Clip 2/24: Proportions Planning Part B

HILLARY LEWIS-WOLFSEN: In my own class, I do a lot of pair-sharing, I do a lot of allowing the kids think-time. I didn’t want this lesson to be so different from my style that I was uncomfortable. It had to be delivered in a way that I was comfortable. To establish the norms for doing math in my own classroom, it’s a process. We start off without, we don’t open a textbook for a couple of weeks. We start off with games and puzzles that they do collaboratively in groups, the focus is on working together, listening to each other. That sets the climate. We also do things like commend students who raise their hand and say, “I don’t know the answer, but this is what I’m thinking. “ I draw attention to those students and talk about how brave they are. We do a lot of number talk, so that the students can hear how other kids are thinking about numbers, so hopefully more and more other kids will share how they thought about the numbers. I also make sure that there is think time. There can’t always be think time. They always need quiet think time to process for themselves what’s going on with the problem.