Clip 20/20: 7th Grade Faculty Debrief - Part E

COMMENTARY BY COACH LINDA FISHER: There seem to be two big threads that run through the discussion in the lesson debrief, the idea of a research lesson and the mathematics being tackled by the students. The first is the issue of the research lesson. How did all the new features and structures work in this lesson to allow us insight into student thinking? Would these techniques work in a real classroom, when there aren’t cameras and observers? I have conjectures that we, as teachers, often try to give too many instructions. I think the structures made the mathematics interesting enough for students that they didn’t need lengthy instructions to find ideas to discuss. I think the change of pace throughout the lesson kept them involved and gave them new inputs for discussion. How could you test this out? What conjectures do you have about the lesson structure?







The second discussion is about the depth of mathematics students and teachers are thinking about. What does it mean to “solve” something? How is a solution with a single answer different from a solution with an infinite number of possibilities? As you watch these pieces, try to write down all the big mathematical ideas brought up by the lesson. What ideas are being surfaced that are different from those in more traditional lessons? Why are these ideas significant?