The article "Turning Traditional Textbook Problems into Open-Ended Problems"by Kabiri and Smith talks a lot about the same concepts. It is important for children to be responsible for their own learning and be put to a challenge rather than passively sitting there. However, this article brings attention to the idea of challenging all different types of learners. The article mentions that most teachers aim towards the needs of middle learners (versus lower or higher). By using open-ended questions instead of traditional questions, learners of all levels can work out the answer in their own way. I know that many textbooks create open-ended questions, but even if they don't teachers can find problems to manipulate to be more open-ended. Having students do open-ended questions makes them feel more comfortable at their level while also putting them in the driver's seat of their own learning. It gives students the opportunity to discuss and work out problems both with other students and on their own.
I have noticed that my MT has encouraged a lot of participation when she teaches math lessons. She likes the students to ask questions and work out problems while she teaches. She knows that she will lose the students attention if she lectures for long. Students do not learn well just sitting there listening. I have not noticed if my MT has tried to use many open-ended questions within her classroom, but I know it would be helpful with the amount of different levels throughout the classroom.
My MT has also really puts a strong emphasis on the students in her class actively participating. The article "Turning Traditional Textbook Problems into Open-Ended Problems"by Kabiri and Smith talks about how teachers tend to direct their lessons towards "middle learners" which was something that I think is often true. However, my MT works hard to make special accommodations towards both low end and high end learners. She gives some of the children in her class extra practice problems for when they complete their work. This helps keep children who are advanced more challenged. She says the extra problems come from the upcoming chapter. The children who need extra help are children that she pulls aside during their reading time. She uses this time opportunity to work one-on-one with her struggling students. I have also seen her use the MSU students that volunteer in her class to take extra time with the children who seem to be struggling on that particular chapter. It seems like she really uses the resources she has which is very admirable.
ReplyDeleteI also really agree with Hannah that the strategies from the "Never Say Anything a Kid Can Say" by Reinhart were really helpful and interesting to read about. I think that we often times do some of these things without even realizing we are cutting children off so it is important to be aware of this and utilize the strategies we can to keep children engaged in their learning for the best experiences possible.
In this week’s readings there was much information about teaching in a way that is not typical of many teachers. This is first through presenting problems in different ways, both changing them to be open-ended as discussed in “Turning Traditional Textbook Problems into Open Ended Problems” by Kabiri and Smith as well as change them so that it is clear that the equal sign means equivalent and not only that the sum or difference of two numbers but it really means that the two sides are equivalent. The Reinhart article "Never Say Anything a Kid Can Say" suggests that teachers, while teaching a math lesson, should encourage the children to be more interactive and engaged in the lesson by encouraging their discussion and higher level thinking, the teacher does not accept the first answer but delves deeper into the problem.
DeleteThere is many ways that I believe the children in my classroom would benefit from these types of lessons. The kindergarten students in my classroom do not deal with open-ended problems but would benefit from using them as it would allow them to expand their math processing skills and push the students beyond the level that is currently expected of them. Also within my classroom there is a great range of math skills amongst the students. Therefore students in this classroom would especially benefit from activities that allow for a great range of participation and success amongst different levels of children. An example of this is that when the children experience open-ended questions they can participate at a level that will challenge them but not be too challenging for most levels of students. The children could also expand their participation by taking part in math discussions that expand the original thoughts of all of the students. Students who did not understand originally may gain a greater understanding through others comments (as students are most likely able to understand other students’ explanations more easily than the teachers). Students who are operating at a higher level of thinking than others on average can talk through their thoughts and build upon others thoughts.
I believe that these readings would be beneficial for my classroom and really expand the thinking of all levels of students and would allow for more differentiated instruction, so that those who are excelling can continue and excel and those who are struggling are still being challenged and given the opportunity for success. I agree with Hannah in that I believe it would be beneficial in many ways to present these opportunities for students within a classroom and would take these actions in my own future classroom.