I have a new set of glasses. With my new role as a Math and Digital Learning Coach in my district, I get to spend a lot of time in the classroom with teachers and students. Let me explain the set of glasses.
When my son was born, I received a new set of glasses. When my daughter was born, I received an additional new set of glasses. As a new parent, I saw the world in a completely different way than I had before being a parent. The oversimplification for me was the stuff that I used to think was important before being a parent, instantly (and gladly) received a huge shift the second I started caring for and loving another human being that I called my son and daughter. The perspective from behind my parent glasses continues to change and update with time as my children mature. It's AMAZING! If you're a parent, regardless if your child is adopted or biological, you know what I mean. If you're not a parent, you simply have no idea. No offense. Trust me, I had no idea either. And if you're a parent and don't know what I mean, then please check yourself. But chances are good that if you fall into this latter category, you probably aren't reading this blog to begin with. I'd imagine anyone who does read this blog is in education, and why would you be in education if you don't care about children, yours or someone else's? This could possibly be the harshest thing I've ever said on this blog. However, I feel that if you're in education, it's your duty and responsibility to care about children. I digress. Back to the new set of glasses.
We obtain new sets of glasses throughout our life. By the way, if you haven't figured out by now, anytime I refer to glasses, it's in the figurative sense: how you perceive the world around you through the lens created by your position, role, and/or relation in life. My new set of glasses as a Math and Digital Learning Coach allow me to be a student again. Some might think I should see the role of a teacher differently. This is true, but I think that's putting the cart before the horse here. I get to be a student again. And by being a student again, it helps me refocus as a teacher.
With my new set of glasses, I get to feel like a student again. Which is humbling and powerful at the same time. It has allowed me to focus on the student perspective of learning, exploring, and receiving knowledge as opposed to the teacher perspective of preparing activities, assessing, and delivering knowledge. Think how one role greatly affects the other.
I remember when I first started subbing and was helping students with math questions. At the time, I hadn't done math in a few years, so I was rusty since it wasn't fresh in my mind. Therefore, I was literally working alongside the students trying to figure out how to solve these questions. I was trying to tap into anything I could remember, which usually meant I had to derive some solution or maybe even take the long route to the correct answer. It was exhausting, thrilling, honest, raw, and exhilarating all at the same time. That moment in time flooded my head tonight on my drive home. That was such an awesome feeling, because I felt like a student of math, exploring and persevering. It made me want to pursue teaching. But then I got my teacher glasses and my student glasses went out of focus at times. It wasn't the glasses' fault. It was me. And I'll be the first to apologize for some lousy teaching moments because I lost focus. I wish I had a mulligan for one year in particular: 2012-2013. I tried a lot of new instructional/grading/facilitation/pedagogical strategies and shifts that were not necessarily well received. But let me tell you, I not only learned what to do that year. I learned what NOT to do and I am eternally grateful for the students and parents who (indirectly) made me strive to improve and refocus on the student perspective.
The point of this post was for me to reflect on the power of having these new (or rediscovered) glasses. I'm seeing that students need less and less from the teacher so that they are given the time and room for more ownership of their learning. That's an awfully general statement so I will explain. I believe that students benefit more when the teacher keeps the lesson introduction, question, or objective simple and succinct. The students respond better when the teacher is actively listening to them, not for the correct answer as Max Ray would say. I noticed that teachers are able to better listen to students when they ask interested questions like, "Can you tell me more about what you did here?" or "I didn't get all of that, can you explain it to me again?" or give simple commands like, "Walk me through what you did here." or "I noticed you did ____, please explain that."
As the student, I'd want you to ask me questions that show me you care about what I think and not judge me because I'm wrong and you feel you need to fix me (or my math work). With my glasses, I see students are drawn toward visual representations of mathematical situations: rectangles, patterns, estimations, soda, water bottles, etc. instead of just pure numbers (pure math). With my glasses, I noticed that students appreciate someone interested in their work. I noticed that students like to share with each other, especially when they know how to do something correctly. I noticed that students like to hear a voice other than the teacher.
