In reading, "Elementary Mathematics Pre-Service Teachers’
Learning from Cases," Henningsen studied pre-service teachers and
determined that case discussions are powerful tools for engaging teachers in
reflection. She found that seventy-five percent of the teachers she
studied said they learned that students should be explaining to each other and
debating with each other and that such activity promotes mathematical learning.
As a teacher who has been working hard to make time for explanations and
discussions in the classroom, I can say that half way through the year, it
really started to pay off and I felt my students were far more comfortable with
the process of debating and explaining, not only when they felt their answer or
the other student's answer is correct, but explaining what went wrong.
Students are paying much more attention to precision and accuracy when
they analyze their work and the work of others. They learn new
perspectives and new strategies and they learn the invaluable skill of
collaboration.
Additionally, she found that 50% of the participants said that the
cases opened their eyes to the fact that teachers "should not
underestimate students’ abilities to explore mathematical concepts and make
sense of them on their own." It's true. I am amazed at the
exploration that goes on in my room. Working in different heterogeneous and
homogeneous grouping patterns makes a big difference in their acquisition of
the material. 17 out of the 20 participants stated that grouping students
worked as a tool or means to promote communication. In my EL kindergarten
classroom, I find that making time for explorative communication activities improves
my practice and pushes my students to practice standard English regularly. The pre-service teachers clearly benefitted
from the reflective practices with more than one-third stating that they
learned new insights about mathematics.
How do you reflect on your practice and how valuable do feel classroom
discussions/debates and group work are?
Susan, I love your title and I agree, Reflection Rocks! As a teacher, I constantly reflect on my classroom practices simply as a way to better fit the needs of my students. I feel as though its a great way to fix and glitches or continue what works.
ReplyDeleteReflection and discussion is not only a way to keep my students engaged, but also serves as an assessment of what my students know/gained from a lesson. It helps students self assess what they know and also helps students learn from one another. Student discussions and debates are huge in my classroom. I feel like its an opportunity to give my students a voice and teach them how to use academic language to prove or validate their thoughts.