Have you ever wondered how to further encourage a mathematical mindset in your classroom? If so, join us for a four week book study of Mathematical Mindsets: Unleashing Students’ Potential Through Creative Math, Inspiring Messages and Innovative Teaching, by Jo Boaler. We will explore the book’s recommendations on questioning for deep understanding, setting mathematical norms, and lesson design. Also, we will learn more about the power of brain elasticity, mistake-valuing, and student wonder for math.
Q0 - @mrsjulienelson and I welcome you to tonight's chat!
Please introduce yourself and what you teach. What's your favorite math concept to teach?
#d25mathmindsets
Intro-Hi, I’m Kathy Brady, second grade teacher from Greenbrier. I’ve always enjoyed our unit on money because we set up a “store” where students can buy items, make change, etc.#d25MathMindsets
Annalise Caudill - 4th grade at Ivy! My favorite concepts to teach are area/perimeter or data because of all the real world applications/problems that can be used. #d25MathMindsets
A0: Katie Heidrick- 5th grade. My favorite concept to teach is algebra. It feels like a puzzle and challenge each time. You feel so good once you've solved for the variable! #d25mathmindsets
Q0 - Vicky Stella, ALF at Windsor. My favorite math concept to teach lately is the Golden Ratio / Fibonacci numbers. We did some work in @AmyPinski and @alisonberg25's math classes based on the lessons in the grade 4 Mathematical Mindsets book - it's amazing! #d25mathmindsets
A1:This past year the Ss made up a lot of their own math story problems, that they shared with their classmates and made into a class book. It was fun for them to create and visually represent their stories.#d25MathMindsets
A1: Yes! I find myself thinking over and over again.. "Oh I hope I don't do/ say that!" It is making me reflect on my own practices and how I can be equitable in the math world! #d25mathmindsets
Q1: Definitely! It's making me rethink how I've viewed my advanced *and* struggling students. I fear we lower the bar too much in the US. We need to raise it to reach more students. #d25mathmindsets
Agree! I've been thinking about that whole idea of "new math" - but isn't it really just making people think more during the process, and not just crunch numbers? Maybe that's why parents find it so challenging? #d25mathmindsets
It's got to be a Math Mindset Revolution and I think it could take YEARS! Parents (and many teachers) are still focused on the numbers aspect of math. How do we even begin to change that?? #d25mathmindsets
A2: By giving your Ss the chance to work together, training them to be respectful and good listeners, and creating a classroom climate of acceptance and all and freedom to make mistakes.#d25MathMindsets
A2: Offering all students high-level content, cultivating a culture of growth and as a teacher trying not to show your own math anxiety. #d25mathmindsets
A2: Heterogeneous groupings are key! I like the idea of switching groups and group roles often so that students are consistently working with new group members and have access to new types of thinking. #d25MathMindsets
A2: Overcoming inequities using low floor, high ceiling tasks, group work. I need to change my view on prerequisite knowledge - IOW, give kids a change to figure things out in their own way. #d25mathmindsets
A2:I really like the when Jo talks about offering all students high level content. I think it's so easy to assume that different content is appropriate for different students, but if you never have access to the content you never get a chance to try and learn! #d25mathmindsets
A2: Thanks, Julie! This is a challenge for me though...especially when many students struggle in many areas - language, number sense, etc. It's hard to watch the little ones struggle :-( I want to give them opportunities for success! #d25mathmindsets
A3: I see the struggle that it can be for many students and the conflicts that it can cause at home. Some of the MIF trainings had tips on hw similar to Boaler such as, giving 1 problem or reflective questions, which seem more valuable. #d25MathMindsets
A3: This past year was the first year I did not give any homework. At first there was questioning from a few parents, but once they understood the reasoning behind the decision, they were on board. I didn’t see any difference in student achievement. #d25MathMindsets
A3: HW is not necessary. I loved Boaler's focus on preserving family relationships and spending time reflecting on math. Try asking, “What was the main idea of what you learned today?” #d25mathmindsets
A3: Instead of typical homework, try asking, “What is something you are struggling with or have questions about? How could the ideas from today’s lesson be used in life?” Great suggestions from Boaler! #d25mathmindsets
A3: I struggle with this question every year! I believe in setting a routine for students to be responsible (ie: I need to remember to do something at home and then come back tmrw with it done) but I try to give 5 problems or less and have it be review. #d25mathmindsets
A3: Thanks to math HW, I tutor a lot of students. Parents & students get so frustrated and confused (esp. w/ Everyday Math)...they can’t bear to fight the battle every single night. #d25mathmindsets
