Suzanne at the Math Forum

I’ve been thinking back to an EnCoMPASS pre-institute activity and a conversation I had in an online discussion forum. Here’s what happened:

The EnCoMPASS Fellows were asked to view this video clip:

4th graders explaining their Eating Grapes solution

They were also given the text of the problem the girls and their classmates were working on: Eating Grapes [Problem #4507]. The Fellows were asked to notice and wonder about what was happening.

What the Fellows weren’t aware of was that:

• I was the voice prompting the students in the video clip.
• The two students were in the 4th grade.
• I was a guest in the classroom.
• Asking the girls to come to the front of the room near the end of the class period was completely impromptu. I hadn’t known if presenting to classmates was part of their classroom culture. I had listened to them talking with each other before they came to the front and their two-party conversation seemed worth sharing with the class and getting on tape since videotaping students’ problem solving and communication had been my goal of the day at that school.

As I’ve watched the videoclip several more times and reflected I find it fascinating to think about if the two students were comfortable with what they’d written on the papers they were holding. Did they own it yet?

I had worked with the class for a full class period and during it I :

• was introduced to the class by their teacher – “Miss Suzanne from the Math Forum at Drexel will be teaching the class today!” (It continues to amaze me that teachers allow me to take over their classrooms for a full period. It is really a treat!)
• told them I would start by reading a story. I read them the Eating Grapes Scenario (no question).
• asked the full class “What did you hear?” and I quickly pointed to student after student to listen to their response.

(click on each of the photos embedded here to view a larger version)

• read the “story” again and again asked them to tell me what they had heard and this time generated an “I Notice…” list on the chalkboard. I introduced the idea of “I Wonder…” and we included that in the chalkboard list as well.

Without going back to look at the tapes, I actually am not sure of what I did next! I remember at some point the class decided to work on the question, How many grapes did Angela eat on Monday? And the students were working in pairs or groups of three to find an answer but to also be able to explain their thinking and how they arrived at that answer.

And at one point we talked about strategies and listed those on the board.

I also remember that as I moved around the room listening to the students talk with each other, I was particularly struck by the drawing the girls had on their paper.

I find myself thinking, what helps students own their own mathematical thinking and helps them be confident in their explanations of that thinking? I imagine that time and practice are critical.

At what point in the problem solving/communication process do students really identify with what they write down? What is going on when they have generated something on a piece of paper but then are asked to ”present”? If they had had a document camera (or a SMARTboard displaying a PDF of their work) would the focus have been more on their thinking as they generated the work on their paper and less on re-creating that work (with accompanying explanation) on the chalkboard?

Almost two years passed between Annie, Max, and Steve’s Ignite! debuts in Indianapolis at NCTM in April, 2011, before I made my debut. I watched their preparation, anxiety and performances.

I was learning.

In December, 2011, I watched the CMC-North Ignite! talks in Asilomar. I continued to watch, listen, and learn. In April, 2012 Annie, Max and Steve again performed at Ignite! in Philadelphia at NCSM.

I was still learning.

On October 29, 2012 I received an email from Karen Cowe and she wrote,

“You knew that one of these days I’d come knocking.” … “This will be the last Ignite! for me, so it would be great to finally get you up there!”

I decided this was my opportunity to use what I had been learning from watching. One way to cope with the pressure was not to tell anyone at the Math Forum what I was planning to do!

On Saturday, December 1, mission accomplished!

The next day I emailed:

“My Ignite! talk was successful according to several accounts. I was in good company. I was #5 out of 9 [Avery, Jennifer, Harold, Bill, me, Lew, Ruth, Scott, and Mike]. There were about 400 in Merrill Hall where it’s held in Asilomar. Even the balcony seating was full. The good news is that I didn’t even think about that. I can’t really say it was fun but I told Karen Cowe I was honored that she asked me and satisfied that I managed to do it without getting too stressed. As Ruth Parker said to me, she can’t remember putting that much prep time into something that only lasts 5 minutes! I agreed!”

“Well, we’ll see what the video looks like first since I have absolutely no memory now of what I said! It really is an amazing experience. You’re sitting there watching the four that are presenting in front of you and each of their 5 minutes “feels” like a real 5 minutes (or maybe even longer). Then it’s your turn and the fourth speaker comes over, hands over the mikes, you get them clipped on, you walk over to the spot, and suddenly you go into time warp and it all speeds up so quickly — it’s really, really weird — it all seemed over in about 5 seconds.”

Now that I have proof that I actually did it: Suzanne Alejandre at CMC-North Ignite I know that I really belong to the Math Forum Ignite! Club.

And, as often happens, I am thinking of connections between my experience of watching and learning and how that might play out in a mathematics classroom. There are students who may take time before being ready to perform. Are they watching? Are they learning? When they’re ready, will they perform? I believe there are and they definitely will. And, as I talk about in my own performance, if we create classroom environments to help unsilence their voices, there is even more of a chance that they will perform!