Math Justice League Blog

Dear Math Justice League, 

When I first began teaching Math at Polaris, I talked too much, I explained too much, and I asked too many funneling questions – ones that guide students to a procedure or the teacher’s desired end. I began to wonder, would my students be able to critically think about the math tasks or would they be mimicking what they saw me do, assuming they could remember?

I had to take a step back and consider: How do I put students in the driver’s seat of their learning? 

To facilitate a student-centered and engaging discourse I needed to…

• Become the facilitator of students’ ideas instead of the sole disseminator of information 

• Support students to explain their ideas and questions related to mathematics 

• Support students to listen purposefully and engage productively with each other’s ideas and questions 

Below are some of the structures and strategies I changed to build a culture of discourse in my classroom: 

1. Use an inquiry lesson structure: This is key and challenging because many of us did not learn math this way! However, if we want students to feel comfortable and empowered to grapple we have to engage them with a lesson structure that builds from their ideas and empowers them to notice, wonder, conjecture, experiment, justify, and generalize. There are several types of inquiry lesson structures. Check out one of our favorites, LEDS, here. 

2. Give students a thinking job: Listening needs to be intentional! Before beginning a whole class discussion, I provide my students with a thinking job that targets the math understanding and skill I am trying to center my discussion on. For example, in a recent lesson, my students were tasked with the thinking job: Can we add and subtract to solve this problem? My students now have a purpose! They aren’t listening broadly to a classmate’s thinking, they are focused on something specific in their work that relates to the lesson’s learning goal. 

3. Establish silent signals: How do students engage when they are not the ones talking? Introducing silent signals for “I agree”, “I disagree”, “I would like to build on”, and “I have a clarifying question” allowed my students to participate in the conversation when it wasn’t their turn to share. In addition, it allowed me to keep tabs on who was listening in the conversation and who could share next to widen the discussion or take us in another direction. 

4. Engage in Turn and talks: Many students begin the whole group discussion with a developing understanding of the learning target and without an idea they feel comfortable sharing. Providing time for turn and talks throughout the whole class discussion provides access points for students to understand their crew mates thinking and gives them time in a low-stakes way to process their ideas before sharing them with the whole group. 

5. Create visual models: Capturing the words, strategies, and representations of students’ thinking creates access and a math storyline for a whole group discussion. All students learn and process differently! Some may be able to add to the conversation through what they previously heard crewmates say, while others may be able to make connections to the physical, visual, and symbolic student thinking that the teacher scribes. Read more about the power of intentional boardwork here. 

6. Be prepared with focusing questions: Where do I want students to “land the plane” at the end of this discourse? To ensure a smooth landing, having a plan of where you want the discourse to go and what questions will help you get there is necessary. The discourse should be driven by students, but you still shape the flight path toward your destination (learning goal)! Being well-planned is the key to a successful, student-centered discourse. Check EL Education’s anticipatory planning guide to help you plan for an upcoming discourse. 

A thriving discourse that puts students’ ideas at the center was uncomfortable for me at first. Cultivating student-centered discourse entailed embracing moments of awkward silence as students grappled with concepts, having faith in the inevitable "aha" moments when students discern differences or errors in each other's thinking, and remaining open to unexpected shifts in the direction of the discourse. As I worked through my discomfort I realized that student-centered discourse takes time and commitment to build, requires me to have a growth mindset, and is essential to the growth of my students’ math identity, knowledge, and skills. What next steps will you take to build a culture of math discourse with your students? 

In Crew, 

Zoe Walker

4th Grade Crew Leader, Math Culture Lead 

Polaris Charter Academy in Chicago, IL