Using Questions to Focus our Learning
September is a busy time of year. After all of the planning and preparations, the students have arrived. We have been back to school for two or more weeks, and the routines are starting to gel. We can now roll up our sleeves and settle into another year of learning.
Not only do our students learn every year, but we do as educators as well. Each new year presents a new challenge and a new opportunity to grow. It is easy to become overwhelmed, and be tugged in so many directions that we are spinning our wheels. Instead, we can focus our learning by choosing a question to pursue. When I began my teaching career, I remember very distinctly the questions that consumed me. How is it that the students in front of me are unable to do the mathematics expected of them at this grade level? What occurred in their learning prior to this year that led to so many misunderstandings? And this led to the question that still motivates me today ...... how do children learn mathematics and how will I use that information to guide my students and impact my teaching?
Some questions to consider as we settle in:
What skills are foundational for the students as they begin the school year? How do we assess for foundational knowledge and how do we find time to fill in their gaps in understanding?
What routines can we put in place to allow for continual practice of concepts? How can those routines grow in complexity throughout the year?
How can we best manage the flow of lesson in our classrooms using the time effectively to move from an opening, to concept development, to independent work using a guided math approach?
How can we challenge each student with just right math instruction - from those who are struggling to those who excel in mathematics?
How can we use questioning to probe deeper into student understanding within our classrooms, and how can we work with others to fine tune our own questioning techniques?
How can we be sure that problem-solving permeates our teaching? What routines for solving and sharing solutions can we put in place that will exemplify the Standards for Mathematical Practices?
Because Massachusetts adopted the Common Core for State Standards, we have at our finger tips a wealth of national resources to answer these questions. It seems that every month more is released and shared by districts nationally - documents that explain and illustrate the standards; year long trajectories that help us make sense of the best order in which to teach topics; model curriculum units from MA and New York that are reflective of the standards for mathematical practices; and formative assessments to be administered to measure student's growth along each learning progression echoed in the standards. These links are just some of what is available.
As you settle in, perhaps you can think about these famous words form Albert Einstein,"The important thing is to never stop questioning."
Best of luck,
Sue Looney, Ed.D.
President - LMC
References: