Ask Marian

Why do my students prefer procedural questions over understanding questions?

Transcript
I was talking to a group of teachers recently, and one of them said to me that when she, in her Grade 2 class with seven-year-olds, uses what I often call understanding questions or conceptual questions, as opposed to more procedural questions, the kids are not happy. They just want the kind of question like, “What is 5 + 2?” And so she said, “Why is that? Are my kids like other kids? What can I do about it?” and so on. And I think that’s a very important kind of question that she asked.

A lot of what students say in response to a question or how they react has to do with what they’re used to. So, if students are used to questions where you’re really just finding out if they already know something, and so often the response is quite quick, they might start to believe those are the normal math questions, and that’s what they’re supposed to do. And then when you ask a question that’s not that kind, it feels off and they’re reluctant to respond.

So, I think part of what we can do as teachers is to do a better balance of questions and just quickly assess what a student already knows and questions where we really expect them to stop for a while and think for a while and then respond. When those second kind of questions become more, I’m going to call it “normal” to kids, I think they’re going to be more willing to respond. I think often kids are not willing if the questions don’t feel what I would call “normal” to them.

Why do my students prefer procedural questions over understanding questions?

Transcript
I was talking to a group of teachers recently, and one of them said to me that when she, in her Grade 2 class with seven-year-olds, uses what I often call understanding questions or conceptual questions, as opposed to more procedural questions, the kids are not happy. They just want the kind of question like, “What is 5 + 2?” And so she said, “Why is that? Are my kids like other kids? What can I do about it?” and so on. And I think that’s a very important kind of question that she asked.

A lot of what students say in response to a question or how they react has to do with what they’re used to. So, if students are used to questions where you’re really just finding out if they already know something, and so often the response is quite quick, they might start to believe those are the normal math questions, and that’s what they’re supposed to do. And then when you ask a question that’s not that kind, it feels off and they’re reluctant to respond.

So, I think part of what we can do as teachers is to do a better balance of questions and just quickly assess what a student already knows and questions where we really expect them to stop for a while and think for a while and then respond. When those second kind of questions become more, I’m going to call it “normal” to kids, I think they’re going to be more willing to respond. I think often kids are not willing if the questions don’t feel what I would call “normal” to them.

Why do my students prefer procedural questions over understanding questions?

Transcript
I was talking to a group of teachers recently, and one of them said to me that when she, in her Grade 2 class with seven-year-olds, uses what I often call understanding questions or conceptual questions, as opposed to more procedural questions, the kids are not happy. They just want the kind of question like, “What is 5 + 2?” And so she said, “Why is that? Are my kids like other kids? What can I do about it?” and so on. And I think that’s a very important kind of question that she asked.

A lot of what students say in response to a question or how they react has to do with what they’re used to. So, if students are used to questions where you’re really just finding out if they already know something, and so often the response is quite quick, they might start to believe those are the normal math questions, and that’s what they’re supposed to do. And then when you ask a question that’s not that kind, it feels off and they’re reluctant to respond.

So, I think part of what we can do as teachers is to do a better balance of questions and just quickly assess what a student already knows and questions where we really expect them to stop for a while and think for a while and then respond. When those second kind of questions become more, I’m going to call it “normal” to kids, I think they’re going to be more willing to respond. I think often kids are not willing if the questions don’t feel what I would call “normal” to them.

Why do my students prefer procedural questions over understanding questions?

Transcript
I was talking to a group of teachers recently, and one of them said to me that when she, in her Grade 2 class with seven-year-olds, uses what I often call understanding questions or conceptual questions, as opposed to more procedural questions, the kids are not happy. They just want the kind of question like, “What is 5 + 2?” And so she said, “Why is that? Are my kids like other kids? What can I do about it?” and so on. And I think that’s a very important kind of question that she asked.

A lot of what students say in response to a question or how they react has to do with what they’re used to. So, if students are used to questions where you’re really just finding out if they already know something, and so often the response is quite quick, they might start to believe those are the normal math questions, and that’s what they’re supposed to do. And then when you ask a question that’s not that kind, it feels off and they’re reluctant to respond.

So, I think part of what we can do as teachers is to do a better balance of questions and just quickly assess what a student already knows and questions where we really expect them to stop for a while and think for a while and then respond. When those second kind of questions become more, I’m going to call it “normal” to kids, I think they’re going to be more willing to respond. I think often kids are not willing if the questions don’t feel what I would call “normal” to them.

