We use Singapore Math at my school and it can be tricky. Especially our "mental math" strategies unit. Last week we worked on learning mental math strategies for addition and this week it was on scary subtraction mental math strategies.
Well, while teaching today I would work a problem and explain how we get the answer using the mental math strategy. I would then ask if anyone was confused. Of course I had some who were. But today, instead of saying it over again or trying to think of another way to explain it, an idea popped into my head. I decided we would all just pause, stare at, and think about the answer on the board and look at the process we did to find the answer.
So, we stopped. Everyone thought. (You could see their little brains turning!) And then after about 10 seconds light bulbs started turning on! Those who were confused said, "OH! I get it!" and those who got it right away were even more sure how to do it.
This is probably Teaching 101 and I'm not sure why it never occurred to me before. But praise the Lord it did today!
I know I'm the type of person that needs a few seconds to stop and just process the information presented to me, so why did I never consider this for my students?!
At the end of the math lesson everyone was in a good mood too. The students got the time to process each problem as we did it because we started doing "Pause and Think"s after every problem since it was helping. And I was happy because 1) my students understood and 2) I didn't have to stand there and re-hash over and over how to get the answer hoping and praying my words would sink in.
I will be using "Pause and Think"s a lot more now!
Great job Liz! The Power of Pause. I think we found the title for your first book that you will be writing! Oops, just checked Amazon and that title is already taken...No worries, we can come up with another title!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful strategy :) always important for wait time so the kids can "get it" and feel proud of their work :)
ReplyDeleteLaura
Http://lovetoteach123.blogspot.com
I just found your cute blog. I noticed that you work at a Christian school. Although I'm very thankful for my job, I would LOVE to work at a Christian school!
ReplyDeleteChristy :)
Mrs. Christy’s Leaping Loopers
Ooh, I love this... isn't it amazing what kids can do if they truly take the time to THINK? My class is working on geometry right now and our math series starts each lesson with the "math vocabulary"- so last week I asked them to use what they'd already learned about acute, right, obtuse and see if they could figure out the meaning of "right triangle" and so on, based on what they knew. About half the class could figure out the meaning from what they knew, without me "teaching" it- and I bet they'll remember it better, too!
ReplyDeleteI'm a new follower of your blog- love finding new 3rd grade teachers (and other new teachers) to follow! :) Thanks for some food for thought!
Jenny
Luckeyfrog's Lilypad