SPD 570 Topic 2 DQ 1
Through your field experiences in this program, what strategies have you observed that have hindered or helped students to generate meaningful questions that develop their mathematical thinking? How will these observations affect your future practice?
Working in a middle school with 6
th
-8
th
graders, I see a variety of strategies used. Some of which are think/pair/share, turn and talk, visual aids, creating acronyms to remember information, journaling, and strategic questioning that requires students to problem solve. It’s important for teachers to be intentional and use creative approaches to instruction, to get kids excited about math (We Are Teachers, 2023). I think the important thing about using strategies, is that they are relevant from year to year. For instance, students come to 6
th
grade thinking the big number always goes in the division box. This is a struggle when teaching fractions to decimals, so we teach the cowboy method. Students make a horse out of the fraction bar and put a cowboy hat on the numerator. The cowboy always goes in the house, never the horse. It’s effective because students can easily remember it and it stays relevant through the following years of school. References:
We Are Teachers. (2023). 21 Essential Strategies in Teaching Math. Retrieved from https://www.weareteachers.com/strategies-in-teaching-mathematics/
