In my classroom I want to create a culture that (1) is rich with engagement opportunities for every one in every class, (2) possesses a collaborative/social nature (in order to learn/deepen understanding/and showcase diversity-creativity of thought), and (3) every student feels supported through challenge- by me and their peers.
To share more detail and perspective about how I think about these aspects of creating the culture:
(1) is rich with engagement opportunities for every one in every class. This is on my mind during lesson design and while delivering the lesson. During class, I try to bring all voices in and limit those who have contributed before (unless it’s a question- questions are always allowed). I believe in addition to verbally sharing answers, the students’ voices can be shared through their written work (like writing in the OneNote) and board work (looking at their solution).
Historical aside: This is a value of mine that has emerged since joining EPS. In fact, here’s a snippet of my first observation ever at EPS from Sam in a Geometry class:
I was only in your class for 25 minutes, so I did not see the opening portion, but consider ways in which you can get students’ voices in the instruction. Maybe each student “owns” one of the vocab words and presents it to the class. Maybe have them brainstorm types of polygons before you reveal them. Always be thinking of ways to keep them curious and their minds firing! As an example, when you started talking about pi, their interest was sparked and the comments started to flow.
Being less reflective and appreciative of feedback than I am now, I glossed over that part of his observation.
Since then, I’ve matured and yearn to learn. Over the last 5 years, I have learned a lot about learning- from reading articles, attending conferences, listening to advice from Sam, Bart, and John, conversing with colleagues, and firsthand experiences in the classroom- and I am a big believer now of putting students in the driver’s seat. Giving them ownership increases engagement, comprehension, and retention of the information. With these great benefits, I must state the trade-off is time and pacing. So deciding when to allow for input versus directly sharing the thing is something to be thoughtfully considered.
(2) possesses a collaborative/social nature (in order to learn/deepen understanding/and showcase diversity-creativity of thought). Again on my mind during lesson design. Try to switch “modes” that allow for various configurations. Roughly 3-4 activities per class on average. Sometimes students are expected to work alone, then check in with table group/my answer. Sometimes students are expected to work with their table group (group problem set forcing collaboration). Sometimes students are expected to work at the whiteboard with limited markers per pair/group. Through all of this, I’m mindful not to emphasize speed of solving a problem- as I don’t believe speed is a pre-cursor to math success. And instead, I make sure to emphasize knowing why concepts work, to reinforce creativity, and seek a diversity of approaches. I believe math should feel do-able and that it is not something that originated out of nothing/”because I said so”. The social/collaborative nature naturally eases tensions and fears, when students are bought in. And these social moments of students working together can allow for play- which I value in relationship building.
(3) every student feels supported through challenge- by me and their peers. The relationship is built through countless non-math related conversations and the individual math related ones. Additionally, how I expect them to work together and how I trust them to make the right decisions helps with this. Making Visibly Random groups that rotate every 2 weeks through the fall trimester helps with this too- more on this below in CC#1. And I want students to leave class each day being able to recall moments of success and moments of challenge (combining my learner and achiever strengths).
For clarity, my definition of success in math class is not limited to content acquisition. It includes any progress on the math habits like: explaining a concept to the class, collaborating with a peer, working well in a (possibly random) group, visualizing a concept, communicating your thinking clearly through writing, asking a thoughtful question, creating a simple example to help you with a complex problem, etc… The structure holding all of these skills are the Math Habits of Mind. And a goal of mine is to become more consistent with building these into course structures like grades, assignments, and projects.
And for me, the engine that gets all of this going for each student is developing a relationship, being patient, and possessing an unwavering belief in them.