well as
demonstrates my basic understanding of the materials I will need to teach my future students during math.