Reflect after reading Chapters 5-7:
How do we answer questions in a thinking classroom? When and how do we give tasks?
Consider the following questions:
- What is resonating with you from the reading?
- What caused you to pause and think during this section?
Respond and Interact
After reading these chapters, please post your response to one {or more} of the prompts above. Read our colleagues' reflections. Feel free to respond to someone by sharing a comment, insight or interesting possibility.
I work in the Resource Room and partner with a teacher. We mainly work with 4th and 5th graders, and frequently wondered why the students weren't using their brains to figure out problems they knew how to do. Many times they would ask "stop thinking" questions (unbeknownst to me), and toward the end of the year, I got so tired of them asking those types of questions, I responded with some of the phrases in the book (again, unbeknownst to me) and encouraged them to try something new or just smiled and walked away. I did notice it pushed them to try harder, use their noodle, and dig deeper into their memory bank to solve the problems. I can also recall times that by the end of the lesson, the kids were tired of listening and tired of sitting, and were sluggish in doing problems in their books. I can see how having them stand and gather while giving a quick verbal lesson will give them the sense that there is no time to sit, that they are going to be actively doing something very soon and to be ready. I can't wait to try this, too!
ReplyDeleteThe data about how many questions teachers answer in a day was startling. It was nice to see the research to back the methods of walking away (after smiling) and answering questions with questions. I definitely do the latter, asking, "What have you tried?" or "What did your partner say when you asked them?" (Often they haven't asked.) But, building in the other strategies and explicitly telling the students that I won't be answering "Stop-thinking" questions ... would be new. I see the value in having those discussions with them and then allowing them to monitor themselves and each others. That will build a culture of thinking as well as reliance on each other.
ReplyDeleteThinking about when and how to give tasks was also interesting. I've had many times when I thought, "This task is so engaging ... it's going to grab and hold their attention" ... only to have it flop. Having the students stand to hear/read the task is something I want to try again. in fifth grade, I don't have the cell phone issue that is mentioned in chapter 6, but this year I did have the issue of "doodling." When I tried to have students stand and gather around me to hear the task, they were focused on their friends that they'd chosen to stand by. Standing on assigned dots or sitting on their tables/desks might reduce this issue. The idea that is challenging my thinking in chapter 6 is the idea of giving tasks verbally. The example of the tax collector shows how verbal directions can lead to more engagement and thinking, however, I'm wondering if this can work with most tasks. Also, I've been taught over the years to provide verbal and written instructions for my students so that the information is accessible for students with different learning styles or as part of their 504 accommodation. Thoughts on just giving a task verbally?
Hi Julie, I was thinking the same thing about giving it only verbally. I am wondering if we gave it verbally and gave some think/work time then as we walked around we could give them a written copy of the question if we see they need it. Something to think on for sure! :)
DeleteWith my MAP students, we are in a small group setting. It is easier for me to get the student’s attention. However, they seem to never ask any questions, even when they don’t know how to solve the problem. So, when they have questions to ask me, I am happy and eager to explain the solution. Sometimes, I forget to give them a few minutes to think for themselves or give them a hint and walk away. I plan to change this habit next school year.
ReplyDeleteSomething from this part that resonated with me was Figure 6.2. It was really interesting to see the deterioration of thinking as time progresses. It makes me wonder if there are ways to reverse this graph? If so, how? Later in chapter six, while talking about how to give the task, Liljedahl gives the idea of giving students tasks verbally. In complete honesty, the idea of giving my students tasks verbally and having them complete it using different mediums makes me a little nervous. When I take into account that students are in random groups (with certain students who probably shouldn’t be together) and then factor in a vertical surface task, it makes me question the effectiveness of my classroom management strategies. I was also really surprised and intrigued when Liljedahl gave the statistic of “when students who got help from a tutor or parents were asked how they would o if a pop quiz based on the homework were given, 90% of the students said they would fail” (Liljedahl, 122). This is kind of concerning, but it also makes me reflect and wonder, how have I failed them, as they didn’t understand what I was teaching? It also makes me wonder if testing anxiety has anything to do with it.
ReplyDeleteThere is so much good information in this book helping me to think about math instruction in a different way. I took away a great deal from these 3 chapters, but the one that resonates the most with me is when/where/how tasks are given. Having the students stand for verbal instructions and only posting specific details like quantities, measurements,and expressions on the board is a new concept for me. I feel like it's completely the opposite of what we've been encouraged to do for many years - providing as much information as possible to help facilitate success with the content (either on the board or on paper). All of Liljedahl's ideas, though, really make sense to me, and I'm certainly open to trying them. What I'm wondering as I read this book is how we will implement these ideas. Some can be used with both "thinking tasks" and content instruction, for sure. But, will we work toward using thinking tasks to supplement our new program? Maybe they replace the performance tasks we used to do? I did look up some tasks on one of the websites he provided (nrich.maths.org), and I really like them. They seem like a great vehicle for fostering in-depth math thinking. But I'm faced with the age-old question. . . when? I'd love to have some conversation about how to utilize them alongside our new program.
ReplyDelete@Teri - Illustrative is filled with rich tasks. It's a problem based curriculum so I really don't think we'll need to supplement much. I'd encourage you to talk with Julie and Heather about their experiences with using the vertical surfaces with IM.
DeleteTasks given at the beginning of the lesson when energy and engagement is high makes so much sense to me. A part that I underlined was: ."just know that the longer you talk, and the longer they listen, the less likely you are going to be able to get them to think." We need our kids to be DOING math within the first few minutes of every lesson.
