Second problem reads:

The diameter of Mars is 6.8 x 10³ kilometers. The diameter of Earth is about 1.2763 x 10⁴ km. Find how much greater is Earth's diameter than the diameter of Mars?

Second problem reads:

Hunter and his cousin Peter wants to build a large square flower garden. They are told the biggest they can go is 121 ft².Hunter finds 4 12ft long planks of wood and says there is enough wood to build a 121 ft² garden area. Peter says it is not enough. Who is correct? Show work and explain your answer.

We are working on elaborations and they are encouraged to say it in Spanish if unable to find the correct words in English. I or homeroom teacher would say it back in English for the student.

Even when they get the correct answer and I see the work shown correctly on their paper, they are unable to tell me how they got there.

In addition, when asked to go back and reference their notes, they skim back multiple pages although the topic was just taught that day or recently.

There are no questions that students would be able to earn partial credit.

• Contact Mr. Vuthy Tim at Lorbeer to ask for tips and possibly observe. 

  • She states he does a fantastic job at getting students in expanding and explaining their reasoning

• Observe an AVID class when they work on tutorials

  • Ripley says that the AVID teachers and tutors do a great job in guiding students with doing tutorials. Tutorials provoke higher-level thinking in small group settings and is student-led

Suggestions:

• Graphic organizers, especially when introducing new concepts

• Have to try out different kinds to see what works with the students and topic at hand

What did I learn:

• Small group collaborative strategy that promotes student discussion and critical thinking

• Focus student shares a "Point of Confusion" and discusses the steps they took to solve the problem and share steps they have taken to try to understand the problem

• Strategy places emphasis in academic dialogue and understanding rather than receiving direct answers

What did I learn:

• Prioritize vocabulary in three ways: visually (wall and notes), verbally, and in writing

• Use KWL charts to create a visual brainstorm to organize thoughts before writing responses

• Most effective strategy w/ CER: Use it as a whole-class discussion using student samples of both “strong” and “needs improvement” examples so students can see what high-quality reasoning looks like

What did I learn:

• Helps students become more familiar with different components of a word problem

• Encourages structured mathematical discussion

• As students verbalize their thinking, they can clarify before transitioning to written explanations

What did I learn:

• Structured problem-solving framework designed to support students in analyzing and solving word problems

• Promotes clarity and can help improve cognitive thinking when approaching multi-step word problems

• Graphic organizer, but can wean students off that support as they internalize the structure and thinking process

• Every student improved

• 4 students met goal (+6 from original score)

• 5 students missed the goal by 1 point

I think that the students scored as they did because I implemented at least one of the strategies each week. Sometimes it was twice a week. Students became more familiar with what to do and how to do it. 

I believe that the student’s behavior throughout this whole inquiry hindered his chance of greater improvement. Instead of teaching him strategies to explain mathematical reasoning, I felt as if I was teaching him more behavior management instead.

Because he is heading off to high school, I would like to focus on him more in hopes that he will be able to internalize the strategies by the end of the school year. I will have to try moving his seat around to see where he focuses best.

This student is bright and is always willing to try out different strategies in order to understand what she is learning. She is one of the few students who actively reaches out during independent work time and asks for assistance/guidance if she is confused or lost. And then when she gets it, she gets it. She would, on her own, help out her peers at her table, going step-by-step on how to solve the problem using the strategy that was taught.

She does need some more weaning off when writing mathematical reasonings, but I believe she can get there by the end of the school year.

I was worried about Johan’s progress in the class, as was gone for a few weeks at the beginning of the semester and continued having spotty attendance. When he would be gone for however long, I or the classroom teacher would have to work overtime to try out best to catch him up. But despite language barriers and attendance issues, he is brilliant at math.

It takes him a bit to get the lesson, but once he gets it, he goes off on his own (occasionally calls me back to check his answers). If he works on his attendance 

I will also use structured routines such as think–pair–share to gradually build confidence in sharing ideas publicly.

I can also see and hear my students’ confidence growing when I ask them to elaborate on their answers. I hear fewer “I don’t know” responses during the period and receive less incomplete work.