Classroom Conversations

I have been reading Caitlin Tucker's Blended Learning in Grades 4-12: Leveraging the Power of Technology to Create Student-Centered Classrooms.  It is an easy read and gives many useful ideas to use in your classroom.  While the focus of the book is using technology as a tool in teaching, I am struck by the suggestions she emphasizes that are just good teaching practices.  Many of her ideas can be applied to primary grades as well.

One of my favorite quotes so far is:
"Online work frees teachers from their role as the only source of information and feedback.  When students engage in dynamic online discussions and collaborative group work, they become valued resources in the class.  They ask each other clarifying questions, compliment strong ideas, provide suggestions for improvement, and offer alternative perspectives.  This also allows for improved student engagement and immediate peer feedback."

Tucker's description could certainly apply to online learning but it just as easily could describe the classroom conversations that should occur during our mathematics teaching.  Teachers can help students make sense of the mathematics and discuss them with students by acting as a "guide on the side".  Introduce a problem and allow students to work through the problem together.  Try to avoid answering questions directly - instead, ask other students in the group what they think or ask students how they might test a theory.  How will they decide if they are correct?  Where might they find needed information?

By having a strong understanding of the mathematical content to be taught, the teacher can guide students towards understanding through questioning rather than telling.  I have often told students it is not enough to trust something if it does not make sense.  It is important for them to continue thinking about it, asking questions, and trying until they have made sense of the topic in their own way.

Tucker provides great suggestions for how we might use technology to enrich these mathematical conversations - but regardless of whether the conversations are in person or online, it is important that the students are involved in making sense of the mathematics!