Creating a Culture of Inquiry in Math
A story of learning, collaboration, practice, and reflection
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OUR LEARNING STORY
We are educators at MJE Elementary School learning with our grade 4/5 students and with each other. For the past 3 years, we have been exploring how we might create a culture of thinking and inquiry in Math. This is our story so far...
At the beginning of the year, we sit down together to think about our intentions. This helps us to clarify what our beliefs about learning and teaching are. We use this time to think about the big, unanswerable questions that we want to explore with our students throughout the year. Knowing that our students will guide the learning, helps us to think about the learning without predetermining the pathways that will guide our explorations.
We use these intentions to guide all of the learning decisions we make every single day. Here is a copy of the intention letter we wrote for the 2020-2021 year.
Reflecting on Our Role as Math Educators
Peter Liljedahl: “Teachers must stop answering ‘stop-thinking’ questions.”
How Are We Creating a Culture of Inquiry in Math?
Marlee: ”We didn’t quite get the strategies yet. We were just playing around with the numbers. On day 2, after listening to Jack share his strategies visually, it started to make sense. We came back to the problem here, COT, and were able to solve it together.”
We Have Discovered That Math is Emotional
Jake: “Twice, my group was adding the numbers and I thought...this is it! But no…it was emotional Mrs. Davis!”
Neelyn, age 9: “Since we’ve been talking about our emotions in Math, I feel more connected when we are collaborating. I know I’m not alone in my feelings of frustration or being stuck. I feel more comfortable asking questions and admitting when I am feeling lost. I know this will help my learning.”
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