Reflect after reading Chapters 5-7:
How do we answer questions in a thinking classroom? When and how do we give tasks?
Consider the following questions:
- What is resonating with you from the reading?
- What caused you to pause and think during this section?
Respond and Interact
After reading these chapters, please post your response to one {or more} of the prompts above. Read our colleagues' reflections. Feel free to respond to someone by sharing a comment, insight or interesting possibility.
I have really enjoyed the way this book is laid out. The data, the lists, and the q&a really are really helping me understand how each variable plays its own part in thinking classrooms. It made a lot of sense when Liljedahl states that if we are answering most of the questions students pose, then we are essentially undoing our work for the thinking. The way he described the different types of questions were so insightful too. I know that most of the questions from my students are Stop. Thinking...They are actively trying to "reduce" their workload! I think if proxmity questions will decrease if my task is timed right, my class is arranged in a way that I am not front and center, and the groupings are just right---All of this makes sense, so much sense really. I think most of the challenges will be from breaking free from habits, and just not taking some extra time to plan thoughtfully- Even planning is a little different. It isn't so much the lessons or what I'm doing. I feel like if I follow some of the emoves in BTC the big chunk of my time is thinking about how students are moving, collaborating, and thinking. I love it.
ReplyDeleteLast week, I tried a 3 act task at the beginning of our lesson. I used a flippity to group students. The locations were marked w/numbers so they where to go. We huddled around the video ( which was kind of awkward). lI did not do any teaching to start or review each group's strategy. We just kind of let loose on the task and math-ed. It was fun.
I think that day and the engagement, joy, and math that came w/the disruption to our math routine was explained in chapter 6. That dip in engagement after 5 minutes of teaching whole group gave me a twinge of guilt! It feels like I go on and on sometimes! Good thing I will changing things up sooner than later :)
https://gfletchy.com/do-the-dew/
I love how this book is laid out too...when I read it the first time, I couldn't believe how many of my own questions were listed in the q & a part. It's like he can read our minds! :)
DeleteMila - I am having the same thoughts as you! When I changed my layout, I noticed it helped reduce the proximity questions. Students were in more "thinking" configurations and it helped with instilling some grit when they were tackling challenges! Have you done more of the 3-act tasks? Sounds engaging!
DeleteTasks given at the beginning of the lesson when energy and engagement is high makes so much sense to me. A part that I underlined was: ."just know that the longer you talk, and the longer they listen, the less likely you are going to be able to get them to think." We need our kids to be DOING math within the first few minutes of every lesson. I am grateful that IM has math routines to start each lesson so that kids are doing math straight out of the chutes.
ReplyDeleteI've been trying to keep this in mind too. Getting engagement early. This is especially important at the high school level when our classes are 79 minutes long.
DeleteI also noticed the difference w/the standing and keeping things story-ish keeps things even more engaged. I do still really have to watch my talk times. This would be one (among so many others) that I really have to watch. I guess, though, I love the fact that I really am thinking about the flow of the IM lessons even more thoughtfully and how to get kids involved in thininking tasks more often than not.
DeleteThroughout my years of teaching, I’ve always had students that would ask proximity questions. However, I keened into the fact that these questions were being asked because students were shier. I then made it my mission to cultivate an environment that encouraged asking questions and risk-taking. When I did that though, I ran into another problem… proximity questions emerged! And the greatest challenge?! NOT answering them. For this reason, I appreciated the list of 10 questions that I could refer to, to keep their thinking going!
ReplyDeleteI’m excited to experiment with my responses to questions. I appreciated the fact of not asking permission from students to do this, but rather giving them insight to the strategy of questioning after implementation. I’ve been looking for ways to encourage more independence and decrease “learned helplessness”, especially when it comes to math. I can see that by decreasing stop-thinking questions, students will begin to gain more confidence and in turn, take more risks with their learning. Seems to also be a way to combat mimicking behaviors!
As I think about our math curriculum, while I was apprehensive at first, I do believe IM promotes a thinking classroom where mimicking is discouraged. By having students produce the strategies, students are activating their thinking caps. When I think about the various activities within the lesson (i.e. “when” to give the task), I’m trying to vary the modes of engagement. For example, partner, intentional groups, random groups of 3, posters, etc. I have found that varying the task keeps students guessing and boosts a bit of engagement.
When Liljerdahl talked about how we present tasks, I found particularly powerful in presenting the task without taking away thinking opportunities. While it’s important to model/demonstrate, I definitely OVERDO IT. It was a good reminder to incorporate thinking/learning opportunities into the demonstration and then the writing task directions will reinforce the verbal discussion.
Chapter 5's discussion about avoiding "stop thinking questions" and "proximity questions" really resonates with me because it highlights a shift in classroom dynamics. Instead of students stopping at a surface-level question, they're encouraged to explore and deepen their understanding. I like how the book emphasizes not giving direct answers but instead responding with questions that drive students towards active problem-solving. This approach allows students to stay engaged in the learning process, develop persistence, and rely more on their own reasoning and productive struggle, rather than depending solely on the teacher for answers. It's a powerful way to create an environment where students take ownership of their learning and are empowered to think critically and independently.
ReplyDeleteSo much is resonating with me from these chapters! For one- I know I get caught in the trap of answering too many of ALL of the types of questions listed in chapter 5 but I just wasn't sure how to navigate away from what I had been doing. So, the 10 things to say in response to proximity questions or stop-thinking questions on page 89 was huge for me! I agree with previous comments that when I changed my seating, it eliminated some of the proximity questions but I was still struggling with my habits and again felt like I needed some prompts for myself to not fall back into the traps. I equally liked the prompts for keep thinking questions.
ReplyDeleteChapter 6 resonated with me and I genuinely understand it conceptually but I think it's going to take me more time to work out how it looks in my room. I've done better with the ILC Math curriculum with some of these strategies but trying to incorporate this thinking to the extent it lays out in chapter 6 will definitely take me some time!
Chapter 7 was incredible for me! I've long not felt any value in homework and for all the reasons it listed! So I've been not giving homework and usually using it only when parents asked for 'more practice work'. I love the idea of rebranding it and overall changing the thoughts surrounding it for the kids. The reality is I know many of my students are internally motivated and genuinely want to get better at the math were doing but with 'homework or extra practice' I was almost taking the opportunity away from them. I also love the idea that they have access to the answers so they are not even tempted to cheat because it's not about the answer, its about their understanding.
It's all good stuff!! :)
So much of this resonates with me. The questions immediately after giving exit directions kill me. My heart literally breaks when this happens. They are waiting for me to be done so I can explain it to them again. With this being the second year for this group doing ILC math, the students are better. At least one person in a group will start talking about the topic at hand.
ReplyDeleteBut I try to use the love and logic version of giving directions and waiting for them to go get into it. I still have students who get straight into off task behaviors though. This is a management issue or and engagement issue. Students still want to do the least work possible. So the questioning is there. I like the 10 options to say to students who are trying to NOT think. I am going to use all of them now.
The next section resonates with me because it is talking about the problem I just mentioned: engagement. We need to think about task. I do love the warm up for access for all students. This might be the only time some student will volunteer their own ideas in the group. I love engaging with this time but have to remember to keep it moving.
I pause when I read that "narrative is unwinding the task". I like the idea that the talking about the task tells the story of the task. I can get with that and think I do this sometimes already. I really love 3 act tasks and think that my team got good at using them back before covid. We were on a roll trying to integrate math practices with other resources. Now we are really trying to work through ILC and help students develop rich thinking skills. I see it growing but it is just so slow. Reading this books helps me consider the tasks in each lesson and really work them to support each student.