I've been modeling my teaching after my son's swim coach lately as we zero in on specific skills and knowledge, and even though I try to make the learning engaging and relevant, sometimes what's needed is plain old practice. Like swimming laps in the pool, learning some aspects of math simply takes repetition, focus, practice, and more practice. That will be my mantra tomorrow as students work to complete a number of exercises that will help them reach mastery for specific standards. The exercises take quite a bit of thinking, productive struggle, and asking questions too.
Today as students practiced, one boy called out, "I don't know how to do this?"
I said, "Why don't you ask a question."
He responded, "I did ask a question."
Then I said, "Well ask another one." He asked. I answered, and he was on his way. I noted in the end that he needed to be more persistent.
Another child was struggling with a math problem. I listened to his struggle and knew he was on the right track, but it would take real focus and review for him to get to the right answer. He complained and said it was difficult. I responded, "I want you to struggle."
He replied with exasperation "You want me to struggle?"
"Yes, that's called productive struggle. It's good for you and that's how you learn." Then I quietly said to him that out of all the students in the fifth grade he had been one that has shown the most growth all year and that I thought it was because we're letting him struggle and reach--that's what makes people learn well. He calmed down and went back to the problem to try to figure it out.
I find myself on the fence with what seems like a giant math push to include mastering multiple standards with strength by the tests at the end of April. On one hand, I'm a fan of engaging projects and lots of open ended learning, yet on the other hand I know that if students can gain these essential skills, their confidence and capacity will grow and that's good for future learning. Of course the ideal is to do both by fostering engaging project work that embeds the standards in meaningful and memorable ways.
Tomorrow I'll remind students of these lessons as we continue to push forward to meet the standards with as much accuracy, fluency, and depth as possible. Onward.
