September 28th, 2020
This week in class, I have learned many valuable things that I am going to do my best to in cooperate in my classroom.
The first thing we went over in class is the use of students skills. Our professor mentioned an interesting idea relating to how student’s skills can be over looked. This idea was presented in relation to languages. Students come to school with their language skills and we recognize that, but sometime forget it is a skill they have. Often times students have different mathematical skills, but they can over looked based off of what the teacher needs the student to understand, in order to assess and test them. This idea resonated with me because I had never thought about it before. Students have so many skills and ideas, and I think it is so important that as teachers, we try our best to incorporate our students prior knowledge so that they can continue to build. The focus should be more on developing knowledge, instead of “teaching the test”. Using student’s strengths and skills will empower students to continue learning, instead of just having them memorize to pass the test.
Next, during our discussion circle, some great points were highlighted. This week, we focused on the “entry phase” of solving problems. This phase recognizes the importance of breaking down a question and looking at what is given, what needs to be solved, and some strategies that may be useful to solve the problem. This phase is often overlooked, as people tend to just jump into the “attack phase” of solving the problem. Like I mentioned in class, I very much value the “entry phase”. When I was in elementary school, the entry phase was never taught or encouraged, and my grades and understanding suffered. When I entered high school, my math teacher encouraged the entry phase, and took the time to teach it. Learning this skill, my grades started to go up, and my understanding also increased. It is so important for student to learn to slow down, and look at what information the question provides, what you are trying to solve, etc. Learning this skill will not only set the student up for success in math, but other problem solving in life.
I think that there a few things I am going to do in my classroom to ensure the “entry phase” is being used.
· Have my class break down the question together, using guiding questions of the entry phase
· Have a list of the steps to solve a problem listed in my classroom, and include the entry phase and questions they can ask themselves
· If a student’s comes to me for help, ask them the entry phase question (what do you know, what do you want, what do you introduce) so that they break it down as I am helping them
· Start every morning with a problem solving question and have them break down the question using the entry phase
After engaging with this week’s class, I have been thinking more about how to introduce some problem solving strategies in my classroom. The video below mentions some different problem solving skills that students can use. The video really encourages students to break down the question and recognize what the question is giving, in terms of information, numbers, etc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1M7rQonNYdA
I look forward to posting again in a few weeks!
-Sydney
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