According to provincial and classroom data, communication is one area that students consistently perform poorly in, especially in math. That's why I spend considerable time at the beginning of the year developing and practising communication skills, both oral and written.
Recently, after examining several solutions to problems communicated by their peers in other classes, I had students work in small groups to consider what it was that made the effectively communicated solutions they saw, well, "effective"! Students came up with a relatively comprehensive list, which we posted and will add to throughout the year.
Recently, after examining several solutions to problems communicated by their peers in other classes, I had students work in small groups to consider what it was that made the effectively communicated solutions they saw, well, "effective"! Students came up with a relatively comprehensive list, which we posted and will add to throughout the year.
I also drew students' attention to the "Six Cs" chart in the front of their Learning Letters notebooks, so that they could see the similarities between the criteria they had developed and the "teacher-given" list:
In addition to communicating "effectively" in math, I want my students to be able to describe what it is that makes them effective communicators, and/or how they or a peer can improve.
RSS Feed