In order to achieve this ideal of not solving every question for our students, there are many skills a teacher can use to ensure this kind of higher-level thinking is attainable. Throughout the class so far we have been exposed to a number of these strategies. One of the most important tactics I have come to identify is student wait time. This concept goes hand in hand with the idea that we naturally want to help our struggling students. By resisting this urge and giving our students an extended amount of wait time, an increasing amount of students are able to confidently come to a conclusion. Not all students are able to comprehend questions at the same speed, so if teachers are only to wait for the first student to solve the problem and then give their answer, the rest of the students are robbed of the chance to explain their thinking and come to a full understanding. I myself dealt with this struggle in school, as I was one of the slower processing students. However teachers were not accustomed to waiting for all students to come to a conclusion, so as soon as the quickest students were able to provide an answer, the class was moving on and I typically would move on without gaining a full understanding of this concept. The main issue here is that in math, each problem is likely to build off of the previous problem. So when a student does not understand one concept, it is as though they are missing one part of the puzzle piece they need in order to fully comprehend the subject matter.
Another great practice for encouraging student comprehension is the use of manipulatives. I feel as though manipulatives carry somewhat of a stigma that only students with a poor understanding of math should need to use them. As our textbook notes, they can be used for a variety of purposes, but most effectively to explain their thinking in a concrete way. In class, we incorporated the use of base ten blocks to some fairly simple equations, however the blocks helped to develop deeper meaning than the simply adding the ones column, and then the tens column. This method helped to create a solid foundation of place value.
A final tactic I feel is noteworthy, is the idea of students engaging with each other to develop an understanding of their reasoning. We were given a great example of a class who was able to call out “agree” or “disagree” without fear of hurting a child’s feelings. I feel as though this type of constructive criticism is highly beneficial to students who may develop a great deal more understanding in learning what they did incorrectly, rather than coming to the correct conclusion immediately. Conversely, having students explain their thinking and defend the ways in which they came to their conclusion provides us as teachers with a great deal of information about the way a student thinks. This information can be particularly beneficial when it comes to assessment, or planning lessons to meet the needs of our students.
Another great practice for encouraging student comprehension is the use of manipulatives. I feel as though manipulatives carry somewhat of a stigma that only students with a poor understanding of math should need to use them. As our textbook notes, they can be used for a variety of purposes, but most effectively to explain their thinking in a concrete way. In class, we incorporated the use of base ten blocks to some fairly simple equations, however the blocks helped to develop deeper meaning than the simply adding the ones column, and then the tens column. This method helped to create a solid foundation of place value.
A final tactic I feel is noteworthy, is the idea of students engaging with each other to develop an understanding of their reasoning. We were given a great example of a class who was able to call out “agree” or “disagree” without fear of hurting a child’s feelings. I feel as though this type of constructive criticism is highly beneficial to students who may develop a great deal more understanding in learning what they did incorrectly, rather than coming to the correct conclusion immediately. Conversely, having students explain their thinking and defend the ways in which they came to their conclusion provides us as teachers with a great deal of information about the way a student thinks. This information can be particularly beneficial when it comes to assessment, or planning lessons to meet the needs of our students.