Math Questions

Allowing the time and space for students to work through contextualized math problems is what stood out most to me in our class this week as well as in the readings (Reinhart, 2000; Herbert & Brown, 2000).  Space is the multiple entry points good math problems can provide, and I think that by encouraging small groups to work together with a variety of materials even more space and entry points are provided.  One of the readings (Reinhart) emphasized the importance of allowing some time in the beginning for students to work independently and then work together.  I appreciated this point because I think it is an important part of providing multiple opportunities for students to participate.  The independent work at the beginning is more time to think about the math and provide the space for independent ideas to be generated that can be shared and tried out in the group discussion that follows, even encouraging some metacognition as the student thinks about what they know and what they want to know.

As I engage in a mental wrestling match with the iPod Touch, I wonder more about how it can be used to aid learning and I wonder if it can be used as a tool for this larger question I have had over this week's math class and readings: How do we document progress in learning using these mathematics techniques of group work, questioning and communication?  Maybe digital technology can help.  Because when a student is working as a small group discussing and working with manipulatives together, questioning their classmate's ideas as they deepen their own understandings, how do I document this?  Maybe I could record their communication of ideas to the group?  Take pictures of how they show their thinking?  Should I just go ahead and do written summative assessments along with this complex style of teaching?

I definitely appreciate how what we have been studying this week, especially the importance of student questions in their own learning has brought up many of my own questions, and I will absolutely utilize questions as a learning resource and tool in classrooms.