I will talk about my math work.
I will ask questions when I am confused.
I will focus and concentrate on math.
I will solve the problem on my own or with my partner, then check in with my
team.In addition, I let my students know that I take their ideas seriously and that their
ideas and opinions will shape how our classroom community gets developed. For
example, when I was disappointed in my students’ performance on an assessment,
I shared my concerns with them about the scores and solicited their ideas about
how to improve. I wanted them to take ownership of the problem. We had an
earnest conversation and students came up with good ideas, such as changing
their seating to help them work with partners who would facilitate serious work.
This discussion and others had a positive impact on students’ work habits and
reinforced to the students that I have high expectations for their learning and
behavior.
Working Through Confusions: What Are Square Numbers?
Although I was pleased in general about the class’ attitudes and behavior, I still
had concerns about some of the struggling students. One of my strategies with
students who struggle with concepts is to bring them together in a small group to
uncover their thinking and work through confusions. I want to reinforce the ideas
that have come up in our large group, give them time to state their ideas and
ask questions, and prepare them to contribute to the subsequent whole-group
discussion.
Generally, within the first month of school, I am able to determine which stu-
dents need extra support. Initially, I use data from assessments to make this deter-
mination. For some students, it is a language issue, so inviting them to be a part
of the small group not only enables me to review the lesson but also allows them
to articulate their concerns in a smaller group without feeling the pressure of a
million eyes on them. For other students, some foundational understanding is
missing, and in our small group we are able to use various models and visuals that
will help these students make connections to understanding certain concepts on
a deeper level.
This year, my small intervention group included three girls and two boys. Two
were English language learners, one of whom had processing difficulties. The other
three students had demonstrated some misunderstandings about the math con-
cepts we had been studying and struggled to keep up with the unit. One of my goals
with this group was to get all of their ideas out on the table and pose strategic
Talking About Square Numbers