Each of the following pieces of data reflect some of the comments of a teacher participating in a focus group. Teachers are identified by a unique number to protect their anonymity. Their comments have been edited by the researcher in two ways: The first used common grammatical conventions to enhance the readability of the transcript, while the second removed data perceived to be extraneous to the purpose of this exercise.
| 2 | The teacher must have a complete understanding of the mathematics content. She must have the capabilities of being multi-tasked like placing students, tutoring students, disciplining students . . . all at the same time! The teacher needs to be flexible and willing to individualize the program for each student. |
| 4 | You must have a firm grasp of content and be able to switch from topic to topic without difficulty. You must be able to spot and correct errors on the screen, and you must be able to explain concepts a variety of ways so students who cannot follow the speaker can follow you. You really need to be aware of what is going on so that you can keep students on task and monitor the class to be sure the equipment is being cared for properly. |
| 6 | Good organization skills to track each student and keep up with their pace so that you know when they are spending too much time on a lesson. Some students don't ask for help and will continue failing if you don't know when to step in. The task is more physically demanding than a regular classroom. After a day of tutoring individuals and going from station to station where everyone is on a different concept it can be draining but I feel much more effective than delivering a concept to a group. |
| 7 | You must be able to rapidly switch gears to aim instruction at the individual students in words they understand, rather than aim it toward the overall group as you would in a traditional classroom. Because you are dealing predominantly one on one, you must be able to tailor your vocabulary, your presentation, your entire methodology to a single student's knowledge core. |
| 8 | You must have a really good knowledge of math. It is also really important to be able to manage everything going on. |
| 11 | Nerves of steel. There are moments when 30 children have questions and you can't get to any of them quickly enough. |
| 16 | You must be well organized and able to run a structured classroom in order to handle all the situations and problems that must be taken care of in this classroom. The teacher needs to be able to plan thoroughly in order to coordinate the textbook notes and homework assignments along with the computer lessons, which correlate with the course outline. There is also a need to be able to manage student behavior in order to keep the students on task and focused. In the hands of an experienced, effective teacher this program will live up to its potential and really give the students a good head start and a strong foundation in algebra. However, the administrators must not see it as a cure-all for weak teachers who cannot teach or manage a classroom. The teacher must not expect to just put the students on the computers and let the computers do all the teaching, as this is taking away from the effectiveness of this program. The teacher must be able to help the students pull together what they are learning on the computer lessons and transfer that knowledge to traditional lessons and tests that they will run into later on in this class as well as in other math classes. |
| 23 | A teacher should have a good knowledge of algebra and algebraic methods and should be able to translate and simplify instructions from the program to the students. I almost forgot something really important—you also need basic computer skills. |
| 24 | Flexibility is the most important attribute that a teacher can have while using this program. I've learned a lot over this past year, and I have had to adjust the order of lessons, the structure of the class, and the grading procedures many times to best benefit the students' learning. Excitement is also a key to effectively using the program. If the teacher is excited about the program, they are more apt to learn more and pass the excitement on to the students. I really don't think that one has to have any special skills to effectively use the program because it is very user friendly. Being able to solve complex math problems is important so that you can help students work through them. Oh, I just remembered one more very important skill—a teacher has to be able to maintain order in the classroom. Otherwise, the students will not benefit from the program and the equipment will get stolen and/or destroyed. |
| 25 | I feel you need more planning time and the ability to multi-task. |
| 26 | There are only three things you really need: organization, patience, and flexibility. |
