Within the articles we read, they discussed accommodating all students in different mathematical activities, by giving problems with many different solutions and teach the many different approaches on how to solve a problem. This helps the less talented students participate in the same task with the high talented students. Teachers are able to support high achievers, and also accommodate students who are a bit behind. The lesson plan is incorporating all talents. Open ended answers are great examples because students can write their responses to the story problems on however they solved it. There are many different ways of solving a problem, and it’s their preference, and what they feel comfortable with. They will still have confidence with themselves if they were able to get the same answer as the other high achieving students in their math class. Maybe once they are more comfortable with the problem they will be able to learn and observe their peers’ solutions.
I enjoyed the actual examples of the different solutions different students came up with. They all came up with the same answer, but getting there was different amongst their preferences. If they are taking the problem and solving it in their own way, you know that they are grasping the concept since they made it their own way of solving it. I noticed a pair of students working on an algebra problem in a picture, and I believe partners in assignments with this approach of open ended questions is wonderful because they can learn off each others’ solutions.
I liked the open ended form example in the Kabiri & Smith article. It asked the student to draw two different congruent right triangles. There are many different triangle shapes that contain these traits, so allowing them to draw their own helps those to understand the concept better. Open ended question makes the problems more authentic and meaningful to the students.
In my placement, I do not see any of these open ended questions and discussions in the math portion. She gives a lecture, allows questions, but they are not working together solving it in different ways. There are yes and no questions, and only one way to solve the problem. They work on worksheets and do a lot of fill in the blanks. It seems that majority of the students do a good job answering these worksheets, but I can tell that many of the students are so bored. This is not good that they are already bored with the repetitive questions at such a young age! This could be changed by giving fun story problems (maybe some that even use their names), more open ended questions, and group discussions or math activities. I believe my CT does do a good job accommodating all of the students, but I am sure she would be interested in reading these articles on ideas on accommodating the students that are struggling.
I also enjoyed these articles and found many of the same things interesting and useful such as asking more open-ended questions. One might think this is nearly impossible for math, but it is much simpler than one would think. You can use textbook problems and tweak them in a small way to make them have more than one possible solution. As Kabiri and Smith said, "The beauty of open-ended problems is that all students are able to participate with mathematical concepts at their own level. Open-ended questions help uphold high expectations and provide strong support for all students." Like your CT, my CT does not ask open ended questions in math. She tells the students there is only one way to add and subtract correctly. This makes the students uncomfortable to try new ways of solving a problem. This is detrimental to them because they are not as engaged in math as they could be since open-ended questions make it more meaningful to them.
ReplyDeleteI found the articles to be really helpful in terms of planning for teaching math in the future. Not having the most confidence in math makes me a little nervous to teach it, however after reading articles like these it makes me feel like I will have strategies going into my math lessons. I think having students work within groups and allow for students to use each other as a resource is very beneficial. I remember in elementary school I was more likely to ask my friends questions than ask the teacher. I'm sure a lot of students also felt this way, and having students being placed into math centers is a great way to encourage this, and promote confidence for the students.
ReplyDeleteIn my placement I don't see many open ended questions when it comes to math. I'm placed in a kindergarten classroom so a lot of the math is actually working with a calender, and counting how many days they have been in school. These types of math situations really only have one particular answer; thus making discussions hard. I would like to see more discussion based learning in my classroom, I think it would be beneficial for all the students.