Student Engagement

I’m starting to become aware of different ways of engaging students. At Purdue, the math education department encourages us to follow a method called Launch Explore Summary (LES) where the teacher launches the lesson with a hook or something that will lead into the topic. Then the teacher gives students an activity to explore to the topic. It could be a worksheet, a hands-on activity, work on a computer or calculator, or something else. The point is for students to “get messy with the math.” The teacher’s job is to circulate around the room and answer questions and guide students. At the end of the lesson, the class summarizes what they’ve learned. Often students will present their work to the class, or the teacher will help the students summarize their learning. As a student teacher I’ve found it difficult to implement this method for a number of reasons. One of them is that I can’t come up with a way for students to explore certain topics, like simplifying radicals. Another is that there just isn’t enough time. When I do have students thinking about more conceptual topics or playing around with a topic, it takes much longer than my CT’s lesson on the same subject. I don’t know how I could get through all of the standards using LES most days. Perhaps it is possible, but I just haven’t found a way. 

So in an effort to engage students more in the lesson, I am trying to use different methods of teaching and learning to mix things up. For example, yesterday I presented a new topic and demonstrated an example on the board. Then I asked them to get into groups of three or four and I gave each group one problem to work out. Once they worked it out, they had to write it up on the board and present it. Other methods I’ve used it having students use mini white boards to practice procedural problems; for some reason they are more engaged using white boards than pencil and paper. Another of my CT’s uses centers or stations for review days. She’ll set up the desks in groups and have a set of problems at each station. She places students in groups and they work the problems at each statement for about 7 minutes, and then they move to the next station. It’s more social and gets kids moving around. I’ve also had students practice simplifying radicals in a Row Game. (See earlier post for the worksheet.) 

Using an LES, discovery, inquiry, Three-Act Math, or similar approach not only engages students but get them thinking more deeply about math and in different ways. They learn critical thinking and problem solving. They learn to see and utilize patterns, to make connections, and to utilize resources. These are all good mathematical habits. However, I can’t always find a way to implement these approaches with every topic I’m teaching, and I don’t know how to make the time for them and still cover all the standards. I was starting to worry that I’m turning into a teacher that only lectures. Then I realized that there are other ways to engage students and make things interesting without having to plan an exciting and deep lesson every day. While I would like to be doing more non-traditional lessons, I can still help students learn math and keep them interested by just mixing up my presentation styles and the way they practice problems. Realizing that has taken off some of the pressure I was feeling about not being an innovative and creative teacher every day. I can do my best every day with the time and energy I have, and then try to making small changes one at a time. I’m hoping that there will be more opportunity for interesting math problems in the next chapter on exponential and logarithmic functions.