I was able to notice many of these while maturing as a teacher, but for some reason they are more profound now. I hope these are some examples of how I see the teacher doing less and the students doing more. When I had my teacher glasses on and lost focus of the students' glasses, there were times when I (mistakenly) thought that I had to put on a show for my students or needed to run around like a crazy guy checking every paper or student whiteboard. Have you ever caught yourself saying something like, "My hair could be on fire, and they wouldn't care." or "I'm up there doing a song and dance, and it doesn't matter."? I know I've said something like that. That's exactly my point. I was doing too much, and the students were doing too little. That's exhausting.
If you've made it this far, thanks. I don't plan on rambling/ranting like this in the future. I'm simply happy to have rediscovered those student glasses. Throughout the year, I'm sure I'll continue to sharpen the focus on both my student and teacher glasses. My takeaway is this: by regaining focus on the student perspective of education, I'm able to improve my focus on the teacher perspective so the teacher is doing less in order to create more opportunities for the students in the classroom.
Glasses,
1149
Showing posts with label Max Ray. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Max Ray. Show all posts
Explain that, please.
Recently, I've given a few teacher workshops/conferences and have had the luxury of reflecting on teacher moves as I facilitate a lesson with the attendees. One of the many things we talk about are teacher responses to students.
Recently, a workshop attendee asked me how I respond to students who have nailed the answer to a 3 Act task. First, I have them explain their problem-solving plan to me. Second, I question any details that were unclear, encourage them to be more precise, or have them explain their units of measurement. Third, I ask them if they feel confident in their answer after explaining it to me. Fourth, I validate them by simply saying, "That makes sense to me."
I don't tell them they're correct. I treat them just like as if they got the answer wrong. If that doesn't satisfy them, I respond with, "We'll find out soon if you're correct, but that (their explanation and work) makes sense to me." At this point, I offer them an extension to the task. I'd like to talk more about this later, but usually the extension revolves around the students creating something with the new knowledge or skills they have just recently gained.
After all that, please add your favorite lines when questioning students to this Google doc. I think it's also helpful we create a list of lines we avoid using with students as they explore math.
Here are a few people with other stellar teacher moves/lines to support students.
Max Ray: 26 Questions You Can Ask Instead
Dan Meyer: You Don't Have To Be The Answer Key
David Cox: Creating A Culture Of Questions
Steve Leinwand: Accessible Mathematics
BOOOOvvvvvvvv,
645
Me: Did anyone hear me say, "No. That's wrong. You're wrong. I don't like your answer."
Attendees: No.
Me: Right. Instead, you'll hear me say things like, "Can you explain what you did here? Explain that, please. I noticed you did [this] here, please share how you got [that]. I'm curious how you came up with that. Walk me through what you did."I tell teachers that I'm taking the emphasis away from right versus wrong answers and placing an interest on the student's thought process and problem-solving. I continue with teachers:
Me: By telling a student they're wrong, a student can have the tendency to shutdown [I make the sound effect of a machine shutting down, "BOOOOvvvvvvvv"]. By asking a student to explain things, it shows that I'm more interested in how they arrived at their answer.As teachers, we know a student can be told they're wrong and it's easy for them to give up. On the flip side, when we validate a kid by telling them they're right, the student can also shut down and never reach the higher levels of Depth of Knowledge.
Recently, a workshop attendee asked me how I respond to students who have nailed the answer to a 3 Act task. First, I have them explain their problem-solving plan to me. Second, I question any details that were unclear, encourage them to be more precise, or have them explain their units of measurement. Third, I ask them if they feel confident in their answer after explaining it to me. Fourth, I validate them by simply saying, "That makes sense to me."