A3: To be clear though, I do not like math homework and I believe a lot of times it causes unnecessary frustrations at home. We work very hard all math hour and then came and continue that journey each day at school! #d25mathmindsets
Thanks for sharing the results of this year. I was wondering what the reaction and effect on achievement would be and it's great to hear your positive results. #d25mathmindsets
A3: Yes! I liked the idea of the flipped classroom (go back to the Kristy days! @kristycsensich). Let kids use their time at home to listen to or learn a new concept then spend class time applying/discussing it. #d25mathmindsets
A4: I plan to find/create as many complex instructional tasks as possible for my second grade Ss. I’m looking forward to using this model more this year, and in a more structured way to help all Ss be successful in the math tasks.#d25MathMindsets
A4: One change will be how to approach some of the problems in the MIF textbook. The instruction is so textbook heavy, so I plan to use more group problem solving, rather than just go through the examples given. #d25MathMindsets
A4: This year I would like to get back to the basics of using more of a wrkshp model in math. Allowing students to have access to open ended tasks, offering choice in their work time, meeting with students during that time based on formative assessments.. #d25mathmindsets
A4: Assigning competence is be so impactful with my students. I’ll often ask a question starting with, “Who wants to be brave and try to answer that?” It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy; if they answer it, they’re brave! Works every time ;-) #d25mathmindsets
A5: By creating heterogeneous groups and low floor, high ceiling tasks, Tt can encourage collaboration. Also, using the group roles explained in Ch. 7 and lots of practice and modeling.#d25MathMindsets
A5: Group norms are important to establish so that collaborative problem solving can take place. I like the idea of creating a like/don't like list with Ss before working in groups. Assigning roles also encourages all Ss to contribute to the group. #d25MathMindsets
A5: @mrsjulienelson ...you took the words out of my mouth! Making math REAL to students is the most powerful thing I can do. They need to know this isn't just work for the sake of work.#d25mathmindsets
A5 - I always liked the "looks like", "sounds like" anchor charts that I did based on cooperative grouping, and see those working well for collaborating problem solving. Just tweaking the prompt a little bit can really help the Ss understand what we expect. #d25mathmindsets
A5: Make sure the task is open ended and challenging. It should allow for different students in the group to suggest different things. We need to be intentional with the problems we give so students are required to collaborate. It doesn't come natural always #d25mathmindsets
A6: One strategy for small groups that I use is that my back table is open for anyone that needs support...Ss can work there the whole time or come and go as needed. I've never been a fan of ability groups that rotate through my back table. #d25MathMindsets
A6: I’ve been using the guided math groups(homogeneous) model for a while, but last year the class worked better with heterogeneous groupings. We did more collaborative work w/ MIF.#d25MathMindsets
A6: I plan to continue with this heterogeneous model, spending time with groups/individual students as necessary to guide them to help each other learn the concepts.#d25mathmindsets
I agree - there aren't answer keys on the youcubed tasks, which is great, but uncomfortable! Kids want to know if they're "right,"...but I have to solve them myself and we all are open to many possibilities. #d25mathmindsets
A6: It's been a while since I taught a heterogeneous group! My life has been about the those who excel or those who struggle! Small group is my thing! It's its own challenge. #d25mathmindsets
A6: I've toyed with different types of small groups and ultimately it comes down to what my students needs are that day. Depending on that I form groups to meet with (it could be as small as 1 kid) to meet the needs of all students. #d25mathmindsets
A7: I spoke with my own high school and college age kids about their experience with math group work. They did not like it, saying they often “didn’t get it”, but wouldn’t admit it, and couldn’t wait to go home and “figure it out on their own”.#d25MathMindsets
A7: I’m so eager to hear how I might apply some of Boaler’s insights to the young learners...those who struggle with understanding number sense, basic concepts like more/less. These are the critical years!! #d25mathmindsets
A7: I think we're lucky to have the students early in their school careers. I realize some of the "damage" is already done, but if we can undo it early on, we can set them on a path with a Growth Mindset! #d25mathmindsets
A8: I’m looking forward to using many open ended, low floor, high ceiling math tasks. Will be looking at resources listed in our book. Some of the MIF “thinking cap” tasks worked for us last year.#d25MathMindsets
