A1. Modeling tasks require students to make active decisions as part of an iterative process while story problems are more linear. Modeling tasks require refinement of an answer while story problems usually have one right answer (and often one right strategy). #octmchat
A1 I think modeling tasks allow children more freedom in their strategies and get them to think deeper about their actual model or representation. Plus, a good modeling tasks allows space for children to see themselves in the task. #octmchat
A1. Modeling tasks require students to make active decisions as part of an iterative process while story problems are more linear. Modeling tasks require refinement of an answer while story problems usually have one right answer (and often one right strategy). #octmchat
A1 Students make better connections when they are given the chance to model tasks. They really put MP#1 to use and construct their own meaning. #octmchat
A1: When I gave students take like @joboaler Week of Inspirational Math they were much more engaged and collaborated together than a typical word problem. I also got more variation in solutions. #octmchat
A1. Couldn't students see themselves in story problem tasks just as well, though? Students could write a problem utilizing mathematics about themselves. Modeling isn't a necessity here. #octmchat
A1: When I gave students take like @joboaler Week of Inspirational Math they were much more engaged and collaborated together than a typical word problem. I also got more variation in solutions. #octmchat
A1 modeling tasks are more open ended and give kids opportunities to use various strategies. Traditional story problems have a connotation that they’re step by step ways to solve them #octmchat
A1. If we take a traditional story problem and remove the goal/question of the problem, this seems to invite problem-posing. If we instead remove what's given but keep the goal/question, this seems to invoke modeling. Do others agree? #octmchat
#octmchat A3: I was surprised that the money tasks were among the least engaging. I mistakenly thought most middle schoolers were motivated by that sort of thing.
A3. I find it challenging that engagement must be tied to something utilitarian/contextual. Engagement can equally come from exploration of a 'pure' math task. #octmchat
I do think it can depend on the content and your group of students. Some students drew on money contexts a lot when learning about negative numbers. #octmchat
#octmchat A3: I was surprised that the money tasks were among the least engaging. I mistakenly thought most middle schoolers were motivated by that sort of thing.
A3: I applaud the use of context to introduce a concept/unit, as opposed to saving them until the end. I also appreciated that the students were more engaged in the imaginative tasks (Wumps vs. Imposters). I think I would be too! #octmchat
Hi Jodie. This idea really stuck out to me too because it was something that I hadn’t given too much thought to prior to reading the article. #octmchat
A1. In my own experience I have always learned better through modeling. This same applies to our students. They learn faster and quicker when a problem is modeled rather then having to learn through a work sheet or by solving traditional story problems. #octmchat
I continue to see this play out in my own middle school classes. Students seem to engage most deeply in the problems with a strong story line. #octmchat
Social justice-oriented tasks can be intriguing and so important in the math classroom, but it certainly takes some level of risk to implement them for the first time! #octmchat
I just had this conversation with Ts today. We, as math peeps, often don't understand why Ss don't appreciate the beauty of mathematics... perhaps this IS our challenge... but we can start by appealing to their need for relevance to get them to open the door, perhaps? #octmchat
