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Lesson 2.3 Providing Feedback That Drives Learning Forward – Discussion
What new take-aways do you have?
What questions are you still wondering?
Share your thinking below…”
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33 Replies
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My students love kahoot but I can see your point of the time pressures. I have avoided it for more indepth maths and now I realise why. I plan to check out Desmos. Thanks
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Another kahoot like tool that is specifically for math is Knowledgehook. They also have ready made activities aligned to many different curriculums!
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Thanks for your honest take on Kahoot, and Kahoot like tools. I actually had several families relate that, in the past, their child hated activities like Kahoot. The fact that they were never fast enough totally destroyed their confidence, so they felt that they could never show what they know in a way that was valued. When people talk about how much the kids love Kahoot you have to wonder which kids are they talking to. I personally have never used it and probably never will. Desmos is remarkable and will continue to be a major component of my professional development.
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Thanks for sharing.
An alternative to Kahoot is Gameshow by Knowledgehook that could be a better fit. https://knowledgehook.com
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I like the idea of the ratio with regards to the tech tools. The payoff is so important!
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I have tried Desmos with my grade 6 class and I liked how I could control the pace of the lesson and interject as needed. It did take a little bit of practice getting used to the controls but the kids enjoyed it and there was a lot more learning because they did not race through the activity. Since Desmos is focused on intermediate grades and high school there is not much for grade 6 but I see that grade 6 lessons are coming. Can wait!
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For sure. And keep in mind that with custom activity builder, you can create your own lessons too!
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The question types and ratios of the questions asked in my class in person and online really made me stop and think. Students ask SO many stop or proximity questions throughout a lesson or even a problem-based task. I believe they might be emulating the questions I’m asking them, either informally, or in their assessments. It really made me think about how I’m modeling the questioning method for the whole class.
One thing I’m thinking about is when we hit that struggle point. If students keep asking proximity or stop thinking questions and I push with a thinking question, they get frustrated. How do I combat this in the class and keep them thinking?
Also, this year (2020-2021 for reference) I’ve used almost exclusively Desmos in my virtual classroom and it’s been amazing and something I plan to bring with me when I see my students in person again!
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This reply was modified 1 year, 10 months ago by Christopher Ernst.
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Super insightful @ErnstCD ! Modelling the types of questions is so important to frame how kids will ask questions. Do you think this will help with their frustrations as well?
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I would assume so, especially setting that expectation set in the class at the beginning of the school year.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 10 months ago by
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Year after year, kids hate Desmos in my class because the activities make them think. I thought maybe they were just boring and so I made them interactive with graphs and card sorts. Kids learned hey when I can see three kids’ responses I can click the back button so I don’t have to think about the answer and instead copy someone else’s. So I used other tools that provided feedback for something other than multiple-choice or a numerical answer. So all along I was thinking I was doing my kids a service but it was confirmation that they had the right answer that stopped their thinking. I think the struggle is changing the culture that math is something students need to get over or check off their list to do something else.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 7 months ago by Anthony Waslaske. Reason: Grammer
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That is such a shocker to me. While I have had experience with students pushing back a bit on showing their thinking when doing problem based lessons like 3 act math style, etc, I’ve never had students not enjoy Desmos.
Sounds like a lot of work must be dedicated to culture building – maybe across your school? Let us know how we might be able to help!
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This reply was modified 1 year, 7 months ago by
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I used to feel pretty intimidated by Desmos, but after this year of distance learning, I’m a big fan! One thing that I’m still really uncomfortable with is creating lessons on Desmos. Luckily, my math coach is a bit more comfortable and can help with creating lessons when needed.
Another digital resource I really love is ClassKick. It doesn’t let teachers pace the slides like Desmos (wish it did!), but making lessons is super easy. Something I need to be careful about with, after this lesson, are the types of questions I would ask in ClassKick. They were often funneling questions with right/wrong answers, and I would set ClassKick to give points for correct answers in an effort to give students immediate feedback. Students could “game” the system at times, so I would change those practices.
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Glad to hear that you’re feeling better about Desmos. The Activity Builder tool is great. We have a run down in our “From a Distance” course that walks you through Desmos and creating activities.
You are right about questioning… some tools can lend themselves to more knowledge / funnelled type questions than others. It also doesn’t help that we often resort to those types of questions unless we are being really intentional.
Thanks for sharing!
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I love Desmos so much. I use it a ton in all of my classes. I should probably be a bit better about my questions sometimes in the modules that I create, but, Desmos just screams to students that you have to think!
