Q4 - My students play math games almost daily. Many times, I will introduce a new game in a whole group setting and then allow my students to practice/play on their own. As mentioned in the text, I can also have the students play games during my group. This would be a slight shift of my norm. Chapter 5 explained the importance of taking notes during all groups. I need to improve with my notes on how students are progressing with their games. If they play a game periodically during my station, I could easily take notes during this time and also re-teach if needed. 

Chapter 7:
Q2 - Now that we are further into the year, I try to devote more time into having students find more than one way to solve a problem. At the beginning of the year, we focus in various ways to solve a problem. We learned about several strategies, so it is much easier for my first graders to prove their thinking now. One way to improve in my classroom is to have students begin to do this more independently without me having to ask them to try it a different way. Additionally, there are times when I feel like they give up on the second way since they already showed one way. 

Q5 - Knowing your students’ mathematical disposition is critical for success in your classroom, as well as into their future education. I try to create warm, inviting environment where everyone can feel safe and respected to share their thoughts. My goal is to provide a place for all students to feel confident and be successful in our classroom (can be applied to all content areas). I do have students “wrestle with problems” frequently, but in my reflection, I need to do a better job with my scaffolding. I do see some students quickly giving up on themselves and not being able to persevere to complete the task. I need to balance how much help I give versus letting them “wrestle” without feeling too negatively about themselves. 

I love watching student use manipulatives in math because it gives me an insight into their thinking. I can evaluate if a student is understanding a math concept or not by watching how they use manipulatives. Moreover, I can also see if students are using manipulative to help them solve problems or using them as a crutch (don’t really have a concept of the problem).  Another benefit is that manipulatives give students a platform to take abstract problems and turn them into concert. 

 

4. How often do you play games in your guided math groups lessons?

I really don’t play games in my guided math lessons. In fact, I am struggling this year to even teach many of the Everyday Math games. I feel pressured to teach the concept in the math lesson and have little time to teach the games. I also have a fear of students playing the games wrong, and in turn reinforce wrong skills. I also focus in my guided math groups on teaching concept a gradual release model. In reflecting on this chapter, guided math groups may be a great solution to teaching more math games. I could also use guided math groups to differentiate games so all students can play the same games independently. 

 

Chapter 7:
1. How much time do you spend on building conceptual understanding of the topics you teach?

I feel like this is where I get myself in trouble. I spend way too much time on trying to build conceptual understanding which eats into my guided math groups and teaching games. 

 

2. How much time do you build in for students to prove their thinking in more than one way? How might you improve on this?

I spend a good amount of time on giving students opportunities to share their thinking. I purposefully call on multiple students to share different ways they solved a problem. I also have students model their thinking and explain how they solved the problem in front of others. 

Chapter 7- I use Math Talks in my whole group and small groups. I love the way that Math Talks focuses students on explaining their thinking to their peers. I especially use this during whole group times and try to have a high, med, and low student explain how they solved the same problems. This gives all students the chance to see multiple ways to solve a problem. This was my favorite quote so far in this book, “Mathematica proficient is way more than just knowing how to do something. It is an attitude, a way of thinking, a style of engagement mixed in with understanding and knowing how to do stuff” (Newton, p. 86). 

 

Response to Tim: Chapter 6- I too love manipulatives. It really helps students work out problems in their head. It’s interesting to see what types of manipulative students use to solve problems. At the beginning of the year, most of my students used counting bears and liking cubs, but now most are shifting to the number grid. It gives me a good insight into evaluating which students are thinking of numbers more abstractly and which still need very concrete examples. 

Chapter 7- It’s totally the self-fulfilling prophecy. If you think you can, you can. If you think you can’t, you won’t. Students that have a positive self-fulfilling prophecy will persist even if it’s challenging. It’s something that is so hard to instill in children, and adults. This year, I have made the focus of my entire classroom environment all about “it’s ok to make mistakes, we all make them”. I make it a point to always share with my students when I mess-up and that it’s ok, I will just have to try again. I am seeing this in my students. There are vocalizing that they made a mistake and are going to try again.