Parallel Tasks and Scaffolding

1. Parallel Tasks and Scaffolding

2. Session Goals • Understand how parallel tasks allow access to the mathematics for all students • Make sense of the process for creating parallel tasks • Practice creating parallel tasks • Practice anticipating difficulties and creating scaffolding questions • Develop skills at phrasing questions to conduct focussed conversations as a critical friend • Practice focussed conversations with critical friends

3. Parallel Tasks Complete the task on misleading graphs.

4. Common Questions • What strategies did you use to determine the accuracy of your graph? • Why might a newspaper or a company choose to use an inaccurate graph? • What are some things to look for when examining a graph in the media?

5. Process for creating this task:

6. Scaffolding Questions Discuss: What scaffolding questions might you have ready to support students with this task? TIP: The math processes package is a good starting point for thinking about scaffolding questions.

7. Marian’s Suggestions for Creating Parallel Tasks • Select the initial task. • Anticipate student difficulties with the task (or anticipate what makes the task too simple for some students). • Create the parallel task, ensuring that the big idea is not compromised, and that enough context remains common so that common questions can be created. • Create at least three or four common questions that are pertinent to both tasks. You might use processes and big ideas to help here. These should provide insight into the solution and not just extend the original tasks. • Ensure that students from both groups are called upon to respond.

8. Creating Common Questions • Examine the PPQT provided and work through the task on simple interest. • Work with a partner to create a set of common questions for this task. Share with whole group

9. Creating Scaffolding Questions • Work with a partner again to create a set of scaffolding questions that you might use for this task. Share with whole group

10. Your turn Use the PPQT template that you started yesterday, or a new one if you prefer: • Create a parallel task for the “Action” part of the template. • Develop appropriate common questions. • Think about possible scaffolding questions.

11. Focused Conversations with Critical Friends • a colleague asks questions to help you reflect on your practice • not evaluative but rather encourages reflection • can occur when you are planning a lesson or task, or at the conclusion of a lesson or task, or both. • most effective if you can plan something together that you will both be doing in your classrooms • more effective (and less threatening) if they are truly about student learning and not about the individual teachers.

12. Role Play Watch each conversation. During each conversation, take note of the types of questions asked and comments made by the critical friend Liisa as she and Karen discuss Karen’s task. We’ll debrief these questions at the end.

13. Discuss Discuss with a partner and then your table: • what do you see as the main difference between the two conversations • what types of questions were asked in either or both conversations

14. Practice • Work with a partner. • Share your parallel task and common questions. • Have a focused conversation with one another about your tasks. • Take time to make any revisions to your task based on your conversation.

15. Share Share your revised parallel tasks with the group.

16. Letters from Camppp

17. Exit Card • Please take a moment to complete the exit card and leave it with us before you leave