I feel more comfortable using talk moves when working with small groups for maths. The children have become more familiar with this style of teaching and now know that it is expected that they will need to talk about their answers. Today Sue Pine came into my class to observe me teaching a small group of students. Our key math idea was making groups. The biggest challenge I have found when using problems is that my students do not understand the problem. We now take at least 5 minutes unpacking the problem. We break it into parts, we talk about whether the number will get bigger or smaller and we use equipment to act it out. The children are becoming more familiar with problems and we are now spending less time unpacking the problem.
Today during my lesson Sue stopped and asked a child why they had made that mistake. This child seemed a bit embarrassed but was able to say why he had made the mistake. The group were very supportive and helped him which made his slight embarrassment disappear. I loved this and I can see how much he learnt from being able to describe why he had made the mistake. The learning from having this conversation with him is far greater then me telling that the answer is wrong.
I am going to make a conscious effort over the next few weeks to highlight when children have made mistakes and help them to discuss why.
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