I do have students that groan when I tell them to load desmos, but most are excited. I think it really is what Anthony said, they are required to think when doing desmos. Really need to work to build that culture better!
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I do a lot of funneling questions, especially in my lower tracked class. Their perseverance is so low, I can get tears if I keep the question too broad. One question I am going to use for this course next year is: Can you draw it? Model it? I do a good job of multiple representations in my upper-level algebra classes. I often say, can you represent it in a different way. Truth is, I am more comfortable with upper level algebra course. When a student doesn’t understand something in my pre-algebra course, it is harder for me to build representations. Often there are many different ways -which is great, but also confuses some students. Last year was my first year teaching pre-algebra and it was COVID – online and no shared manipulatives made it hard. I think getting more manipulatives into the class will help me and the students focus in on the math concept without me walking them through procedures step-by-step.
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All great ideas here and I think a good step forward. One thing that I find helps as well is keeping the curiosity flowing early which will allow for more open questioning to start and to promote less funnelling.
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I love DESMOS for seeing student thinking. It saved me during Covid!
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Take away – I need to play around with Desmos a lot more. Looks like a great tool for formative feedback.
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Definitely a fantastic tool!
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I am very excited to investigate Desmos! I thought it was only for graphing equations.
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We’re glad we could point you in this amazing direction.
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I’m also excited about Desmos more.
My problem is that there is just so much out there that it overwhelms me – too much. I’ve used Nearpod (a little), Desmos (a little), DeltaMath (a little more) and Quizizz. I do this to keep things fresh, but it can be too much. We also use Schoology at our school. And now I’m thinking about Classhook and Freshgrade. (As is my colleague so we will be able to support each other I’m sure!)
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Overwhelm with choices is definitely an issue. We created a course around that issue and how we choose resources for our classes: “Are You Picky Enough” that course also teaches you about Desmos.
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I like the part about the questions. I think I will actually enjoy trying to catch myself as I try to frame my questions well. As soon as Jon mentioned “Stop thinking questions,” I realized I do that from time to time just to “move on.” Since doing the Making Math Moments workshop, I’ve seriously made efforts to cut down on how much I talk, and it is SO hard for me! I like these checks and reminders.
I used Desmos (somewhat effectively) for the first time this week. It went pretty well. I can see how with a little practice, I will get much better at it. I love the pacing tool. I’m glad I used it on my sixth graders first. My seventh graders will need me to be more on top of things. They give so many good suggestions.
Jon already said he will answer my lingering questions about marks. BTW, I tried the feedback column of the assessments, and I LOVE it! I’m excited to see what info we will get about summarize assessments also.
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@callie-smith We’re glad you’re getting lots of suggestions in this course. I still find it tough to not talk so much! LOL.
Great stuff trying Desmos out! With more practice you’ll feel comfortable. We have a course on using that technology called Are You Picky Enough you may want to check out.
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I will check it out for sure!! I find that I want all of the info in all of your workshops all at once most of the time. 😬 It’s so hard to be patient and work through them. But I also don’t want to miss all the good stuff.
I have been trying to remember where you showed us about how to start a math fight…
My 8th graders did a Desmos today, and it was A.Mazing!! They actually started debating their answers on one of the choose who is right questions…. And class ended before they finished. They asked for the answer, and I made them end it on a cliffhanger! Best math class. Ever!!
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Love it! We shared the Math Fight in the Making Math Moments Online Workshop module 2.5
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One takeaway is that I want to ask more focusing questions and I wish to encourage my students to do the same. I also like the idea of not giving immediate feedback. In the NCTM literature the idea of not robbing students of their thinking is discussed. This means to let students finish their thinking and continue to work on a problem even if they are wrong. This will help them build understanding when they realize that their strategy doesn’t work.
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Exactly @jeremy.sarzana Too often in the past I’ve interrupted students in their thinking only to “correct” them! #finishTHINKING
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I have always wanted to try Desmos, but it seemed like the ratio required to learn how to use it was higher than I wanted it to be, so I am glad to see that you think the ratio is okay. Just curious, does Desmos have training to teach you how to best use it?
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They do have some videos but we also have a tech tools course in the Academy that goes deep into Desmos you might consider digging into as well! Great resource!
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I do like Desmos. I’ve used it here and there. I would like to be able to take your course that teaches more about it. This module has really had me reflecting on the questions I’ve done in the past. I would like to improve questions and hopefully improve the feedback I get.
