Chalk Talk Contest

Six times two equals twelve.
Twelve times twelve equals one forty four.
Multiplication was a fun math standard for me. I was able to solve multiplication very quickly in elementary school. Therefore, I was picked for a "Chalk Talk" contest.
For Chalk Talk contest, I had to pretend to be a teacher and teach a lesson on the chalk board!
Pressure Much?

Although, I was picked for the "Chalk Talk" contest for my multiplication skills, my lesson to be taught was fractions.
I met with my math teacher everyday (I had a separate math teacher & homeroom/English teacher) in order to go over the fraction lesson. First I picked two different fractions. For example 3/4 & 5/6. Then, using the fractions, I had to add, multiply and divide the fractions. When I solved the fraction problems on a piece of worksheet, it seemed very simple and easy. However, teaching a lesson was a totally different story.

Not only did I had to be knowledgeable of the content, but I had to present the problem to make it understandable to the students; in addition, I needed good classroom mannerisms, such as voice projection, penmanship and board presentation. There were much preparation and thought involved that I did not realize prior to my practices. Although, I was knowledgeable of the content, it was pretty hard presenting the knowledge across to someone, let alone to those who have never been exposed to such problem.

Everyday, after school or before school, I practiced with my teacher. First, I taught the lesson in front of different classes, then I competed at the District. At the competition, I had couple minutes to present my fraction questions and explain the processes to the judges. Everything went smoothly, but during the open-eneded question, I all of a sudden froze. I wasn't able to place top three by couple points, but I can say that I learned so much from the competition.

First of all, knowing a content and "really knowing" a content, enough to teach it, was a different question. I noticed that it allowed me to understand more fully when I taught and presented the problem aloud (I believe I can still easily teach a fraction lesson!) Also, presenting in a different group allowed me to be more confident. Furthermore, I noticed that math has so many different strategies. I realized that understanding of a content deeply depend on how it is taught. It truly take a great teacher to teach a certain subject/ content well. My appreciation of teaching soared and that was one of the reasons why I was inspired to be a teacher.