An assumption that is often made about me is that I have always loved math and that I was always good at math. People are surprised when I share that math was the toughest subject for me in school and the one where I made my lowest grades. I remember working example after example trying figure out a pattern to the correct answers. I was trying to learn or understand the math, rather I was just trying to find a way to get the right responses. I only attended tutoring & office hours for math classes in both high school and college. I got high B’s and A’s in my math classes, but I didn’t actually understand the math. I had the opportunity to take Algebra 1 in middle school, but I deffered until high school because I was afraid of math and I knew there was no point in taking a Calculus AP test my senior year because I would not score well. In complete contrast, I have always loved reading. I am an avid reader and one of my favorite things to do growing up was going to the library every week to pick up a new stack of books. I was able to interpret and analyze texts and I always found my literature classes easy. I scored well on AP tests that required writing and won multiple writing awards. When I became a third-grade teacher, I found it easy to guide my students to enjoy reading. I had numerous comprehension strategies in my toolbox ready to teach my students.
My math teacher-toolbox was very limited. I made it my goal to help my students feel confident about their mathematics abilities. I made math as engaging as possible and worked with them to become problem solvers. In order to do this, I had to face my fear and learn the math. I had to understand how math works, why math works, and the connections between different math concepts. I made a conscious effort to question “strategies” that were shared with me. What is the math being taught? What is the purpose of this shortcut? What does this part of the shortcut mean? What is the purpose of this strategy? Is this a real strategy or trick? These questions led me conclude that the “butterfly method” for comparing fractions is a trick that does not support the understanding of fractions. It was the same thing as me working out textbook problems until I found a pattern that helped me get the correct answer regardless of me not understanding the math. In my experience, many elementary educators have a fear of math. It is that fear that should prompt us learn more about the math we don’t completely understand and teach students real mathematics rather than “strategies” or “methods” that have little to no math sense.
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The part of the gradual release model is the "You Do" during which students practice and apply what they have learned. The assumption is that students have a solid understanding and that they are able to practice correctly. What I have noticed is that not all students are practicing correctly, there are usually misconceptions that need to be addressed, and students are using ineffective strategies because they want to get the answer correct. When teachers see that students are making errors it leads to modeling again for students, providing numerous scaffolds, or guiding students step by step until they are able to complete each task or problem correctly. Because this time is not effective it leads to what appears to be students not transferring or applying what they have learned. I believe that having the last part of the lessons be the "I Do" or teacher does is an effective way to address misconceptions and help synthesize student learning. There will be enough anecdotal data to provide examples for the teacher to anchor this part of the lesson.
While the gradual release model might make sense in language arts instruction, it would be more effective to flip the model to You Do, We Do, I Do during mathematics instruction to support multilingual learners and all mathematics language learners. It is important to guide students to take ownership of their own learning and provide supports & scaffolds when they are needed for students to make sense of the mathematics. In my opinion not being able to add, subtract, multiply, & divide fluently is equivalent to not being able to read fluently. Yet, it seems that there is a greater urgency for students for students to be able to read than for students to be able to do math. It is interesting that common message shared is reading is an essential and long life skill. Yet, understanding addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, measurement, money, fractions, etc. are also essential life long skills with real-world applications. Math fluency and deep understanding of math concepts will only happen in our school systems when there is a balance between the priority given to all content areas. I don't agree that math is a universal language. Math is it's own language that multilingual students have to learn and mobilize. Math has specific vocabulary, phrases, and different ways to communicate. In order to learn the language of math, students need consistent math instruction that is taught at a high level. If we cut down math instructional time & move quickly to shortcuts/algorithms, this will cause gaps in students mathematics understanding. If a Kindergarten student does not have a deep understanding of composing/decomposing 10 then they will have difficulty with Addition/Subtraction facts in Grade 1. This will then lead to students having difficulty with Addition/Subtraction regrouping in Grade 2. By the time students get to Grade 3 & Grade 4, multiplication & division will be a major challenge. It is not uncommon that when students reach the end of elementary school or begin middle school when the ALARM is rung because these students do not know their facts, they are counting on their fingers, they get confused with steps in standard algorithms. Instead of waiting until waiting until a student is 10-11 years old to help them develop math skills & dispositions that will encourage them to join higher level math courses, let's provide solid high level math instruction starting on their first day of Kindergarten. For our multilingual learners, gaps in teaching need to be avoided as much as possible as they navigate adding English to their language repertoire and/or developing multiple languages. All students are capable mathematicians! They can maintain the belief if balanced instruction is provided and the message is shared that mathematics is also very important. The pandemic continues and a new school year has begun. My district has started the year in person with as many safety protocols as possible in place. Something that I have noticed is we are having more "teacher talk" that usual and classrooms are more silent. In my opinion this is one of the impacts of emergency remote learning. Teachers were thrown into virtual teaching and instruction via Zoom led to students needing to be muted due to background noises as home. In order to manage classroom behavior virtually, students had to wait to be called on & unmute - many were used to various ways of responding rather than being called on one by one. It was difficult to to have students think-pair-share effectively. Yes, teachers found ways to make their lessons interactive such as, using the chat feature & using tools such as Padlet & Jamboard. But, students had less opportunities to have their actual voice heard during instruction.
It is important for teachers to intentionally bring back some of effective strategies that they had in place pre-pandemic. While socially distancing, students should be given the opportunity to share their thinking with a partner. Students can also participate in choral counting & choral responses without the delay on audio. If a district or school has students attending in person instruction, then it's time to acknowledge that some virtual teaching practices might not be the most effective. Let's maximize student voice to help them take ownership of their learning and provide teachers with real-time data as to their current mathematical understanding. It's not about adding more work to a teachers already full plate, but rather tweaking how time is spent during instruction. As the new school year begins, it is important to think about how we will be an advocate for multilingual learners. Being an advocate requires planning in order to make sure that students have equitable learning experiences all year long. What does it mean to be an advocate for multilingual learners (MLLs)? What actions will be taken? When will those actions be taken? What will the response when faced with resistance?
The school year wrapped up in my district this week...and my first thought on that last day was we made it! It's been 14 months that we've been in pandemic mode and there are numerous lessons that I have learned during that time. There are three main lessons that I have learned relating to school culture & instruction.
One of my biggest pet peeves is when educators refer to bilingual students that receive instruction primarily in Spanish as "monolinguals". It has a negative connotation, because it is saying that those bilingual students have not gained the necessary English proficiency to leave Spanish behind. Sometimes these students have only been in this country 1-2 years, and they are expected to know English at the same academic level as their peers! Furthermore, calling one of our bilingual students "monolingual" sends the message that the goal is not for students to be "bilingual", but rather transition to English quickly. When I hear that term being used, I remind them that our students are "emerging bilingual" students that will learn English with the support of their Spanish. Students will learn English, but it should not be at the expense of losing their Spanish.
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