BE A “LEARN IT ALL"

TALK TO THE CLASS

Student Vital Actions

BE A ROLE MODEL

The student vital actions listed on the 5x8 Card are easy to look for in a classroom.  But it is far from easy to create a classroom in which these vital actions are commonplace! The Deck behind the Card is designed to help teachers, and those who work with teachers, to make small shifts in practice that cumulatively will lead to the kind of instructional environments in which the student vital actions are frequently observed.   The CCSS-M practices, and thus the student vital actions, call for students to explain their thinking and respond to the thinking of others; in other words, they promote classroom talk. Learning through talk will be unfamiliar to many students, and their usual behaviors and expectations may be obstacles to productive talk. These talk moves are designed to address these obstacles. They will help to establish classroom norms that will make it easier to accomplish the shifts to the vital actions on the 5x8 card.

LEARN TO EXPLAIN, EXPLAIN TO LEARN

LEARN TO LISTEN, LISTEN TO LEARN

First Steps: Creating a Classroom Culture

MOVES TO SUPPORTCreating a Classroom Culture

GIVE THEM A CHANCE

YOU’RE THE EXPERT

GIVE THEM A MINUTE

First Steps: Creating a Classroom Culture

TALK TO THE CLASS The problem:  Students accustomed to directing answers to the teacher often do not speak loudly enough for all of their classmates to hear.   The move: Have students address their peers when they explain their thinking. Teacher Tip:  You can check with a student far away from the speaker whether they were able to hear what the speaker said. You might also consider having students stand and face other students when they are explaining their thinking. Some teachers say “stand tall protocol” to gently remind students to stand and talk to their peers. Don’t be surprised if you have to repeat that phrase many, many times! When students are thinking about their explanation, they can easily forget to stand and face the class. Or they hesitate to take a risk lest they get caught not knowing. It can take time to develop a classroom culture where students readily share their thinking, listen to others, provide constructive critique and continually revise their way of thinking. 

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LEARN TO LISTEN, LISTEN TO LEARN The problem:  Many students (and adults) are not accustomed to listening carefully. But they can be trained to listen, and they will become better at it if they know they could be asked at any time to respond to what another student said. The move: Ask another student to put what was just said in their own words. Teacher Tip:  Initially this will often require that the first student repeat what she or he said. You may quite naturally feel that it’s a waste of time to have students repeat and rephrase. But it is an investment that pays off as students begin to listen on their own. At that point rephrasing can be dropped, and you will have a stronger learning community of good listeners.  

YOU’RE THE EXPERT The problem:  For some students, talking in class will feel risky because they don’t want to be caught not knowing the answer. If the student is asked a question for which there is one right answer, this fear may be activated and the student may fall silent.  The move: Ask questions for which the student will reliably have a response, such as “what do you think?” or “what did you do?” Teacher Tip:  Students may not trust initially that you really want to know how they think about a problem or what they did to try to solve it rather than what the “right” answer is. If they say “I don’t know,” you can remind them they are the expert on their own thoughts.  

GIVE THEM A MINUTE The problem:  Students vary widely in the rate at which they process information and are ready to give an answer. And not all students are comfortable speaking extemporaneously about their mathematical thinking. The move: For questions requiring deeper thought, give students time to prepare to share their thinking before they are expected to talk. Teacher Tip:  Students who process information quickly and are used to waiving their hands and giving answers may feel impatient. You might give them an additional challenge, such as “if you think you have a good answer, write an explanation that you think a younger student who knows less math could understand.”  

BE A ROLE MODEL The problem:  Students may not know what you’re expecting from them when you ask how they are thinking about a problem because they aren’t accustomed to talking about their thinking.   The move: Demonstrate for student by “thinking aloud” the process of working through the meaning of a problem, testing out ideas, and revising your thinking. Teacher Tip:  If there are English learners in your classroom, it will help them if you pay particular attention to the vocabulary and sentence structures that may be more challenging for them.

