What does your ideal math community look like? For me, it’s a community where my students can do the learning and the thinking. I don’t have to do everything. I just need to provide them with a good question and the chance for them to talk about it and learn from each other.
But that doesn’t happen by accident. There are some expectations that need to be set so that your students know that this math class will be different from what they’ve already experienced. That they will be required to think about themselves and math in a whole new way.
Before you get started, stop and think – what do YOU believe about math learning? What do you want your math community to be like?
These are 6 expectations that I have for my students. They are the beliefs that I want them to internalize over the course of our time together. I know and have experienced the shift in thinking that happens when students start to really believe these statements.
Spending 8 days at the beginning of your time together (or even stopping and doing this whenever you’ve discovered this post) will dramatically impact student learning.
Each day is structured in a similar way – a mindset video that relates to the math community expectations, an activity, and a reflection in the Math Mindset Journal.
You can use this Math Mindset Journal as a place for students to reflect on their learning throughout the next few weeks. The journal provides you with prompts to get your students reflecting on their mindset and will motivate them to see themselves as learners who are capable of doing math.
The journal is open-ended so you can use the activities linked below, check out some of the other activities I’ve used to promote growth mindset in math, or use some of your favourite tasks!
Day 1: Growth Mindset in Math
Which Picture Fits? This math journey reflection will get your students thinking and writing about their own math experiences. Using a metaphor for their journey will just help them to compare and share their feelings in a non-threatening way. You can grab this reflection for free by clicking here.
Have students spend a minute or two thinking about which picture best represents their math journey.
Then have them share with a partner.
Ask for volunteers to share with the whole class.
Give the students time to write their paragraph.
Once your students have had some time to really think about what they think about math, move into talking about growth mindset in math. They may be familiar with the terms but may need a refresher.
Mindset Videos:
Growth Mindset for Students and Growth Mindset
Activity:
The first day, start out with something super fun that is still math-related. You want your students to be doing math on Day 1 but also leaving your class having had fun. The productive struggle is coming soon, don’t worry! This game is a combination of logic and luck.
Check out Sara Vanderwerf’s blog for instructions and free printables and ways to use this game digitally.
Math Mindset Journal:
Change fixed mindset statements into growth mindset statements
Day 2: We Believe Math is Beautiful
We want our students to notice and wonder about the math all around them. We need to shift from math being a performance subject to one where they can appreciate and get excited about mathematical ideas.
Mindset Video:
Activity:
Math Mindset Journal:
Students reflect on their experience making math art
Day 3: We Can All Make Sense of Math
Students need to understand that the brain can grow and change. When you learn something your brain forms new connections. New neurons are created and existing neural pathways are strengthened or weakened. This means that everyone can do math. There’s no such thing as a math person!
Mindset Video:
Activity:
Crossing Rectangles
This link will take you directly the PDF download for the Crossing a Rectangle lesson from the Week of Inspirational Math website. This is such a valuable resource to find open-ended tasks so you should definitely take some time to explore!
Math Mindset Journal:
I used to think…but now I think…
This is when we do our first group task using the VNPS (vertical non-permanent surfaces) and implement more Building Thinking Classroom practices. Not sure what this is? Make sure you buy this book and join this Facebook group.
Day 4: We Work Together
Math isn’t a solo sport. We can learn from each other and build off of each other’s ideas.
Mindset Video:
Activity:
After the activity, debrief by creating a T-chart for what students should say/not say or do/not do while working in Math Groups. Use this to create a rubric to evaluate students with next class.
Mindset Journal:
3-2-1 Reflection
Day 5: We Make Mistakes
Brain research has shown that there’s more activity in your brain when you give a wrong answer than when you get something correct. Dig deep into wrong answers because Amanda Jansen says that “whatever someone is sharing makes sense to them right now.” Dan Meyer says that “wrong answers are gifts students are offering us from their brain.”
Mindset Video:
Activity:
Mindset Journal:
What did you learn about your brain and making mistakes? How will this help you when solving problems in Math this year?
Day 6: We Can Do Hard Things
Tell your students that the problems you will give them are hard and that you won’t be giving them the answers. Everything is figure-out-able and you believe that they can do it.
Mindset Video:
Activity:
Mindset Journal:
Summarize today’s lesson in a Tweet
Day 7: We Share Ideas and Ask Questions
Students who ask questions end up being more successful than those that don’t. Even answering a classmate’s question creates a positive change in the brain.
Mindset Video:
The Importance of Asking Good Questions
Activity:
Mindset Journal:
What’s in the bag? (students choose three objects that represent their learning from today to put in an imaginary bag.)
Day 8: What is Math?
Students who ask questions end up being more successful than those that don’t. Even answering a classmate’s question creates a positive change in the brain.
Mindset Video:
Activity:
Check out Sara Van Der Werf’s blog for a beautiful activity to introduce what mathematics is (the study of patterns).
Activity Part 2:
Thin Slicing Patterns
Thin slicing is when you give your students one problem at a time. Each time you give them a new problem, it increases slightly in difficulty. We’ll do a lot of these activities throughout the year so this is an opportunity to introduce them to thin slicing.
Give your students a simple pattern like 1, 3, 5, 7, and ask them what they notice, what comes next, and what the pattern rule is.
When they’ve discovered the rule and have justified their answer, give them a slightly more challenging pattern like 4, 10, 18, 28, 40.
Decide on some patterns by looking through your textbook or searching for patterning worksheets.
Math Mindset Journal:
Complete the “Math is…” reflection.
Celebrate the learning by splitting into 7 groups (one for each math community expectation). Give them some time to illustrate the expectation.
The ways we teach math and the messages we send to our students about math have a huge impact on student mindset and learning. Make sure you’ve downloaded the free Math Mindset Tools to help you get started!
I’m Lauren, from “From Math to Music” – your go-to person for all things Math and Classroom Community.
Being a middle-school teacher and a mom of 3, I know how hard it is for busy teachers to create resources that allow for deep thinking and build classroom community. That's why I love sharing tips and tricks that you can you use in your middle school classroom right this minute.
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