Clip 4/20: 7th Grade Introduction - Part C

COMMENTARY BY COACH LINDA FISHER: I like thinking about all the structures and moves designed into the lesson to promote student engagement and interaction. I like the movement and change of pace. One of the routines the teachers have been working on is the “huddle”, gathering students at the front of the class to have a discussion. How did the huddle contribute to the lesson?







My favorite part is watching the change in what students are noticing and the level of detail being discussed as the lesson progresses. In clip 2 Jake talks to students about it being okay to change their minds. So often students think of math as right or wrong. I like that they are encouraged to keep their minds open and fluid. I think it gives students more reason to be active listeners. In all the discussion there is this idea that the symbol strings could be grouped this way, but if you think some other attribute is important then you can group it another way. It forces students to really reflect on what is more important. Students need to evaluate attributes against each other: which similarities are more important and which differences can be ignored or not ignored? Any answer is acceptable if you have a reason.