Capturing Student Thinking

1. Capturing Student Thinking

2. Purpose: • Learn about process for capturing student thinking • Hands-on experience with some of the steps in the process

3. Overview of the Process • The Problems • Preparing for Classroom in early sessions • Adapting problems (look at real samples) • What happens between sessions • Teacher job • Facilitator job (selecting work) • Connections to Practice Summary Flow:

4. A Note About FGT Problems The problems are designed to… • make them accessible (at some level of entry) for students in a variety of grades and settings • make it more likely that student thinking will get captured in some way (e.g., in writing or in things the students do or say on videotapes) • maintain a high level of cognitive demand.

5. Purpose of Using FGT Problems To capture student thinking about a concept, not to teach a concept. • Read Mathematics Problems for Classroom Use (p.12-14 in Intro). • If you finish reading that section (and writing yourself any notes about it), take out any work you have from Dissecting Shapes to remind yourself about the thinking involved in the problem.

6. Preparing for Classroom • A task: divide yourselves into four groups. Come to front and take a slip of paper so that you can find out which grade level group you’ll be in. • Grades 5/6 • Grade 7 • Grade 8 • Grades 9/10 • In your grade level groups, discuss and fill out “Preparing to Capture Student Thinking” about the Dissecting Shapes problem.

7. Preparing for Classroom • A task: divide yourselves into three groups based on the color of writing on the slip of paper you chose. • Red group • Green group • Blue group • In groups, share your “Preparing to Capture Student Thinking” and any questions that it raised for you.

8. How does the Cognitive Demand framework fit into FGT? • Teachers will use this task sorting activity to learn about the Geometric Task Demand Framework in Session 9. • Teachers will then be asked to consider the Framework in later sessions as they prepare to use FGT problems with students to capture thinking.

9. A Note About FGT Problems The problems are designed to… • make them accessible (at some level of entry) for students in a variety of grades and settings • make it more likely that student thinking will get captured in some way (e.g., in writing or in things the students do or say on videotapes) • maintain a high level of cognitive demand.

10. Adaptations? • Look at MTR from Finding Area in Different Ways to remind yourself about your thinking • Examine the three real adaptations that teachers have made. • Do these adaptations maintain, enhance or diminish: accessibility, cognitive demand, and ability to capture student thinking? Why or why not? • What would you say to teachers who suggested these adaptations?

11. Teacher job between sessions • Look at homework instructions in Session 2. • Re-read Advising Teachers on Collecting Student Work (p.19-20 in the Intro) • We will take a break after this.

12. Facilitator Job Between Sessions • Look through this stack of student work submitted by your teachers. Select one-three pieces that you’d like to analyze with your groups: • Because they show evidence of G-HOMs • Because they have spots that show what student is thinking about main ideas of problem (focus on potential) • Because they provide opportunities for puzzling out the storyline of student thinking

13. Facilitator Job Between Sessions • Attach selected pieces on chart paper and annotate with… • reasons for selection • questions about selection • Walk around and look at what other groups selected and why.