ReplyDeleteposting this for Kelly Yvarra: Chapter 5 was really interesting to me. I am coming from many years in a primary classroom to an intermediate classroom. I liked the smile theory but truly more the exert from page 93 “you need to read the situation and know when a nod, wink, or an engaging remark is needed”. Our classroom have more than ever become diverse in the needs each student brings to our classroom community. I know I will definitely need to practice keep thinking questions but also knowing each of my students and their specific needs and situation they bring.
ReplyDeleteWhat I took away most in chapter 6 is the importance of the 3-5 minutes and the way to have them standing. This was interesting to me. Those can be an easy switch in practice.
In chapter seven I realized that although I don’t give homework I do give check your understanding questions almost daily. I liked the mico move in giving students a chance to discuss which questions they think is important for everyone to do and then allowing time for those kiddos who maybe haven’t done them to complete them.
Lots of good stuff in these chapters. I have been trying, not as successful as I'd wish, to use questions to move thinking forward, rather then stopping it. Chapter 5 was a good reminder of prompts to leave kids with to keep the thinking going. I am grateful for the hard work Renae and her team did in choosing our new math curriculum, as there are many rich tasks embedded in the curriculum, so we don't have to go out and find them. An area of growth for me is the 3-5 minutes...yikes! I will say I had to set a timer when I first started the year (and sometimes later on) so that I would keep moving forward with the lessons. Maybe this will help me give a task to them early on in the lesson than I have been.
ReplyDeleteIn MAP which is a small group setting I think it will be helpful to explain the different types of questions and that I will not be answering stop thinking questions. I have always done a check-in at the end of each class to see if they understand but I need to make sure students understand it's o.k. not to get the correct answer but opportunity to check their understanding and provide worked solutions.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that resonated with me was the data about the number of questions that students ask. I have been working on only answering the keep thinking questions, but it can be difficult to break the teacher to student roles that students have developed over the years. One trick I often use is to set a timer for 3-5 minutes and tell the class that I will not be answering questions for the first few minutes. I have almost always found that there are very few questions after the first few minutes. The questions that do come out after that are more likely to be thinking questions. I like the idea of answering a question with a question or just smile and walk away. I want students to know that I have confidence in their thinking and math ability. This pairs nicely with the moves mentioned in chapter 6 around getting students started on a thinking task in the first 3-5 minutes of class. I have found that IM lessons are designed to introduce the task with a visual and some background information, but then get students started on a thinking task right away. This makes me think about how I might want to use the IM slides and workbook. I found that students did not always need to use the workbook. I will be looking for ways to introduce the task verbally and then use the slides to give the important details that students need for solving the tasks on whiteboards. Finally, I am thinking about how to use the IM practice problems and additional practice problems as “check your understanding” questions. I want to make sure that the answers are available to students and families so that they can have the opportunity to take ownership of their learning.
ReplyDeleteThe number of questions teachers are asked! No wonder my brain is tired at the end of the school day! It was very freeing to have permission to walk away while smiling, knowing this actually promotes thinking in the classroom. I think, as teachers, we feel the need to support as much as possible, but much of it may be counterproductive to our goals with our students. One thing that resonated with me is how the IM curriculum really embraces all of the principles in this book. This spring, when I was piloting a chapter, my coach and I taught a lesson and had the students do one of the IM tasks up on the wipe books, which completely changed the collaboration and engagement of the students. It was nice to see more of the philosophy behind this decision in chapter 6. The chapter on homework was very interesting and made me feel better about IM not really having a homework component. I like the idea of "check your understanding" questions. This might be something to incorporate during morning work with some of the additional problems that are provided in the units.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed these chapters! Chapter 5 reflected what I experienced with my larger groups of 8-10 students in the resource room as far as the prevalence of proximity questions, stop-thinking questions, and keep-thinking questions. I appreciated the research around being transparent with not answering questions after this has been done for a while - a great reminder that we don't want students to think we are asking their permission. What resonated with me from Chapter 6 was starting a lesson with rich engagement when energy is high - so many times I have struggled to keep their attention as the teaching block progresses, and I look forward to experimenting with standing, giving a task earlier, and giving a task verbally not just in math (where I will be pushing in) but in my reading and writing blocks. Chapter 7 resonated with me the most because I have long felt that homework as we typically use it is problematic at best. As a parent of 3 children with ADHD it was a decades-long evening battle that I would never wish on any family. As a teacher, I see the inequities in which students have the time and resources to complete it. Liljedahl's data was very validating, and his answer to parents asking for homework was almost exactly what I told a parent on the last day of school when they asked for summer homework! :)
ReplyDeleteI am really challenged to try the what do you think more of type of problems than the stop thinking type of problems. While it is more difficult as often they come with work to do or with an agenda already I want to see if i can try and find more tasks that involve estimating, discussing with each other, physically moving numbers on post- its around. Trying to have them doing more with each other and their white boards while talking and thinking together.
ReplyDeleteThis section of the book has really challenged me about how I want give tasks. I like steering away from children at desks, which has become so routine. Having students standing, loosely clustered around the teacher, creating higher energy seems so simple and a positive way to go away from th enorm and encourage engagement. I really am enjoying the practical tips of the book.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree about the practicality of the tips and teacher moves provided in this book.
DeleteThese chapters were pure gold and something I really really needed to read prior to starting a new school year. There are so decisions made and questions answered in a typical day, that oftentimes, even as an extroverted people-lover, I find myself craving a closed classroom door at the end of the day so I can manage my overstimulated mind. Chapter 5 had so many takeaways for me, particularly around the strategies and language to use with "stop thinking" and "proximity" style questions. Some of the things I will try right away this year are managing my proximity to students during tasks and assessments, as well as using the practical strategy provided of answering "stop thinking" questions with a question to help students think for themselves.
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