I don't tell them they're correct. I treat them just like as if they got the answer wrong. If that doesn't satisfy them, I respond with, "We'll find out soon if you're correct, but that (their explanation and work) makes sense to me." At this point, I offer them an extension to the task. I'd like to talk more about this later, but usually the extension revolves around the students creating something with the new knowledge or skills they have just recently gained.
After all that, please add your favorite lines when questioning students to this Google doc. I think it's also helpful we create a list of lines we avoid using with students as they explore math.
Here are a few people with other stellar teacher moves/lines to support students.
Max Ray: 26 Questions You Can Ask Instead
Dan Meyer: You Don't Have To Be The Answer Key
David Cox: Creating A Culture Of Questions
Steve Leinwand: Accessible Mathematics
BOOOOvvvvvvvv,
645
CMC North 2013
Here's a recap of my CMC North experience from last weekend.
Later that night, we attended the opening keynote by Dr. David Dockterman where he discussed the importance of a growth mindset. Afterward, it was great to see and meet up with Fawn, Dan Meyer, Avery Pickford, and Breedeen Murray for some pizza. Good times. Good company.
Saturday:
Session 1:
The first session I attended was titled Using Formative Assessment to Create Equitable Practices by Karen Mayfield-Ingram. We diagnosed some student work and left with the following reminders:
1) Make a concerted effort to give students detailed feedback on any assessment.
2) Try and ask students questions that will encourage them to analyze their work better.
Session 2:
I showed up early at Larry Armstrong's session titled Flip Instruction to Transform Learning. I'm interested to know more about the flipped classroom. Not because I'm sold on the idea, but because my district is getting iPads the second semester and I have a feeling we will be encouraged to implement some type of flipped classroom model. Who knows? Again, I'm not sold on the idea, but I want more information just in case. Well, it's 5 minutes before the start of the session and the front of the room is empty: no computer plugged into the projector, no one is setting up, no Larry Armstrong. Nothing!
A CMC helper comes to the front to inform us Armstrong won't be presenting and we have time to catch another session if we want. I saw Brad Fulton come in at the back of the room and I got up to ask him if he'd present, but he said he was only coming to drop his stuff off for presenting at the following session. I turned to the CMC helper and offered to present my Number Sense session I gave at CMC South. She took me up on my offer and we had ourselves an impromptu Number Sense session. It was fun! For the forty to fifty attendees that stuck around, we had a blast doing estimation challenges and talking number sense for about 50 minutes. I will blog more about my presentation over the next few weeks. Stay tuned! I was honored when Rebecca Lewis, the Program Chair, gave me this token of appreciation for stepping in at this session. This proudly sits on my desk.
Session 3:
Shelly Lawson gave a great hands-on session titled Modeling Lessons Can Work for All Students - Yes, Even Yours. I was excited about this one because it was geared toward 7th grade curriculum. You know you're in for a good session when you see a bag full of PVC pipes, a stopwatch, a meter stick, a steel ball, and some string. There were 5 different length PVC pipes, and four connecters; two right angles and two at about 135 degrees.
We had to construct a pipe so that the ball, when dropped, would make its way through the pipe at the fastest rate possible. Here's our contraption. It was the fastest because of my teammate's design. Great job Bob!
Shelly also introduced us to the Incredible Egg, Float That Boat, and the Penny Lab. All of these activities allow students to make measurements, mistakes, and formulate conclusions based on observations and data collected. I left with a packet full of hands-on activities that I can incorporate into my curriculum. The structure of the packet gives students pretty detailed steps and instructions. Personally, I will probably revise the activities to leave them a little more open-ended and less structured. Overall, some great activities. Email Shelly for a copy. See the link attached to her name above. By this time, I think I ran into Dittmer about 50 times. Really cool guy!
Session 4:
Fawn and I presented Hotel Snap to the CMC attendees. Fawn is awesome! Tell you something you don't know, right? Okay, chances are good you've already read her blog post on Hotel Snap. If not, go now and read it here. Fawn did an amazing job coming up with this task. You might be surprised, but I have nothing but great things to say about Fawn. Her task is challenging and can be used at numerous grade levels. CHECK IT OUT!
