tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6651514617266100245.post2732520975616998398..comments2024-01-03T04:58:04.221-05:00Comments on I Hope This Old Train Breaks Down...: How it Must FeelUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6651514617266100245.post-50464996996287712892014-12-16T01:56:07.966-05:002014-12-16T01:56:07.966-05:00Getting to this post very late, but this topic has...Getting to this post very late, but this topic has also been a lot on my mind. Something that we're trying this year in terms of grading is that half the grade comes from content and the other half comes from mathematical practices (our own version, not the Common Core). This gives students whose strengths are not speed and procedural fluency a chance to shine in other ways and a way to feel like there is hope for them and that math has parts that are approachable and other parts that are challenging for everyone. We also do a lot of individual choice in designing unit projects so that students can choose ones of an appropriate level of challenge and try to bring in cross-disciplinary strands so that those who have strengths in other fields can showcase them and increase their access to the material. This also helps students be area specialists who others can go to for help with incorporating art or programming or writing, etc into their projects. But it is a continuing struggle, especially as we plan to move into more heterogenous groupings for next year and I hope to see this discussion continuing.Anna Blinsteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13960574914938362477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6651514617266100245.post-64978168017329696532014-11-14T00:33:35.290-05:002014-11-14T00:33:35.290-05:00I think about this issue a lot too. In my experien...I think about this issue a lot too. In my experience, I find heterogenous grouping to be the best way to serve the kids who struggle, but a huge part of my success with it I think has to do with the effort I put into developing a rich classroom culture around problem solving. Right now, I am finding the value in cooperative learning and heterogeneous grouping to be in students learning problem solving strategies from each other, which breaks down the kids' preconceived ideas about who the "smart ones" are in the class. If the classroom culture is too much about computation and skills and procedures, then the student interactions revolve around who gets it and who doesn't. If the culture is about how many ways can you solve the problem and comparing your strategies to other people's strategies, then everyone is learning from each other instead of one kid who "gets it" explaining it to the kids that "don't get it." <br /><br />I create that kind of classroom culture by starting a unit in a really open ended way with highly accessible but complex math tasks that elicit the big ideas of the unit. I see what strategies emerge and let students spend lots of time learning from each others' ideas and talking about their strategies and why they work. About a week into the unit I begin naming their strategies explicitly and asking them to practice using each others' strategies. If I need to show them one, I do a little mini-lesson to give them a tool and then we go back to problem solving. In the last week or two I begin funneling their learning toward a specific set of skills or learning targets and have them reflect on what they have been learning. This approach of starting with the kids' own ideas and shaping the learning around them seems to serve all of my kids really well, especially the ones who struggle.Katiehttp://mathteachermusings.comnoreply@blogger.com