How do you deliver math instruction to learners with a range of skills within the same group? The range I'm speaking about goes from adding two digits with no regrouping to calculating long division to using order of operations to solve equations.
More importantly,
why do we limit our group math instruction
to just three math problems?
For the past 9 years, we've been posting three math problems on the board twice daily. But, we didn't always do this.
In 2010, we used problems from One Minute Math. This book featured 100 pages with ten problems per page. The focus was on getting comfortable with numbers, exploring mathematical relationships, and picking up speed. The problems in this book covered the range of concepts necessary to pass the lower-level TABE tests (Test of Adult Basic Education) and CCRS (College Career Readiness Standards). And, this book touted that these ten problems could be completed within one (or two) minutes. What was not to love about the math problems in these books.
We started by putting just five problems on the board. You know, giving us a thirty-second math warm up.
What happened, however, was our group took thirty minutes to do five problems. After weeks of spending so much time on only five problems, we cut back to three problems. We reminded learners that these problems could be done in less than twenty seconds (after recording them in their notebooks, of course). Regardless, we took twenty minutes to do just three problems. Twenty minutes seemed like a long enough time to build and refresh concepts.
The Point
We had to rethink why we were doing the math work on the board. What was the point? We determined that the point was not for learners to copy the problems from the board and then corner tutors to tell them how to do the problems.
Rather, the point was...for learners to talk with other learners to get input from each other. Learners' tasks were to ask questions. Offer ideas. Explain decisions.
We wanted to increase this behavior. So, we put the learners "on the spot." Or, should I say, in the spotlight. Learners took on the teaching role. One learner would go up to the board, select one of the math problems listed on the board, and then explain how to do the problem. We would all see, hear, and question the presentation. Other learners would explain (or teach) the other problems.
The Result - watching or interacting?
We were looking for engagement that got learners to be in charge and in control of their learning. In this way, learners could take on the role of teachers. Tutors were just there to guide learners as they thought and shared and offer alternative ways of thinking.
This teaching method - spotlighting learners as teachers - gave birth to engagement that included learners asking and exploring, "What parts don't make sense?" Group note pages were also outcomes from these teaching moments by these learners.
The result? Learners of all levels were engaged - actively interacting, rather than just watching.
This instructional model was akin to the one-room schoolhouse. Lower-level mathematicians were exposed to higher levels of math. Higher-level mathematicians grew their understandings by explaining and interpreting questions. Win-win situation.
How are you engaging learners
in your math program?
