Thankfully, I noticed a small printed sign on the ledge beside the smart board yesterday which encouraged me to hit the reset button on my attitude.
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| TidyLadyPrintables. (2017, August). Mistakes Are Proof You're Trying [Image]. Retrieved September 19, 2017, from https://www.etsy.com/au/listing/491102736/classroom-decor-mistakes-are-proof-youre |
I definitely admire people that continually display a healthy attitude about mistakes and who model a growth mindset. My husband and I are fans of MasterChef Australia and our favourite contestants on the show are always the ones that have the best attitudes and who work extremely hard. They are excellent models of what true success looks like, not admitting defeat, working hard with a smile and overcoming adversity. I think it would be great for students to choose a growth mindset hero that they look up to and can model their behaviour after in the Math classroom!
This week we developed some great strategies for getting started that we can implement with our students. My favourite strategy was including parallel tasks in a lesson plan as it provides students with choice! I was relieved to see that I wasn't stuck with just one tricky word problem to choose from, instead I got to choose a word problem that would challenge me but not discourage me from moving forward.
The biggest obstacle I can see in teaching Math is helping students get started on Math tasks. I really enjoyed the opportunity for us to collaborate in small groups to formulate common and scaffolded questions that will help us to plan ahead for what our students may ask us but also to help students develop strategies to get started on their Math tasks and persevere through challenges. My next step will be to start accumulating resources to help me grow in understanding for how to develop parallel tasks and
good questions that will help students develop confidence in their problem solving abilities.
I have included a link to an edugains video that is focused on effective questioning that may be a useful resource.
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| Edugains. Learning Through Effective Questioning [Image]. Retrieved September 19, 2017, from http://www.edugains.ca/resources/ProfessionalLearning/SelfDirectedPLM/DigitalPapers/effectiveQuestioning/planPowerfulQuestions.html# |
Plan Powerful Questions
Sarah, I really enjoyed your post this week! I also really liked the part of the class this week where we worked in small groups on questioning. I think that this is such an important part of student development because we are getting students to tap in to things they already know, even if they don't realize it. Questioning definitely helps to get my thoughts going, and it helps by adding to classroom collaboration. Thanks for the great link!
ReplyDeleteHi Sarah, I completely understand how how the fear of failure can so easily creep back in even though we know (deeply in our minds) that we can succeed! The mistakes are what we learn from and are the building blocks to help to reach our desired goals, both inside the and outside the classroom. What I really resonated with me from the modules is that no matter the task, we all take a different approach and need time to do it our own way. It’s an important aspect to remember to help manage the fear and recognize that we can’t compare to other people around the class when solving a challenge but work collaboratively to create a solution with the group you’re with and sharing your ideas in the process!
ReplyDeleteHey Sarah (aka "Butterfly"),
ReplyDeleteI love reading your posts as you always keep it real! I personally also have the same fear about math word problems, not sure why, perhaps it’s the combination of words and numbers. You’re right about reseting that button, it does help but like you said initially it can be a daunting task just to start a question. My biggest challenge is often where to start, but I promised myself that I was going to foster a growth mindset, even though my answers were completely wrong. I too liked the parallel questions and agree getting one question right does give you a great boost in confidence.
Thanks for a great post,
Flap on, Flap on!
Hi Sarah,
ReplyDeleteI saw that poster in math class too! What a great motivator, especially in a math class! I will definitely have one up in my future classroom. I think that the fear of being wrong, especially in front of our peers, makes us hesitate to participate, thus stopping us from expressing our thoughts about our own approaches to solving problems. As educators it is extremely important to let our students know that through making mistakes we learn. Promoting a positive class environment and working collaboratively with peers will allow everyone to succeed! Great post!