I believe that having the students get to know one another (and the =
teacher) the first day of class is a really good idea. I have been =
facilitating at Great Teacher Seminars for the last six years. During =
this time, teachers from all disciplines have shared what they do in the =
classroom to make students at ease the first day of class and also =
demonstrate what is called "tricks of the trade" -- something that =
lasts a minute or so to get the point across. An example might be =
something as simple as using a rubix cube to talk about the relationship =
between square feet and square yards, cubic feet and cubic yards. As we =
are sharing here on these lists, maybe we could share some of these =
types of ideas.
Nancy
-----Original Message-----
From: Martha Haehl [SMTP:haehl@KCMETRO.CC.MO.US]
Sent: Monday, February 15, 1999 6:51 PM
To: ted panitz; wac-l@postoffice.cso.uiuc.edu; =
aera-c@asuvm.inre.asu.edu; aera-k@asuvm.inre.asu.edu; =
aera-j@asuvm.inre.asu.edu; math@lists.davis.k12.ut.us; =
mathedcc@archives.math.utk.edu
Subject: Re: [MATHEDCC] student communication
"How do you encourage your students to commuinicate with you?"
In some classes, in particular Basic Math, when a student misses the =
point
on an assignment or quiz, I give them little or no credit and ask them =
to
come see me for help and to get credit for the assignment or take a
replacement quiz. If the student does not contact me within a day or =
two, I
talk to them personally and say, "What is you schedule like? I want to =
help
you get you on track before you get too lost, so let's make an =
appointment
to talk about assignment ***." I am careful to tell the class that it =
is my
goal that they pass Basic Math the first time, and then pass Intro to
Algebra the first time. The student can see a tutor instead if that =
fits
the schedule better or he/she would feel more comforatable. In general
students are a little annoyed when they get their first 0 instead of =
70%,
but do seem to appreciate over the long haul that they are correcting =
their
misconceptions.
In a team-taught, Basic Math/Reading combination class last semester, we
involved the counselors in establishing the group dynamics. They did =
some
activities with the students (and teachers) to get acquainted, get to
understand each other's values a bit, and to better understand their own
learning styles. At about mid-term, we took a couple of days for =
one-on-one
conferences with the students. During those class periods, the groups =
had a
project to work on. The individual conferences were very good. Some
students told us of some very traumatic experiences with math or reading =
or
education in general. All of those things opened the channel for
communication.
Here is an in-class technique that works for interaction in lecture =
format.
Instead of call roll, have all student's names on a note card. =
Throughout
the class, go through the cards and call on students for various =
questions.
These can be very simple, like:
Put the problem on the board:
Solve for x:
3x - 5 =3D 2(4 - 5x)
Pull a card from the stack and say "Mary, what kind of answer are you
looking for, an equation, an expression, or a value for x?"
Then discuss the answer of concepts if necessary, then pull another card =
and
ask. "Jerry, what would be your first step in solving this equation?"
Then whatever his step is pull another card and say "Khristopher, what =
would
the next line look like after doing Jerry's step?"
If a student is stuck, I let them ask someone else to help them. When =
an
answer is wrong, I try to say things like "You've got some good ideas =
here.
Let's review where you would do that kind of process and see how this
situation is similar." If the answer is vague, like "move 5 to the =
other
side of the equation, I ask for clarification: "Do you mean
multiply/divide/add/subtract 5 from both sides?"
It is amazing how many concepts you can cover and misconceptions you can
uncover by asking these questions. It is important, however, to build =
an
atmosphere of trust in this process so that when an answer is incorrect, =
the
student feels safe to learn from the mistake and ask questions about why
their answer is not correct.
Martha
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