In Minnesota, our state test is called the MCA. Unfortunately, it ends up a focus for us math teachers, especially in the high stakes 11th grade. I am not different. I have spent way too much energy focused on what I can do to get my students to perform better on the test. I teach in a small school district, EVERY 11th grader is my student. So the scores of my district's 11th grade reflects on my class.
As we prep in the month before the test, I often find myself frustrated that my students know how to do the math, but look at the problem in front of them as if they have never seen it before. I encourage them by saying, "You have done this, you know how to do this!" And yet, they end up guessing at an answer. So then we spend more time talking about it and I spend my summer trying to figure out how I can teach it better. But I had an epiphany last spring, I have not been teaching my students to think, I have been teaching them to mimic me. Scratch that, I have not been letting my students think, I have been sucking the thinking out of my classroom by over- scaffolding and over-helping and over-lecturing! I have robbed them of the chance to think by doing the thinking for them, and then getting frustrated when they don't think for themselves. I have had the best intentions and done the best that I knew how, but it was me that stopped them from thinking. So now what?!?!?! How do I teach them to think? I have tried giving students problems to solve on their own or in groups. It has not worked the best. My first start was trying stand and talks that I had learned about from Sara Vanderwerf. (Webinar)They made such a difference in my class. I am constantly asking myself, "What can I get the kids to say instead of telling them?" I have created images, borrowed from others, and spontaneously used work from class. My students have been way more involved in the curriculum and retain it so much better. Every teacher, at every level, NEEDS to implement this routine daily. Side note: I have been bragging up this routine for quite a while now, but I am not sure people really understand it by my description. The other day, my principal came into my classroom to ask me a quick question. I was just handing out my image for a stand and talk. I finished and visited with him for 30 seconds. I guess he was intrigued as to why my students were standing around the room during class, so he stood there and watched. It was fun to watch the expression on his face as my students visited about the image with their partner and then shared out with the class. He commented later about how impressed he was with how involved everyone was and that even the ones who typically don't engage in classes had something to notice. Next, I was lucky enough to run across a couple webinars that changed my classroom forever: Building Thinking Classrooms and What Thinking Classrooms Look and Feel LIke. They made so much sense and fell right into what I wanted to change in my classroom! So I did what I always do, jumped in with both feet!
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AuthorI teach mathematics for grades 7-12. Teaching mathematics is my passion. Archives
August 2022
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