5/26/10 Math Day 3

I really appreciate that we are learning how kids think. It is difficult trying to "forget" what I have been taught throughout almost my entire education, but it is slowly becoming easier. When we go over the different types of word problems and see the videos of the kids, it makes it clear the reason kids think the way they do. This makes it much easier to understand how kids are solving, or trying to solve, word problems. I really like that I have learned to ask the kid how they came up with a specific answer. This will really help me understand what the kid is thinking and how they are going about solving different problems.

I actually put this into action in my practicum class today. The students were learning about dimensions and they were supposed to draw the top and spine of their books. The teacher told them to hold up their books and draw what they saw. One of the students drew a rectangle in the center of their page and four smaller rectangles around it. The drawing did not look like the other students' drawings so I asked the kid to explain it to me. He told me that the big rectangle was the front of the book, and the other four smaller rectangles were the top, back side, and spine. Since the teacher didn't say to just draw two sides, this students drew all four while most of the others only drew two sides. If I just assumed he was just drawing a bunch of squares then I would have been wrong and the student would not have understood if I told them their drawing was incorrect. I am thrilled that I now have the mindset to ask the student to explain before I just assume the student does not understand the question or what the answer is supposed to be.