Clip 2/5: Lesson - Part 1 Graphs Equation Tables

Overview

Jake Disston begins the period by challenging his students to work at their tables to group the cards they have in front of them, creating as many different groupings as they can, and devising language to describe each group.

Teacher Commentary

JESSE RAGENT: It is clear early on that there is lots of background knowledge that the students bring to the task. In the first few minutes I hear lots of relevant vocabulary "... just x, just y, slope, positive, negative, 0, undefined, intercept..." And yet, as the first student reports, it becomes clear that while there is some understanding of the information, there still remains plenty of misunderstanding and confusion.

his clip reminds me of the need to honor all responses in class discussion. Jake is able to elegantly bring the incorrect notion of Dylan's "linear" grouping of the quadratics into proper focus and clarity in a way that did not denigrate the student at all. Additionally, I am reminded of how I should provide opportunities like this that enable me as a teacher to see how students will bring prior knowledge to a novel task. Only then will I know how deep (or shaky) their learning is.