I feel like I am rushing to gather my thoughts because I went down so many exploratory paths this week – pursuing more of the tessellating trapezoids from last week (see my Scratch coding addition), thinking I would pursue more of Sarah Chase’s movements than the New Teachers’ Riff on Kandinsky in Binary but playing with that as well, and getting caught up in the possibilities of visualizing with technology. I hope my ideas come together here.
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| Scratch cat tessellating trapezoids |
Q: How would you manage students that might go down rabbit holes and not pursue the intended outcomes? Does this need managing? Why or why not?
As part of the data analysis in the EASY Minds study, the authors found that the bit of criticism a few students had toward the program was that sometimes they got frustrated with the physical activity and they commented that this frustration interfered with them learning the mathematics (Riley et al, 2017). Upon reflection, I experienced this, too, in my attempts at the activities, both with the physical coordination and with technology. This makes me think about implementation with students. The EASY Minds study wasn’t looking to refine physical literacy but just to get students active more throughout the day, specifically in math lessons. So, I think it might be important to 1) be sure the focus is on just moving, not refining physical skills and 2) to introduce some of the physical skills needed for an embodied math task separately from this task so students develop competence and confidence in that skill. This involves some planning ahead and predicting what could get in the way of success. The same would go for using technology to create visual representations; the students might be more successful connecting with and deepening understanding of the mathematics if they already know how to use the app or program or coding platform that will be used for exploration.
Q: How can we mitigate frustration with the embodied, outdoors, or art aspects of our integrated mathematical activities so students can engage deeply with the mathematical concepts?
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| I don't think 6 and 8 are wrong |
When Sarah Chase talked about doing the dance patterns with other people and that they might choose the “wrong” numbers, meaning pairs or groups of numbers that might have a lowest common multiple smaller than their product, I will admit my back went up a bit. In thinking about why, I came around to there being interesting discoveries with what she calls “wrong” numbers and just because her intended outcome is to have a long sequence of movements before they repeat, it does not mean that other people cannot have other outcomes, intended or not. “Happy accidents” can lead to interesting discoveries. I saw the “wrong” numbers as an opportunity to explore multiples and lowest common multiples (which Cassie mentioned in a text chat she is immersed in with her students working with fractions) and that is
what my movements and notations explored. The “wrong” numbers could also lead to an interesting discussion about number choice and how it effects the length of a dance sequence that is choreographed in this way that Chase uses.
Q: How can we as teachers ensure that we are open to ‘happy accidents’, to explore these with students?
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| iPad piano is providing fun! |
Q: What do you think of the idea that work on a screen with coding or other applications being representative of embodied learning?
Hey Sandra,
ReplyDeleteI like your comment about getting frustrated with the physical aspect of an activity at the cost of learning the mathematics – I felt that this week too. Like the movement and music exploring phases and combinations was neat, but I don’t know if I really learned anything mathematical from it because I was just trying to keep track of my extremities. I could maybe pull something like that out of my back pocket if I’m feeling super nervous and need a good distraction though.
Ha! I’m just reading about your reference to me and fractions – oops, should have read here first! I commented on this down below in your other post 😊
What do you think of the idea that work on a screen with coding or other applications being representations of embodied learning? I think, when you first teach coding, it can be embodied, right? My friend doing the Ed Tech Masters through UNBC goes to different classes to teach tech and when she introduces coding, the kids have to act out codes, moving around on the carpet with specific commands, etc. If it’s originally taught like this, maybe these movement memories (like the visual memories you had read that article about) might work to engage the brain the same way the original large movement embodied activity would have?
I agree with you and Cassie that frustrations with physicality/technology could impact the breadth and depth of math learning. Throughout this Master's program, my lack of technological expertise and my disinterest in having social media accounts have impacted my access and learning. It takes a lot of time and energy for me to learn to navigate all of the of the platforms that I have been required to use in the last two years both in teaching and at UBC. They are add-ons with no connection to my personal life. The digital divide is real and drains cognitive energy and bandwidth that I could otherwise be using for noticing, wondering, contemplating, reading, reflecting, writing, ... Assignments often take me far longer than I anticipate they will because of a myriad of technical difficulties with uploading, losing posts (which I did tonight), formatting concerns, Zoom sessions freezing, not having new enough technology or updates, device verification and access issues, having to create new accounts (e.g. gmail) to use some platforms smoothly and then forgetting all of the new usernames/accounts/passwords that have needed to be set up for preferred platforms in the various courses,...
ReplyDeleteSome of our students have complex lives, too. As such, teachers need to provide differentiated tasks to facilitate access to learning for all students and thoughtful, purposeful assessment to enable learners to show what they know.
"How can we mitigate frustration with the embodied, outdoors, or art aspects of our integrated mathematical activities so students can engage deeply with the mathematical concepts?"
I think we need to form connections with our students, learn about their personalities, strengths, and limitations, and remember to teach people rather than programs. Some other ideas are: providing different access points along the learning continuum; anticipating where students may have difficulty; providing scaffolding and support when needed; modelling and encouraging a growth mindset; helping students build learning stamina; value process as well as product; help students connect to and reflect on prior learning; allow time and space for students to notice/wonder/reflect/extend; offer collaborative learning opportunities; teach requisite skills that students need to engage in the learning tasks; ensure that students have adequate supplies/clothing; offer clear guidelines and explicit learning goals; and use thoughtful, connected assessment.
Thanks Sandra and group for a very stimulating discussion!
ReplyDeleteI noticed that several people bristled when Sarah Chase said something about 'wrong' in the video. I want to clarify that she stopped herself halfway through saying the word 'wrong', and repeated it with ironic air quotes, to let us know that she didn't really think it was 'wrong' -- and then that she let people explore what would happen if they had chosen two numbers that weren't relatively prime. That is to say, I think she is really on the same wavelength that we are.
Very interesting to think about the snags people often encounter when taking on anything unfamiliar, including movement, the arts and being outdoors! I worked a lot with choreographer and educator Kathryn Ricketts (I think I mentioned her at the DMAM meeting discussion, or our most recent Saturday Zoom?), and I learned a lot from her about this. She has years of experience in teaching dance improv to non-dancers, and she always starts from movement and imagery that is likely to be familiar, everyday and comfortable (like smoothing a tablecloth, throwing or catching a ball, turning around to see 'who's there?', or signing your name). Then she gets people to try expanding the movement to make it larger, or slowing it down or speeding it up, or making it cover more space. By starting with a metaphor or image that is very comfortable, safe and familiar, people can build out to very impressive moves without a lot of trouble. I can imagine doing the same with new technical skills, and in other arts besides dance!