In the past two weeks, I have been in 4 different states talking math. I've been fortunate to model in several classrooms and see mathematics playing in action with a wide range of students. While having a reflective conversation with some teachers, we kept having the same conversations. Here's a few of our reflective questions:
What are my intentions for the lesson?
We have standards and objectives given to us from the state or a textbook series, but good educators go beyond the basic and truly ask themselves: What am I expecting my students to do at the end of the lesson?
The reality is that this answer could be different for each of us based on our classroom make up. By setting an end goal before teaching the lesson, teachers can realistically plan based on their students' progress, not just on the prescribed objectives.
Here's a few examples:
Objective: Use addition facts to subtract.
Lesson Expectation: Students will relate addition and subtraction by making a fact family. They will show the fact family by writing a number bond and 4 matching number sentences.
Objective: Read, write and identify fractions up to 1 whole.
Lesson Expectation: Students will identify fractions in circles, rectangular models, and irregular models. They will read and write the fraction using word form, short word form and as a sum of its unit fractions.
Objective: Multiply decimals by tens and hundreds.
Lesson Expectation: Students will learn to multiply decimals by tens and hundreds using place value to explore the patterns in our base ten system. Students will develop the standard algorithm and reason using place value to check that their answer is correct.
When I plan with teachers, I begin here. I encourage teachers to look through the lesson at the strategies and the models to consider what's a realistic expectation based on their students. This is a great practice to get at the heart of the lesson.
Who is doing most of the work during the lesson?
This is a BIG conversation after talking to many exasperated and exhausted teachers. Many of our students have short attention spans and are on various levels. Some of us find ourselves performing like a dancing clown to keep them engaged making us exhausted by the end of the lesson. So, I ask you: Who should be doing the work during the lesson?
Answer: Our students. You do so much work preparing for the lesson beforehand. You write lesson plans, create engaging ways to present it and organize materials. All of that is a lot of work. During your lesson, it's time to put all that hard work to use while your students do the work.
You present amazing problems....they solve them in multiple ways.
You ask thoughtful questions...they answer in detailed ways.
You challenge them to work together...they evaluate each other's responses.
This is the beauty of teaching and it can be a bit scary to turn it over to our students. Many teachers ask: What if they don't do anything? What if they get it wrong? What if they get off task? All of these are completely valid questions that we can correct using really thoughtful questions and prompts. It also requires creating a classroom environment where this is the expectation. (Be sure to check out my Day Zero: The First Five Lessons blog post on how to begin that process.)
How do we elicit thoughtful responses?
This is really what I wanted to write about today but realized we had to address the other two before we could discuss it. We can't have engaging, student-driven classrooms if we don't know the real expectations of our lessons and put the ownership on our students. Once we do that, we can craft our own practice to ask questions that will get the type of responses we want to hear.
My favorite resource to share with teachers is the article, Never Say Anything a Kid Can Say, by Steven C. Reinhart. This article is an oldie and truly a goodie as it challenges us to think whether we are asking the right type of questions and if we speaking too much in the classroom. I encourage you to take a look at it and reflect on your own practices.
Once you begin thinking about how to get your students talking about math, it might help to have some of those rich questions that will drive instruction. We can't ask simple questions. They have to be purposeful and refer back to our beginning intent.
Instead of asking: "What's the answer to ____?"
We could ask: "What different strategies would you use to find the answer? Which one is the most efficient?"
Instead of asking: "Is your answer correct?"
We could ask: "How do you know your answer is correct? How do you know it makes sense?"
Instead of asking: "Do you have any questions about this example?"
We could ask: "How would you describe this example to a friend? What might be confusing? "
Do you notice the difference? The original question elicits one response. Thoughtful questions generate more responses and even more questions! And...the cool thing about modeling these types of questions is that students will begin asking them of each other, making your workload even less. Win!!
This time of year (March) is a great time of year to reflect on your own practice. It gives you an opportunity to reflect on where you've come and to think about what you might want to do differently next year. For the remaining time of the school year, you can try some of those strategies out and see how they go.
Maybe next week you decide, you are going to plan each lesson's intention. Awesome! Maybe you decide you want to have someone observe you to see what types of questions you ask. Amazing! Maybe you just want to try out some of those thoughtful questions. I got you!
Check out this free download with a list of my favorite questions. Simply print and put up in your room to remind you and your students of some great questions to ask. Maybe choose 3 you want to try this week and then choose 3 more next week. Grab your download by entering your information below.
If you are looking for even more ideas about questioning, be sure to check out my other blog posts:
Here is a great one with considering how to use questioning for journal entries.
Here is one about encouraging students to talk to each other- essential for asking great questions.
Great instruction means our students are working independently and inquiring about the world around them. When you reflect on your own practice, you are modeling those things as well. Be sure to let me know how your students respond to these questions. I know you are going to hear some amazing things!
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