How does supporting teachers in implementing number talks inform my coaching practice?
Sharron, a kindergarten teacher, and I just completed our first planning session in our new coaching cycle. Sharron’s smart goal for the year is about supporting students to explain their mathematical thinking. In our conversation Sharron revealed that she had read most of the number talk book and watched the videos and felt inspired. She feels lucky to have a designated time in her week to have number talks with her girls. What a great opportunity for me and my research!
During our conversation I wanted to dig into her smart goal a bit. I set up my agenda as follows:
· What does "explain their mathematical thinking" mean to you?
o What does it look like, sound like, feel like?
o Is this orally or in writing
o Why is this goal important to you?
· What have you and your studnets done so far in terms of explaining math thinking?
o What are some highlights?
o What are some aspects that you are thinking about?
Sharron shared a lot of valuable insights about where students are and where she would like them to go in terms of explaining their thinking and discourse. I feel that my agenda helped me gather the information I was looking for. I know that Sharron is seeing that some of her students get lost in the excitement of number talks and don’t often have the time they need to think or the opportunity to share. Sharron is planning on trying some parallel taught number talks with her fellow teacher. We also discussed students using the quiet thumb sign and teacher’s responsibility to provide think time. Some questions I am thinking about that may support Sharron in thinking more about this idea: Does math have to be done quickly? Why or how could speed support a student’s math ability? How do they develop that speed? When does speed enhance the learning when does it not make sense?
I had to explicitly ask Sharron to share something positives that she sees in her number talks or math class in general. It’s not that she was being negative but simply that she was focused on the things she is thinking about. It’s great that she is reflecting this way but I want her to also reflect on what is going well too.
It seems like predicting student responses will help her to work towards her SMART goal. (what's a SMART goal btw?)
ReplyDeleteI love your question about what students explaining mathematical thinking means to her, and what it sounds like! It's such a great way for you to get information about where she is coming from in her work and her content knowledge without putting her on the spot. It also helps to zero in on what she is listening for as students talk, and how that might help her to reach the mathematical goals in her lessons.
I appreciate that you asked her to reflect on the positives. It can be so hard to do that, and sometimes it takes a supportive coach to help remember that some things are going well.
Katie - It really helped to hear you discuss what I might learn about the teacher's understanding by asking "What does 'explain their mathematical thinking' mean to you". Sometimes I come up with a good question to ask but I am not always sure why am asking it. I want to improve my ability to interpret and reflect upon what I am learning about the teacher from our conversations.
DeleteHi Morgan. Katie, a SMART goal is a goal that is: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely. Get it? ☺
ReplyDeleteMorgan, the questions you begin with for Sharron are certainly “SMART” and I especially love the one about what “explaining mathematical thinking” actually looks like to her…and I agree with you about your agenda; it definitely helped you gather the data you needed for your own research.
The issue of speed in math is an important one and encouraging us to think about when speed enhances the learning and when it thwarts the learning is pretty important. I often have this conversation with teachers. They want students to do a math problem quickly. When I ask them why, their answers often reflect an approach to math that doesn’t encourage process. I ask them if their students need to write an essay quickly or finish a book quickly. If not, which is always the case, then why do we need our students to solve a math problem quickly?