Look+Who's+Talking

 Read article and reflect. I have to agree with this article. Prior to taking Math Foundations, I now realize that I spent much more time talking, directing and describing math to students. I have recently made a conscious effort to ask the students why and how did you get that answer...just the other day, I had a boy tell me the answer and I said, "You are correct. But WHY are you correct?" He was stunned, and he truly had a difficult time explaining why he was correct. I've also had students come to the board to be the "teacher" and explain, and I've also gone to the hardware store to have individual white boards cut, so each student pairs with another and becomes the teacher/student pair, trading off for each problem. The amount of "student talk" has gone up by volumes thanks to taking this class! I like how the researchers found that the Chinese teachers had their students explaining, justifying, talking about multiple solutions and discussing their errors...I have FINALLY started to do that in my own classroom! -Dorothy Dalton, 4th grade teacher, SSE