支持数学成功的5个技巧

By Vanessa Churchill, 较低的学校 Math Learning Specialist 

数学发生了如此大的变化, and with these changes come plenty of questions about the  new math.是什么定义了这种新的教学方法 students, how does the learning process take place, and is it appropriate? 作为一个 fifth-grade student put it, “My mom doesn’t know how to help me, and the book 给出的信息很少.” I love this observation because it is at the heart of 数学教学有什么变化. 当我还是个数学学生的时候，我 学会了如何解决问题. 今天，新巴黎人注册网站要求学生新巴黎人注册网站如何 成为问题解决者! What may sound like a subtle distinction is in fact a 非常重要的一个. 

Even if the math coming home looks new, learning to learn is a familiar value in our community. Waynflete teachers support children in ways that foster the developmental and academic success of each individual—and build up the social-emotional resilience that is essential to this success. 

So how do we help students as they learn to learn? 下面是帮助你在数学上取得成功的五个技巧. 

1. 少解释，多问 

“A problem is not a problem if you know how to solve it.” This Marilyn Burns quote is powerful because it reminds us what math is all about. If we want to help our students learn to be problem solvers, we need to support their thinking by asking questions instead of providing solutions. Enter any classroom in the 较低的学校 for math class and you will hear questions galore! 哪一个不属于? 你怎么知道? 你同意吗?? 你能换个方式再说一遍吗? 当老师问这类问题时, they reinforce the importance of reasoning and putting the work where it belongs: in the students’ lap. No longer is the teacher the oracle of information and the students merely performers awaiting evaluation. 相反,教师 

2. 允许时间去挣扎

本月初, I attended a webinar hosted by Learning and the Brain on The Science of How We Learn Mathematics. I was struck by the quote shared at the beginning of this workshop: “We are designed to avoid thinking, 如果可以的话.” Oftentimes when student are struggling to understand, they are really struggling against their brain’s desire to avoid discomfort. Appropriate struggle is essential to new understanding and requires a culture where students feel safe—safe enough to get it wrong, 足够安全，可以再试一次, and safe enough to know that they are seen for where they are in the process, not for how much they produce at the end of the period. When students come to see that the goal is to think in a variety of ways, 不要只用一种方法完成任务, 增长的可能性是无限的! 

3. 评估是为了新巴黎人注册网站，而不是为了执行

One of the unintended consequences of making math one of the most overtested school subjects is that it risks turning learners into performers rather than thinkers. At Waynflete, teachers work to reimagine what assessments in mathematics can be. 在一个五年级的教室里, students were asked to work in small groups to figure out which answers were correct on an end-of-unit assessment. Rather than passively receiving a grade given by their teacher and moving on, students worked with their peers to share their thinking, 在某些情况下, 甚至讨论他们的想法. When teachers turn assessments into learning opportunities rather than performance tasks, students can see firsthand that math is not a stagnant evaluation of “I’m good at it” or “I’m bad at it” but an evolution of thinking and understanding. 

4. 让他们证明这一点

My favorite teacher’s response to “Did I do this right?是“你告诉我。,” because it breaks down the idea that the teacher is the path to the right answer, and it empowers students as active learners in the classroom. It also reminds them that not knowing is not a sign of weakness but rather a starting point for curiosity! Nine times out of ten, the student’s response is accurate. Having to explain their thinking serves to deepen their understanding and build confidence in what they are learning. 当答案不准确的时候, the student often sees the mistake in the explanation and with further inquiry is able to self-correct. 当新巴黎人注册网站让新巴黎人注册网站的学生“证明它”时,新巴黎人注册网站强调，新巴黎人注册网站重视这个过程, 不是产品本身, and that getting it right is merely one stop on the road to mastery.

5. 深度比宽度

Ask any educator whether depth or breadth is more important—the vast majority will select “depth” without hesitation. If students are to truly understand, they need to be given time to dig deeply into learning. Ask the same question of a student who is used to being the first one done, 然而, 你会碰到它们生长的边缘. One of the greatest challenges teachers face in the math classroom is breaking the mindset that speed equals success. 作为教育者, we know that depth of understanding is not about who gets it right first, but who truly understands enough to teach what they know and support a classmate who sees a problem in a different way. 当新巴黎人注册网站看重广度而不是深度时, 新巴黎人注册网站低估了新巴黎人注册网站的新巴黎人注册网站者, particularly those who consider themselves strong mathematicians. 

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At Waynflete, teachers are given the gift of time and autonomy. Time to pace the year in a way that serves their learners, and autonomy to know when a lesson needs one more iteration before moving on. This privilege is a gift to students because it holds them accountable to more than speed and memorization. It ensures that they are doing the work the computer can’t do, 与他人合作, and going beyond the procedure to understanding deeply why it works.