My guest blogger this week is a dear colleague of mine, Mickie Barrett. We have taught together for 4 years and share a mutual love of mathematics, Pinterest, and rigor in our classrooms.
Mathematical Discourse
I’ll admit it. I like a quiet classroom. I enjoy the low hum of students hard at work. There is something somewhere that makes us think that a quiet classroom full of working students means they are learning. I’m not sure where that comes from. Maybe from the days of classroom management equaling control equaling quiet. Maybe it’s just me.
I remember during my student teaching learning about setting up effective centers. I put in a lot of work to create the perfect set of activities for students to practice what they’d learned and explore extensions. When the time came for them to be engaged, they were. And it was loud. I was in a panic. I kept looking around for students to redirect, but they were all on task. Then, my cooperating teacher told me something I won’t soon forget. She said, “There are two types of noise, off task noise and on task noise. Which is this?” At that point, I realized they were doing exactly as I had hoped.
As a teacher, I’ve discovered I’m one of those people who is easily distracted. I find that when there is noise, I struggle to focus on small groups or individuals I’m working with. I tell students if I’m distracted, others probably are, too. Therefore, we need to always be aware of our volume and sensitive to the needs of others.
Which leads me to the conflict of mathematical discourse. The old methods of teaching expected students to sit quietly, practicing problems just modeled on the board. Recent work in mathematics calls for students to TALK, and talk often. Recently, I read a book titled What’s Math Got To Do With It? By Jo Boaler. In it, she details the benefits students gain from mathematical discourse. It’s no longer only about computation or finding a single correct answer. Allowing students to discuss their thinking and solutions involves them asking questions, creating models, justifying methods, in addition to calculating with procedures. They learn to communicate different ideas. Students discover their misconceptions and strengthen their learning by helping each other. All skills readily practiced in other content areas, but not traditionally math.
Jo Boaler (2015) starts her book by telling us that math is “the study of patterns” or “ a set of connected ideas”. Allowing students to explore these ideas together strengthens their communication, reasoning and inquiry skills. Students learn that they all have something to contribute, emphasizing success for all. They take more ownership for their learning and enjoy math more. Plus, teaching them to be flexible thinkers keeps them connected to the context of the situation, developing skills they can apply again. These all sound like amazing life-long skills to me, and who doesn’t want to send their students out the door with a pocket full of those?
So, how do those of us who like quiet manage the noise? Carefully. Teach students what appropriate discourse looks like. Ask them thought-provoking questions. Give them feedback that will encourage problem solving and celebrate their successes. Structure. There is a time and a place to have “on task noise”. This may seem like common sense, but I see teachers all the time struggle to find this balance. I know I do. But, if I can step back, watch and see authentic conversations and learning happening, then what’s the harm in a little noise, right? If I’m lucky, maybe I’ll hear a student who previously thought math was hard and they were bad at it declare, “I love math!”
Boaler, J. 2015. What’s Math Got To Do With It. Penguin Books. New York
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