Put yourself in the mode of teaching a Math Lesson. Which Word is Most Important: Practice, Explore, Concept, or Procedure?
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When you are teaching a Math Lesson which word do you give the LEAST time to: Practice, Concept, Procedure, or Explore?
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My answer to both questions was EXPLORE. However, here is my typical lesson: Concept first, then Procedure, then Practice, and if we have time I have my students Explore. What am I thinking? I need to have my students Explore More
I have been adjusting the order of my lessons lately to have EXPLORE first. I have been finding that when students explore first, then they understand the concept faster later. So Explore is not a waste of time but an important step in the process of learning of a math concept. Explore is a word that frees students to make mistakes in their work and still learn. Another word that I see as synonymous with Explore is PLAY. Do we let our students PLAY with MATH? How can we EXPLORE first? We need to find great explorations so that our students are not too frustrated, but yet not be bored with it. Here are a couple examples of an exploration to start a lesson.
POLYGRAPH PARABOLAS This is a Dan Meyer/Desmos Activity
REAM OF PAPER STACKING ACTIVITY This is a Kyle Pearce 3 Act
Search 3-act Math Problems
Who will get there first? A previous blog post on rate time and distance
I know I am going to try to Explore more FIRST!!! I hope you will EXPLORE this idea more.
