Cooperative Learning
“To achieve success in learning mathematics, students should be given the opportunity to communicate mathematically, reason mathematically, and develop self-confidence to solve mathematics problems. One of the ways this can be done is through cooperative learning.”19 In order to help my students feel more successful in their math block, they will work together to solve problems. Students will communicate regularly with their peers and share their ideas with one another. “Explaining your work is what, in mathematics, we call reasoning, and reasoning is central to the discipline of mathematics.”20 Due to the nature of my school, students must reason during our Socratic seminars that focus on mathematics. Reasoning is a key component to my students’ success in these seminars in addition to cooperative learning.
Students will also be working in groups during this curriculum. Group work helps students to think through what they are doing with the help of their peers. “There were lots of ways to start the problem and success on the problem would take good communication among team members, with students listening to each other and giving each other a chance to think through their work.”21 By working with other students, children will feel secure in sharing their ideas. This can help relieve math anxiety as they will be working with a group of their equals. Students will have a chance to share their ideas freely with others. They are likely to be more open in a small group than they would sharing in front of the class. By working in groups students are given the opportunity to share their ideas and learn from each other.
“They need to produce arguments that convince other mathematicians by carefully reasoning their way from one idea to another, using logical connections. Mathematics is a very social subject, as proof comes about when mathematicians can convince other mathematicians of logical connections.”22 Using mathematical reasoning is a skill that my students will need to develop over time. “Math Talks” is a strategy that will help my students develop these crucial skills.
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