WAYS/STRATEGIES TO FRUITFUL AND PRODUCTIVE MATH DISCUSSIONS
Teaching mathematics especially in the secondary junior high school call for a more strategic and motivational approach.
One of the techniques in teaching mathematics is through boardwork and drills.
Boardworks allows students to solve math problems on their own(with the guidance of the teacher) and it also adds confidence to the learners upon solving problems on the board on front of the class. After the student arrived at his/her final answer, it’s not end there, the teacher should ask and encourage the student to explain his/her work, or share the details of his ideas on how to solve that problem. There must be an interaction to the students themselves so that they can engage with each other’s idea.
One research in other country entitled, ”Students Engagement with other’s Mathematical ideas, The Role of the Teacher invitation and Support Moves
“by Megan Franke, et al; The Elementary School Journal, 2015, Volume 116,Number1.pp.126-148, identified three major follow-up strategies that the teacher utilize to support learner’s ideas or to encourage learners to explain and elaborate their own thinking.
Here are the three strategies:
1. Probing – in this strategy, the teacher pushes learner to engage further in another learner’s ideas by the art of questioning or revoicing.
2. Scaffolding – in this kind of strategy the teacher takes some of the mathematical work such as linking to a representation or context, clarifying idea or providing more information.
3. Positioning – in this strategy on the other hand, the teacher interacts with the learners in ways that publicly acknowledges a student’s connection to an idea.
“Our research suggests that planning invitation moves maybe beneficial, as they a way for teachers to begin the work of having students engage with each other’s ideas and create opportunities to learn from the interaction that may unfold”, the researchers tell more. It is really important that our learners interact at the beginning of every classroom discussion.
--oOo— The author is Teacher III at Marcelo H. Del Pilar National High School