Why do my students prefer procedural questions over understanding questions?

Transcript
I was talking to a group of teachers recently, and one of them said to me that when she, in her Grade 2 class with seven-year-olds, uses what I often call understanding questions or conceptual questions, as opposed to more procedural questions, the kids are not happy. They just want the kind of question like, “What is 5 + 2?” And so she said, “Why is that? Are my kids like other kids? What can I do about it?” and so on. And I think that’s a very important kind of question that she asked.

A lot of what students say in response to a question or how they react has to do with what they’re used to. So, if students are used to questions where you’re really just finding out if they already know something, and so often the response is quite quick, they might start to believe those are the normal math questions, and that’s what they’re supposed to do. And then when you ask a question that’s not that kind, it feels off and they’re reluctant to respond.

So, I think part of what we can do as teachers is to do a better balance of questions and just quickly assess what a student already knows and questions where we really expect them to stop for a while and think for a while and then respond. When those second kind of questions become more, I’m going to call it “normal” to kids, I think they’re going to be more willing to respond. I think often kids are not willing if the questions don’t feel what I would call “normal” to them.

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Why do different jurisdictions have different math curricula where some topics appear in a different order?

Transcript
I was talking to a teacher who was curious as to why different jurisdictions, whether states or provinces, have different curricula because in math, isn’t there a special order you have to do things in, because you can’t do this before you’ve done that?

And I think it is true that there are, probably in all jurisdictions, certain topics that precede other ones. For example, counting will almost always precede something like adding or subtracting because you need to know a little bit about numbers before you start adding and subtracting them. But there are still a lot of choices that people can make. People have different opinions, for example: “Should you do 2-D geometry first or should you do 3-D geometry first?” “Should you introduce bar graphs in Grade 2 or in Grade 3?” “Should you introduce centimetres or inches in Grade 1 or Grade 2?”

So, people have different opinions and can have different opinions on some of those things because those things aren’t connected to other things that have to come first, and so those are choices they can make. So, I think in any jurisdiction, a certain group of people put together their curriculum, and their opinions are what shape when various things happen in many of those instances.

What is the best way to record a reminder?

Transcript
Sometimes when you divide, you get a remainder, and a teacher was asking me, “What’s the best way to record a remainder?” And I think that if you look at curricula, you’ll notice that students are actually asked to consider how remainders can be different in different situations.

So, if, for example, I had 2(frac{1}{2}) pounds of meat and split it up into 2 packages (which means I divide by 2), 1(frac{1}{4}) pounds makes sense. Or if I had 2.5 kg of meat and split it up into 2 packages, 1.25 kg makes sense. So, fractions and decimals make sense.

But if I’m talking about taking 7 people and making groups of 3, I’m not sure it means as much to say that I can make 2(frac{1}{3}) groups. Maybe you’d say that, but for a lot of people, it makes more sense to say, “Well, I’d have 2 groups and 1 extra.” And sometimes they’ll write 2 R1; sometimes they’ll write <span class=”NOBR”>2 + R1</span> and the plus is signifying you have to add that one.

And I think there could be arguments as to when one may make more sense than the other. Technically speaking, I think that you have to think about the context before you can figure out the best way to record the answer.

Is it true that if I add 2 + 3 + 8 as 2 + 8 + 3, I am using the associative property?

It’s partially true. It turns out that the associative property is not about changing the order of addends but changing which addends are grouped together.

Using the associative property, 2 + 3 + 8 is either (2 + 3) + 8, which is 5 + 8, or it’s 2 + (3 + 8), which is 2 + 11.

When we change 2 + 3 + 8 to 2 + 8 + 3, we are also using what we call the commutative property.

My principal says that I should do a number talk with my class every day. Do you agree?

I am not sure that there is ever a particular structure we need to use every day, but if your principal is hoping that every day you ensure there are opportunities for students to share their ideas about how to approach a mathematical situation, I would be inclined to agree. I am personally not sure it needs to be in the number talk structure, though.

My principal says that I should do a number talk with my class every day. Do you agree?

I am not sure that there is ever a particular structure we need to use every day, but if your principal is hoping that every day you ensure there are opportunities for students to share their ideas about how to approach a mathematical situation, I would be inclined to agree. I am personally not sure it needs to be in the number talk structure, though.