Reflect after reading Chapters 8-11:
As you begin to imagine a full lesson in a thinking classroom, what practices will support student autonomy and ownership? How will you know if the practices are working?
Consider the following questions:
- What is resonating with you from the reading?
- What caused you to pause and think during this section?
Respond and Interact
After reading these chapters, please post your response to one {or more} of the prompts above. Read our colleagues' reflections. Feel free to respond to someone by sharing a comment, insight or interesting possibility.
To guide and support student autonomy and ownership of work students need to look to each other to other when they get stuck in their learning. I tried this at the beginning of the year and the kids accused each other of cheating and that they didn't want to be cheaters. I really need to work on building up that they aren't cheating, it is learning from those around you. When I start directing students to help each other, maybe that will help build the classroom community as well.
ReplyDeleteIn Chapter 10 I really liked how the book said that when you are sharing student work, the student who did the work doesn't explain what they did, instead to have other students work together to figure out how the problem was solved. I have noticed when I have students explain their own thinking, eyeballs glaze over and students stop listening.
The last chapter also had reasoning about note taking that I liked. Currently I don't have students take notes at all, (4th grade), but I can see it being helpful to give them a large piece of paper that we fold at the beginning of a unit into smaller sections and they write notes to their future forgetful self on what they have learned. I do like that phrase, "future forgetful self" and I think kids will relate to it as well.
Something that resonated with me was Liljedahl’s emphasis on the need for autonomy among math groups and individuals. I also liked that he spoke about the value of giving students the opportunity to be “pushed” further along through hints or collaboration. I have found the new IM curriculum really helps me to actively ensure group work/conversations on a regular basis, so this made me excited. I also found it helpful when Liljedahl talked about how it is not important how a group acquires new knowledge, whether it means another group helping vs. telling them how to do it. This made me feel better about the concerns I’ve had about small group work recently.
ReplyDeleteWhat stood out to me was reading about the gallery walks in Chapter 10. We actually do these in my classroom often for our read-aloud (students sketch what they are visualizing while I read) or after the completion of small group science investigations. I really liked the idea of having a member outside of the group to try to explain what the groups thinking may have been to solve the problem. I would really like to try this in math! It sounds engaging and as Liljedahl says “offers more space for thinking.”
In chapter 8 he shared helping groups see and hear what others are doing. Peers helping peers and the teacher helping less. I liked how he shared this nurtures independence so groups can work on their own autonomy. Moving to chapter 9 what resonated with me was making small groups responsible for the learning of each group and each other. It was a nice reminder to use parallel tasks before moving on for those who are still struggling as well. Chapter 10 was a favorite because of the focus on consolidating a lesson. With the small time block I have, consolidating a lesson is important. I was surprised a little about how students didn't really listen to their peers when asked to explain their thinking in front of a group but I liked the idea of having a student from the group present their peers thinking/solution instead of explaining ones own thinking.
ReplyDeleteNote taking was eye opening, but I can see how this is true. I like the idea of students deciding what notes to take for their future selves instead of telling students what notes to write.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteCh 8- "The more independent and responsible the students were in managing their learning, the more time the teacher had to spend with groups that really needed their attention."
ReplyDeleteTeachers direct a group to another group for next question or to answer questions or to compare answers.
I definitely need to foster this more as I was running around trying to hand out the next extension problem to some groups, but it kept me from helping the groups that really needed it.
Ch 9
I have been waiting for this chapter!
I have seen thin slicing in our new math curriculum! However, I still am not sure of a great way to pass out or show 8 different steps to each group??? I understand they "steal" it from another group- but do they have it numbered? Do they somehow check that their current answer is correct before moving on?
Tips to remember:
Give hints that increase ability, not decrease challenge.
"Frustration is an intensely negative emotion that needs a rapid intervention."
Engagement: doing, justifying, explaining, teaching, creating
There is no "done," you just keep getting new problems or new ways to engage. No finish line, no sitting down, no "math choice when done."
Build perseverance and patience.
Prepare more problems than needed.
CH10 - This validated my hate of student sharing their work! Haha! Last week I did a card sort and I tried to mentally remember which groups I asked to share which strategy and which order. It was a hot mess! I need to write it down.
For vertical surfaces putting a red box and numbering solves that problem.
I really like the idea of someone else explaining another group's thinking.
I need to keep in mind to select and sequence carefully and then do a guided gallery walk. I'll get better at it!
Ch 11- I actually have found these chapter reflections to be a note to my future forgetful self! For example, I typically write a quote, a set of steps, a question, an idea, a strategy I want to try.
I don't currently have my 3rd graders take notes, mainly because our workbook has definitions and examples provided.
Worked example- creation, annotation, selection
Give students a graphic orgywith a Small space, encourage a worked example
I really like the idea of introducing notes as a note to your future forgetful self.
One of the highlights in this section for me for me was near the end of Chapter 8, "Rather than being the source of knowledge in the room, teachers were working to mobilize the knowledge already in the room." It's hard for us not to respond to every single question that gets fired our way...we need to be intentional about mobilizing the knowledge instead of being the source of knowledge!
ReplyDelete