What do I say during a math talk!? @fawnpnguyen

I love Fawn Nguyen! She created http://www.visualpatterns.org/ & http://www.mathtalks.net/teachers.html. I learned about Fawn's visualpatterns.org from Jen Barker, but I recently discovered her Math Talks site which is equally brilliant. I love that she includes both Number Talks & Pattern Talks, but what make her even more amazing than sharing ideas for Talks, is that she has included sample responses from her students, which is really helpful for anticipating student thinking!

• Thank you for sharing.

• Please let me know if I’m not rephrasing you correctly. (I'm only rephrasing when I have trouble hearing the student.)

• I want to make sure we’re writing down your thinking correctly, please slow down and tell us more about this step.

• I’m not worried about the correct answer right now, I’m just interested in how you thought about the problem.

• Your sharing of how you arrived at the incorrect answer is really important — I think we learn a lot from our mistakes, and as you can see, you weren't the only one who thought about it that way.

• Did you change your mind or question your strategy after you talk with your neighbor?

• Who did the problem differently than the 3 people whom I called on to share?

• I really appreciate how you questioned [and responded to] _____’s sharing.

• I know it’s kind of tough to articulate your thinking. That’s okay. Take your time.

• Math teachers sometimes get it wrong too.

Prompts from http://www.mathtalks.net/teachers.html

Considerations for facilitating Math TALKS:

• Use Thumbs Up Responses strategy

*Fawn Nguyen shares on her Math Talk site, how she doesn't use thumbs up responses but rather uses a timer, and then does a turn and talk. I think I might try this, because just like Fawn I find it hard to scan the room looking for thumbs. I also find that I'm spending as much time asking my learners to show their thumbs as I am listening to their thinking. Definitely something to consider!

• Gather together

• Honour Names (I personally like to acknowledge who has shared the strategy by writing their name beside their thinking. I also use it for assessment.

• Practice Mindful Language

• Teacher as listener/recorder

• Take pictures of your board