Teach Students to Ask Questions

Came up to Fredericton to attend 'Tech or Treat' virtual conference.

Everyone should check out Dan Rothstein's talk - "The Simplest and Most Powerful Learning Technology: Teach Students to Ask Their Own Questions."

I set up my students in math class so that they get the opportunity to work with other students that are at a similar level in whatever big concept that we are working with. This allows them to work collaboratively at their own pace, which helps me differentiate instruction while maintaining my sanity in my class.

One great thing that has happened is that students seem much more comfortable at asking questions to students who are at a similar level. The major difference, however, is the level of question posed by the different groups.

Some groups -usually the ones in which students are more comfortable with the concept in question- will ask questions such as:
"Why did you do it this way?"
"Wouldn't this work better?"
"What's the first step to do this?"

The students who have less comfort or mastery of a concept will often ask the following question:
"How do you do this?"

The last question usually leads to one student telling another how to solve the entire problem. Very little learning occurs.

I'm thinking I can maybe use Dan's ideas to help my students ask deeper questions and to answer questions in a more open way.

Not quite homework ...

Homework is getting a pretty bad name lately, and for good reason. I am not a fan of homework.

However, I do think that (homework) extending classroom learning at home can be useful/necessary for certain students. If a student is struggling with a certain topic in our math class, I will often ask them to spend some time on it at home. What's even better, is when they request it themselves. But this is individualized work and the student and the parents are always involved. In addition, students can visit my class blog for some tutorial videos if they want to. And finally, I always check in with them once a week or so. Not homework in the traditional sense ... learning from home.

This year, I am going one step further, and all because of a comment made by a parent last year. She pointed out that people seem OK with saying that they suck at math. Or students that say, 'my parents weren't good at math either.' We need a culture change. You don't hear people happily talk about being illiterate. Numeracy skills should be the same.

I want my students to think about Math and Number Sense outside of school. Start with the small stuff: how much time is left in a TV show, how much time it will take you to reach your destination in a car, how much tip you should leave.

I want to encourage them to talk about it in class or on a blog ... its a work in progress. But it's obvious to me that something needs to change. Not quite homework, just learning out of the classroom. It's a tool, and I think it can be useful.

Why it took me so long to write my first blog

Over the past few years, I've read a lot of blogs written by teachers and administrators listing great reasons stating why all educators should be blogging. It's reflective. Its PLC on a global scale. It encourages critical thinking. It encourages collaboration. Its a real-world learning experience. I learn so much from the blogs that I read and I have always wanted to be a part of the discussion. Maybe my experiences could help someone else ... maybe I could make people think ... maybe I could connect with someone out there. In theory, I have wanted to blog for a while. In practice, I have not been able to do it. Time was never the reason ... it was always about content. I would sit in front of my computer trying to find something to blog about.

Today, I was reflecting about my students who struggle to collaboratively solve problems in my math classes - their instinct often pushes them to ask me how to do it. But I want them to want to figure it out without me -- work at it with other students. Quite often, the issue is not the problem in front of them, it comes from the fact that they lack a deep enough understanding of a previous skill necessary for them to use logic and teamwork to find a new solution. I always tell my students to 'use what they already know' but that is a huge obstacle if they are unable to extrapolate previous knowledge because of a lack of understanding.

Students who struggle with their basic math facts (ie. 6x6), for example, often struggle to understand how to find the perfect square of the number 6. They might be able to memorize that it is 36, but they wont understand why. This means that if they ever forget '36' they might not have the tools to discover it again. My job is to help students discover tools and strategies that they can later use to find solutions to new questions. They might never need to know that the perfect square of 6 is 36 again, but I think that they should know how to find it if they ever need to. Maybe they'll build a deck one day and need Pythagorean Theorem to square it up.

So today I didn't think about what to blog, but rather why I struggle at finding something to blog about. And it hit me: I can not remember a time in my life when I have enjoyed writing. I have rarely chosen to write something. I have been told to write, but without being given a topic to work from, I always struggled to start the process. I needed focus and direction. I have never even enjoyed crosswords, word-searches or scrabble. When I want to get my brain working, I do a sudoku puzzle or look for patterns and puzzles online. I need to want to blog to be able to do it. I need to take pride in it. I need to enjoy it.

I enjoy the irony that comes with blogging about not being able to blog ... it makes me smile.

So now I'm a blogger. A newbie at best, but it's a start for me.

Maybe someone feels or has felt the same way about blogging (or anything else for that matter) and maybe this will help. I know it's been fun and a huge learning experience for me.

And now I want to keep doing it ... almost instantly my head is flooding with other things I have to share with the world.