Tag / inquiry

by Beyond Traditional Math

Oh My! The Progression of Multiplication

Well, I’ve watched this video three times now and I think I need to watch it at least five more times. I love, love, love how this presented to the audience.

 

My take aways for when I am teaching multiplication:

  1. I need to stop stealing the opportunity to let my students use concrete tools! They should be available every SINGLE DAY.
  2. Rushing to the traditional algorithm is a huge mistake. I am thinking we need to have some serious conversations about when to introduce this.
  3. I need to let the students explore. Let me say that one again, I need to let the students EXPLORE. So many times when they hit a struggling point I feel this need to jump in and tell…I need a muzzle for my mouth!

What did you take away from this?

Advertisement
by Beyond Traditional Math

Math is a Learning Subject: More Small Steps for Differentiation

My favorite thing about math is that is a messy thinking subject. It is a learning subject. It should be messy and full of questions. We need to teach kids that it can be glorious when it suddenly is no longer messy and the patterns and the discoveries are right in front of our faces!

We have to model this for students, and more importantly we need to give them opportunities to make math a learning subject. So often we want to give all the answers, and tell them all the patterns, and show them how magical it is, that they lose their passion for discovering math at an early age. They begin thinking that math is a performance subject…teacher asks the question, student gives the answer…25 times in a row…on a worksheet.

Instead we need to give students meaningful explorations that can often run in the background of the school day.  These can often be very simple, and they really allow for differentiation. Some students will take these explorations much further than others.

Here is a third grade example:

math-is-a-learning-subject

The keys to making this work are:

  1. Give enough time for the exploration. This one will be 2 weeks.
  2. DO NOT, and I really mean this, DO NOT give them the answers. (This is very difficult, I know.)
  3. Tell them to work with each other! Isn’t that how we learn best? The second we want to know something we email, text or call someone. Let them teach each other.
  4. Make them research it, prove it and let them feel some confusion. This teaches perseverance and also that math is truly a learning subject. Bring in iPads, computers or have them look it up at home. (Hint: Use school tube when searching! Great resource!)
  5. Be sure that they understand that the most important part is not the answer they give you, but rather the method they use to solve it and WHY IT WORKS. That is the number one most important thing that they can get out of this inquiry activity.

Will all of the students be able to do this? Possibly…their level of understanding will vary from student to student. But in the end, when you bring them all together let the students do the talking. They will get there, if not now…they will have some prior knowledge for 4th grade.

by Beyond Traditional Math

Top 10 Tips for Teachers of Elementary Math

I saw this awesome pin today on pinterest, and haven’t been able to get this post out of my head, so I thought I’d author it and link back to the original author, Love, Laughter and Learning in prep (click below to see her page!):

Top 10 Math Tips for New Teachers

So here are my top 10 tips (basically the top 10 things I wish I had known as a first year teacher) for teachers of elementary math:

1.  Stop being scared of math! I spent a good two years being terrified of math because I was terrible at math my entire life.  If you can embrace the fear right now, you can also do tips #2-10.

2.  Make a lot of mistakes. In fact, make a TON of mistakes in front of your students.  They will love you for it, and it helps them see things they wouldn’t see if you always did math perfectly.

3.  Allow your students to make many mistakes.  Don’t grade everything they work on, give them time to practice.  If they make mistakes it should be without worry of a grade so that they can analyze them.

4.  Make your students analyze their OWN work.  If you correct their work, hand it back with a note that has all the right answers, they are done learning.  You are the only one that did any of the learning unless they can analyze what they did wrong.

5.  Get in their space. Walk around a lot and get down next to students, work with them and talk to them about their thinking. Keep them accountable with group shares and math talk.

6.  Let them share.  You aren’t the only one with great tricks and strategies, let the students share their thinking so that they can inspire their peers.

7.  Give immediate feedback on their performance.  Allow them to take home work occasionally, but encourage most of it in class where you can correct misconceptions right away.

8.  Practice doesn’t have to mean a worksheet. I use worksheets from time to time, but that isn’t the only way to practice skills. Pull out the manipulatives, dry erase boards or other tools.  Let them draw their thinking all over the easel paper and chalkboards. Let math be messy, and let it take on the beauty that it really is.

9. No matter what, ALWAYS connect math concepts to their world. Math does not have meaning unless they care about it, and can use it in a setting that is motivating to them.

10.  Use data to drive your instruction. Using exit slips for every lesson is a very powerful way to form groups, and to figure out who needs what immediately.

Good luck to all of those who are beginning a new semester or a new school year.  I wish you lots of math love!

by Beyond Traditional Math

Inquiry Learning: YES!

A little while back I wrote about letting students discover math patterns and connections on their own.  Inquiry learning truly does help students do the majority of the learning.

Well, check out this blogger from The Research Based Classroom. I love her post this morning citing Piaget:

The Research Based Classroom

“Each time one prematurely teaches a child something he could have discovered himself, that child is kept from inventing it and consequently from understanding it completely.”   Piaget

Right on Brandi!

How do you all help your students discover concepts on their own?