GIVE THEM A CHANCE The problem:  Students (and teachers) are accustomed to thinking of the teacher as the person with answers. The idea that students are resources themselves in a community of learners will need to be actively established. This move makes the classroom a community of learners that raises questions and seek answers together. It creates opportunities for students to feel competent in their mathematical understanding.  The move: Challenge students to try to answer the questions that their peers ask of you. Teacher Tip:  After asking who can explain to the questioning student, it may be helpful to ask the questioner to repeat the question so all students hear it. As your class becomes better at listening and at speaking up, this may not be necessary.  

BE A “LEARN IT ALL” The problem:  Many students think of talking in math class as an occasion to show off what they know. It will take deliberate effort to change the culture so that being a “learn it all” is prized over being a “know it all."  The move: Demonstrate with think alouds the process of comprehending problems, testing out ideas and revising. Teacher Tip:  Play at showing confusion to demonstrate how mathematical problem solving really works. The purpose of modeling is to show students that doing math is messy and often takes multiple tries and that getting better at math means being better at finding your way through messy places.  

LEARN TO EXPLAIN, EXPLAIN TO LEARN The problem:  “Performance oriented” students feel a drive to be “right” while “mastery oriented” students are driven to understand.  In the right environment students can become more mastery oriented. They can be helped to make that transition if they know that the “performance” you are after is being good at explaining their thinking, regardless of whether the answer is right. It is important that students see talking in class about mathematics as an opportunity to learn and to help others learn. The move: Tell students that explaining their math ideas helps them learn and helps their classmates learn as well. Teacher Tip:  When students give answers that are correct but are not fully explained, you might ask another student if what the speaker said makes sense to them. If not, ask the student to try explaining again so that the other student can understand. You may want to let the second student ask the first student clarifying questions.

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Students revise their thinking.

Tap on any of the Student Vital Actions to explore teaching moves!

First Steps:Creating a Classroom Culture

Students use academic language.

Students talk about each other’s thinking.

All students participate.

Students say a second sentence.

Students engage and persevere.

What is a Student Vital Action?

What is a Teaching Move?

ELLs produce language.

Students say a second sentence.

ELLs produce language.

Students talk about each other’s thinking.

Students engage and persevere.

The Common Core State Standards in mathematics are the first to articulate “practice standards:” expectations not only for what students should know, but for what they should be able to do. Teachers and administrators are now confronted with the questions: how would a classroom look if students were developing these practices? What would we expect to see students doing? A SERP team worked with Bay Area district partners to produce an answer to this question in the form of 7 “student vital actions” organized for simplicity and ease of use on a 5x8 Card. The vital actions are intended to be catalytic rather than comprehensive. There are many other things students do to learn, but these 7 are concrete, observable, and leverage related important learning actions. Learning is active; the vital actions attempt to capture the spirit of that action. They are intended as a productive starting point for shifting the focus from teacher actions to student actions–one that will be continuously improved as we learn more. We welcome your feedback! Please visit the 5x8 Card Website for additional information. 

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What is a Student Vital Action?

Student action is influenced by the classroom culture and leadership of the teacher. A teacher plans, assigns, prompts, spots trouble and responds, sees opportunities and seizes them, sees disengagement and re-engages. When a teacher acts to make a teaching episode productive, we refer to the teacher action as "a move.” Every teacher has a repertoire of moves that serve different purposes in different situations.  The 5x8 “deck" lists a selection of teacher moves that promote student vital actions. Teacher moves can make lessons flow toward the mathematics of the unit, and they keep students with a variety of dispositions and prior knowledge engaged in the discussion. Teacher moves also advance the discussion from initial ways of thinking toward grade-level ways of thinking. Which move should a teacher use? It depends on the purpose and the circumstance. Often, more than one move is worth trying. If one doesn’t work, try another. Good teaching entails paying attention to students’ ways of thinking and responding to it. When observing, work from student actions (good and bad) back to the presence or the absence of teacher moves.