Adjusting Lessons: Have a Plan B Transcript
Amy Spies: A big challenge with Common Core is making sure we do spend enough quality time anticipating student response. That can be very challenging because you never know which path the students are going to take so I have to have a plan B, C and even D sometimes in my back pocket.
Amy Spies: Let's add today's problem to your math notebooks. Don't forget to record today's date. And I'd like you to spend...
Amy Spies: This particular lesson dealt with the fractions being multiplied by a whole number. My goal was to try to see whether or not they would make that link between repeated addition with fractions and our previous work with multiplication and whole numbers.
Student: We added 2/3 four times for each of the corners.
Amy Spies: You added 2/3 four times for each of those corners and you came up with...
Student: 8/3
Amy Spies: 8/3. ok.
Amy Spies: While students were reporting on their team's strategies, i recognized that none of the solutions really got to the heart of this lesson.
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Amy Spies: Tell me again, why did you multiply 2 times 4?
Student #2: Because there's four corners on the square garden...
Amy Spies: They weren't ready for the next step I had originally planned. In my mind, I'm scrambling, I'm trying to think how am I going to get this back on track and do what I need to do and that's where planning is so absolutely crucial.
Amy Spies: I had my plan D and I pulled out the Teacher Worked-Out strategies for them to take a look at. I provided them with some cards showing them the possible solutions and I told them that these were teacher strategies they had used to solve the same problem.
Amy Spies: I love her thinking. She's saying, "we're only gonna need to multiply the numerator." But why is that?
Student: Because, if you're not gonna have to change the bottom because that's the whole. You only have that many. You can change the top because you can have as many as them as you need but you have to keep the bottom the same because that's as many as in one whole.
Amy Spies: The students did a great job in eventually seeing that, "oh, yes. This array or model are showing that we can also just use multiplication."
Amy Spies: Does that match, then, the work we see underneath?
Students: Yes.
Amy Spies: All right.
Amy Spies: We can never anticipate what all our students might be thinking.
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Amy Spies: But it does take a great deal of planning to try to stay as calm and relaxed and still keep the direction moving in the flow we want it to.
5 Comments
Charity Okafor Oct 5, 2020 11:38pm
1. She uses assessments to get them involved in their own learning.
2. Having different plans as a backup gives the student a variety of activities that will make them more successful.
3. By engaging them in critical thinking. Example- asking them questions.
Robin Stricklin Dec 9, 2019 8:19pm
Always have backup plans available. Often I use them and it allows my high school students greater understanding.
Andre Clark Dec 11, 2016 6:03pm
E W Feb 6, 2014 2:36pm
Mark Saunders Feb 6, 2014 2:34pm