Hi everyone! Thanks so much for stopping by.
Welcome! I really appreciate you being here. My name is Julia Park and I am in my senior year at Millersville University. I am studying as an Early Childhood Education major and I absolutely love it! I have been posting all about what I have been learning and about some of my experiences out in the field.
In my last post, I shared information about connecting children’s literature to mathematics instruction. In this post, I will be talking about the importance of discussions in math class. Let’s begin!
Benefits of Discussions in Math Class
Throughout my time at Millersville, I have learned about the importance of providing time for students to discuss concepts they learn in class.
Discussions can be in the form of small groups or a whole group setting. Teachers can use think-pair-shares to engage students in discussions. This form of activity allows students to form their own thoughts independently, discuss their ideas with a partner, and then participate in a whole-class discussion. Children are able to work up towards feeling more confident and comfortable when sharing their ideas with others by participating in a think-pair-share.
Small group discussions are very valuable because students can take a deeper and more focused look at math concepts with their peers. Whole group moments can be overwhelming for some, so many students will enjoy this time to talk in a smaller group setting.
In small group discussions, students can receive direct feedback on their ideas from their peers. Teachers can work more closely with students in this type of setting to provide them with feedback and assistance as well, which is important for students that might need one-on-one attention.
Small group and whole group discussions provide students with the opportunity to hear the perspectives of other people. Children can practice having an open-mind to others’ thoughts and can learn that sometimes, thoughts can change and grow by discussing ideas with other people. This is a beautiful process that enhances children’s learning and can really flourish through discussions.
In a whole group discussion, students can continue to ask questions and share their ideas. Whole group discussions typically follow small group discussions to allow all children to hear some of the ideas that were shared previously. In this setting, children can also reflect on their experiences by discussing what they learned with a smaller group of peers before.
The image above has an awesome link embedded in it! Click on it to read about Jennifer A. Privitera’s experiences and advice on how to strengthen mathematical discussions in the classroom!
How to Facilitate Discussions
In this section, I am going to describe some helpful tips on how to facilitate a successful discussion in the classroom. If you are worried that a class discussion can lead to disruption, these tips will help you prevent anything from getting too out of hand.
One important factor in making sure chaos does not ensue is by creating and enforcing clear rules and expectations for the students. An example of this is by setting specific volume levels for the students to follow. Guidelines for volume levels remind students to be respectful to those around them and to focus on the task at hand.
Educators can pose an interesting question or problem to inspire students to discuss their ideas. When students are interested in the topic of discussion, they will be more engaged and willing to participate.
Teachers should create a safe, low-stress environment in the classroom so that students can feel comfortable sharing their thoughts with others. For an environment to be supportive of our learners, we have to make sure they know that mistakes are okay and risk-taking is encouraged.
Another way of keeping discussions focused and productive is by providing students with explicit directions. This will help children have a specific goal in mind as to what to talk about which will lower the stress and confusion that might happen in a group setting.
One more tip on how to have successful discussions in class is by modeling and describing appropriate behavior when working in groups. The following are just a few examples of what teachers can do to promote appropriate behavior:
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- Teachers can remind students to take turns when speaking and to be attentive when their peers are sharing their ideas.
- Educators can influence students to provide helpful feedback to their peers by modeling it themselves.
- They can also provide students with sentence stems to support students’ ability to articulate feedback in a respectful way for their peers. Check out this blog post for some awesome sentence stems provided by Tina Jennings!
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Click the image above to read a blog post by Jeannie Curtis for more tips on how to facilitate discussions!
How Can Discussions Support Teacher Planning?
Discussions support the teacher and their instructional methods immensely. Teachers can monitor students’ progress and understanding of concepts by listening to the students’ ideas.
Monitoring students’ progress is helpful for teachers because they can differentiate children’s learning materials based on their observations of each child. Teachers can even build class discussions around the needs of the children to support their learning.
Teachers can also gain an understanding of the attitudes of students. Having a growth mindset, which is the ability to believe that one can grow in their ability to do something, is essential for learning math. When students believe that their abilities can evolve, they are more motivated and focused on their work. Teachers can observe student behavior in groups to determine if any children need extra support in shifting their mindset to be more positive!
I discussed the importance of having a growth mindset in one of my other blogs! I encourage you to check it out for more information about having a growth mindset in math class.
Thanks for reading!!
I am super passionate about class discussions and I am so glad I got to share what I know with you all! I still have so much to learn and I can’t wait to have more class discussions as time goes on. Thank you so much for reading this post! See you in the next one!
-Julia 🙂