Thanks to Brian and Dan for helping us with the calculations. Thanks John for helping us clean up!
Session 5:
My man, Max Ray, presented Becoming Better Reasoners: Supporting Students to Develop as Problem-Solvers. I was excited since this was my first time seeing Max present. See how calm he is in this picture?
I love how Max is so patient and allows his students (us CMC attendees) to formulate noticings, wonderings, and other thoughts as we worked through some Math Forum tasks. I enjoyed this last session of the conference because we worked in groups to problem-solve a task, we analyzed student work, and Max charged us with asking students questions that would help them further their problem-solving approach by becoming better reasoners. Well done Max!
Saturday night:
Ignite talks!!! I could write a whole other blog post on these. I was honored and privileged to present with the following mathletes!
The Math Forum organized, hosted, and took over the Ignite talks this year. Thanks Suzanne for all you did! Watch them in January or February 2014 when they post the 10 videos online. It was a lot of work preparing my 5 minute talk, but was great fun! Fawn stole the night! The energy and inspiration from these talks was a great way to cap Saturday night!
Sunday:
Dan Meyer gave the first keynote of the morning titled Fake-World Math. Dan is the man! His presentation was fantastic. I don't want to post any spoilers here, but he talked about the importance of modeling and how CCSS defines modeling. If I could summarize some important points, here's what I want to reflect on for future reference.
Although important to the math classroom at certain times, the following is NOT modeling:
*For the record, my initial estimate for Dan's Super Stairs task was over by fifty seconds. Bam!
Dr. Timothy Kanold gave the second keynote titled The Art of Teaching Mathematics: Inspiring Students to Learn. CMC North 2013 ended with Bill Withers' Lean on Me.
Before Fawn and I flew back to Los Angeles, we had brunch with some great math amigos (pictured below).
We also said hi to some fish at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Thanks Dan, Avery, and Breedeen for driving us around too!
North,
819
Friday:
Fawn Nguyen and I flew up to Monterey Bay, checked in, and found the Fishwife restaurant for lunch. It was within walking distance of the conference grounds. Thank goodness because it was a little chilly outside. We enjoyed lunch so much we made a trip back there for the 4-6 p.m. Happy Hour so we could fine-tune our Saturday presentation. We checked in with the CMC people, and if you ever make it up to Pacific Grove for the conference, don't forget the badge they mail you. It'll cost you $5 if you forget it, right Fawn? Later that night, we attended the opening keynote by Dr. David Dockterman where he discussed the importance of a growth mindset. Afterward, it was great to see and meet up with Fawn, Dan Meyer, Avery Pickford, and Breedeen Murray for some pizza. Good times. Good company.
Saturday:
Session 1:
The first session I attended was titled Using Formative Assessment to Create Equitable Practices by Karen Mayfield-Ingram. We diagnosed some student work and left with the following reminders:
1) Make a concerted effort to give students detailed feedback on any assessment.
2) Try and ask students questions that will encourage them to analyze their work better.
Session 2:
I showed up early at Larry Armstrong's session titled Flip Instruction to Transform Learning. I'm interested to know more about the flipped classroom. Not because I'm sold on the idea, but because my district is getting iPads the second semester and I have a feeling we will be encouraged to implement some type of flipped classroom model. Who knows? Again, I'm not sold on the idea, but I want more information just in case. Well, it's 5 minutes before the start of the session and the front of the room is empty: no computer plugged into the projector, no one is setting up, no Larry Armstrong. Nothing!
