Do you anticipate questions students might ask as you are preparing to present a lesson?
If not, please do. It helps students so much!
In thirty-seven years of teaching middle school math, I have probably seen every type of mistake and misunderstanding possible.
I carefully plan the examples I use when giving notes, trying to include problems in which the most common mistakes students are likely to make are demonstrated.
Think back to your own experiences in math classes. You will probably remember trying to complete assignments that you thought would be easy, only to find out that the problems at the end didn't look like any of the examples.
Making connections and applying what you have learned is an important skill. However, students must have an understanding of how to approach solving a problem in order to apply their knowledge. We don't want them to become so frustrated that they don't attempt the problems. This isn't an effective lesson.
Be sure to model your thinking both visually and verbally as you explain lessons. Students need to see and hear the reasoning and thought processes used when solving problems.
As you discuss a topic in class, here are some things you can say that may draw students' attention to important details:
- Tell me how we solved the last example.
- How is this problem similar to others we've solved?
- How is this problem different from others we've solved?
- Watch out for this situation ...
- When you see this, be careful to ...
- This is a mistake students often make when solving problems like this ...
