Reflect after you have implemented a task in your thinking classroom:
Give it a try! Implement the strategies that you have learned to provide your students with a rich math experience in your thinking classroom.
Consider the following questions:
- What might you do differently next time?
Respond and Interact
After implementing a task in your classroom, 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.
I am still teaching the current math curriculum so I am trying to use the Performance Tasks that we are given with each chapter to really focus on using these strategies. With these tasks I have used random groupings, the vertical spaces for small groups, am trying my best to only answer keep-thinking questions, and I am trying to get my small groups to talk across groups when they are stuck. Getting students to talk across groups when they are stuck is the latest strategy I have tried and it needs some more practice and refinement in my classroom. I need to better prep groups that someone from another group might come by and ask how they solved a question if they are stuck. I am excited to teach the IM math where more of the lessons include thinking tasks and getting kids working together.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this course, this had a ton of value and there is much I have learned from it. Moving forward I have changed some of my classroom routines, and I have been implementing some of the following.
ReplyDeleteGiving my groups some standing thinking tasks then students will work on vertical surfaces to do the work and show their thinking if applicable. I haven't tried non-permanent surfaces yet, but I am planning to.
Also, using vertical surfaces has made a big difference in student engagement. This also makes it easier for students to check for understanding and explain their thinking to the group and me when they have their work on the wall whiteboards. I really like how this is working out for my groups.
For myself, I have been focusing on only answering keep thinking questions & incorporating more thinking activities. I have also been using more hands-on activities which has been working great, although I don't have enough data yet to show growth, but I notice more student engagement which I chalk up as a win. The check for understanding and explaining the students thinking has really been great, but it does take up a chunk of time which I am adapting to because I really see the value in it.
Thank you all for carving out the time for this book study. I know how busy life is and your commitment and enthusiasm to continue learning is inspiring. Feeling grateful!
ReplyDeleteI have tried a couple of vertical surfaces small group activities. For 2 of them I tried thin slicing of problems in the curriculum and that worked well! I made sure that the first 3 were ones I wanted/needed everyone to get through for the grade level content and then I had 3 more challenges. It was okay that not every group made it through "all" of them. I tried to only ask questions myself that helped their thinking along and not answer too many of their questions. I had a few random groups that worked well together and a few that didn't. We then came together and made a "Good Groups Do" sort of poster. I was able to reference that the next time! I can improve on the closing of student sharing when done- we seemed to run out of time for that.
ReplyDelete