A CMC helper comes to the front to inform us Armstrong won't be presenting and we have time to catch another session if we want. I saw Brad Fulton come in at the back of the room and I got up to ask him if he'd present, but he said he was only coming to drop his stuff off for presenting at the following session. I turned to the CMC helper and offered to present my Number Sense session I gave at CMC South. She took me up on my offer and we had ourselves an impromptu Number Sense session. It was fun! For the forty to fifty attendees that stuck around, we had a blast doing estimation challenges and talking number sense for about 50 minutes. I will blog more about my presentation over the next few weeks. Stay tuned! I was honored when Rebecca Lewis, the Program Chair, gave me this token of appreciation for stepping in at this session. This proudly sits on my desk.
Session 3:
Shelly Lawson gave a great hands-on session titled Modeling Lessons Can Work for All Students - Yes, Even Yours. I was excited about this one because it was geared toward 7th grade curriculum. You know you're in for a good session when you see a bag full of PVC pipes, a stopwatch, a meter stick, a steel ball, and some string. There were 5 different length PVC pipes, and four connecters; two right angles and two at about 135 degrees.
We had to construct a pipe so that the ball, when dropped, would make its way through the pipe at the fastest rate possible. Here's our contraption. It was the fastest because of my teammate's design. Great job Bob!
Shelly also introduced us to the Incredible Egg, Float That Boat, and the Penny Lab. All of these activities allow students to make measurements, mistakes, and formulate conclusions based on observations and data collected. I left with a packet full of hands-on activities that I can incorporate into my curriculum. The structure of the packet gives students pretty detailed steps and instructions. Personally, I will probably revise the activities to leave them a little more open-ended and less structured. Overall, some great activities. Email Shelly for a copy. See the link attached to her name above. By this time, I think I ran into Dittmer about 50 times. Really cool guy!
Session 4:
Fawn and I presented Hotel Snap to the CMC attendees. Fawn is awesome! Tell you something you don't know, right? Okay, chances are good you've already read her blog post on Hotel Snap. If not, go now and read it here. Fawn did an amazing job coming up with this task. You might be surprised, but I have nothing but great things to say about Fawn. Her task is challenging and can be used at numerous grade levels. CHECK IT OUT!
 |
| Photo by Dan Meyer |
Session 5:
My man, Max Ray, presented Becoming Better Reasoners: Supporting Students to Develop as Problem-Solvers. I was excited since this was my first time seeing Max present. See how calm he is in this picture?
I love how Max is so patient and allows his students (us CMC attendees) to formulate noticings, wonderings, and other thoughts as we worked through some Math Forum tasks. I enjoyed this last session of the conference because we worked in groups to problem-solve a task, we analyzed student work, and Max charged us with asking students questions that would help them further their problem-solving approach by becoming better reasoners. Well done Max!
Saturday night:
Ignite talks!!! I could write a whole other blog post on these. I was honored and privileged to present with the following mathletes!
The Math Forum organized, hosted, and took over the Ignite talks this year. Thanks Suzanne for all you did! Watch them in January or February 2014 when they post the 10 videos online. It was a lot of work preparing my 5 minute talk, but was great fun! Fawn stole the night! The energy and inspiration from these talks was a great way to cap Saturday night!
Sunday:
Dan Meyer gave the first keynote of the morning titled Fake-World Math. Dan is the man! His presentation was fantastic. I don't want to post any spoilers here, but he talked about the importance of modeling and how CCSS defines modeling. If I could summarize some important points, here's what I want to reflect on for future reference.
Although important to the math classroom at certain times, the following is NOT modeling:
- I do, we do, you do
- Using concrete manipulatives
- Graphs, equations, functions
Dr. Timothy Kanold gave the second keynote titled The Art of Teaching Mathematics: Inspiring Students to Learn. CMC North 2013 ended with Bill Withers' Lean on Me.
Before Fawn and I flew back to Los Angeles, we had brunch with some great math amigos (pictured below).
 |
| Left to Right: Stadel, Nguyen, Meyer, Murray, Pickford. |
Thanks Dan, Avery, and Breedeen for driving us around too!
North,
819
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