Mental Block

Teacher Observed: Mrs. Wimpey
Class: AP Calculus (8:00 - 9:30)

My last observation could have certainly been better. I observed Mrs. Wimpey's AP Calculus class, and she split them up to do some group work. So I made my way around trying to help here and there, answering some fairly simple questions. However, there was one girl who I tried to help and, well, I just couldn't. I did my best to explain to her why infinity could not be a limit, and she just didn't understand. I even tried to break it down as simply as I could, saying a limit had to be one number, just one, and infinity wasn't a number, but rather a set of numbers. She still didn't understand, and I felt absolutely awful about it. I know that when I become a teacher, there will be times when I just won't be able to communicate some subject matter to every student, but I didn't expect it to be my second student ever.

What I know I will do, however, is make up a couple sheets of notes with example problems and explanations, and then give them to her when I see her on Wednesday. Hopefully those will help, but I sure can't let her go without being absolutely certain that I did my best to help her learn.