What IS "Mathacognition?"
As I alluded to in my previous post, "The Journey to Mathacognition," it is a feature of my classroom that ties together relationships, personalized learning, growth mindset, safe-spaces, risk, emotional learning, and reflection focused around the most important subject we teach: the person sitting before us in the classroom.
I'm going to explain it by taking you through how my students interacted with it. On the second day of school, I shared with each student a Google-doc that asked them to finish the following prompts:
1) My emotional word association with math is....
2) I am not successful with math when....
3) I am successful with math when.....
Each student gave their own responses on the document they shared with me. (The next day, I took the words and made a word-cloud which we then turned into a bar graph, but that's tangential to the point!) For each student I provided follow up questions. For example:
What leads you to being tired or feeling under pressure?
Tell me about a time when math made you feel powerful?
What thoughts go through your mind when you find yourself not focusing?
What makes you feel like you can't ask questions?
Do you know where to get help in this class?
This may sound like I was becoming a private psychiatrist or therapist for each student. And in a way, I was. For some students, this conversation carried on for over a week back-and-forth on their Google doc. I got to know which students felt terrified speaking or asking questions in front of others, which students felt lonely, which students needed to be at the board holding the marker in order to learn, and what kind of emotional and academic baggage each student was bringing to the class.
What my students taught me in this exercise was how important it was that I create a "safe space" for asking questions. We've all heard the expression that "there are no dumb questions." And yet we've all heard questions that made us shake our heads and wonder how this student is going to make it. Well, that's my job: to make sure this student has the opportunity to make it. And it's not going to happen if students' amygdala is triggered in fight-flight mode. So when a question is asked, it MUST be taken seriously and with kindness. As my Department Chair says: "No 'comma-dumbass,'" meaning that nobody in the class should answer a student's question in a tone that sounds like it could be followed with "......, dumbass." Also, that when a student proposes a solution, we need to deal with that response right away rather than merely ignore it and keep fishing. However, these are details.
The broader implication was a continued attendance to my students' needs. For one student, about a week later, I asked her, "Do you feel like you know enough students now who can turn to for help?" For another, "How are you doing with the pace of the class? Are you able to stay up with each lesson?" And another, "I've noticed that I haven't seen your phone on the desk anymore. Tell me about how you've managed to not let it be present as a distraction." Yet another, "You are a rock star in tennis. How do you deal with problems and frustrations in tennis? Do you seek out your coach for help or do you tend to solve the problem on your own?"
Those of you who know the modern buzz words in education will recognize immediately what "Mathacognition" is doing: Building relationships. Through a simple Google-doc, I get to know my students fears, hopes, struggles, and successes. They tell me about other classes and teachers that bring them success and how they might find the same success in my class.
As the year goes on, I give prompts to the entire class unpersonalized. For example: List behaviors that have led you to success in this class. What are some things you haven't tried yet that might lead to even more success? What obstacles to your success do you encounter inside the classroom? Outside the classroom?
Because our school provides a rather nifty grading narrative that describes the qualities of a student performing at the various grading-marks, I can also ask students to give a well supported analysis of what grade they should receive......and why NOT the next higher grade! Think about that. Students become their own evaluators and give themselves feedback on what needs to improve!
By the end of the year, I revisit with the students some of their earlier offerings. Their emotional word association is revisited to see if we've moved the needle. They can specify what strategies worked for them and which didn't. They acknowledge their own role in the learning process. At our school we are required to give end-of-the-year comments. For some students, a simple copy-paste from their Mathacognition page tells the story that should be shared with parents.
What I haven't done yet: Made a list of prompts or questions that serve as a template through the year. Part of me says that's what I should do for year 2. Another part says that I should never do that at all so that it never becomes stale and remains personal to the students in front of me. What will I do? I'm more interested to hear what you would do! Please comment!
I'm going to explain it by taking you through how my students interacted with it. On the second day of school, I shared with each student a Google-doc that asked them to finish the following prompts:
1) My emotional word association with math is....
2) I am not successful with math when....
3) I am successful with math when.....
Each student gave their own responses on the document they shared with me. (The next day, I took the words and made a word-cloud which we then turned into a bar graph, but that's tangential to the point!) For each student I provided follow up questions. For example:
What leads you to being tired or feeling under pressure?
Tell me about a time when math made you feel powerful?
What thoughts go through your mind when you find yourself not focusing?
What makes you feel like you can't ask questions?
Do you know where to get help in this class?
This may sound like I was becoming a private psychiatrist or therapist for each student. And in a way, I was. For some students, this conversation carried on for over a week back-and-forth on their Google doc. I got to know which students felt terrified speaking or asking questions in front of others, which students felt lonely, which students needed to be at the board holding the marker in order to learn, and what kind of emotional and academic baggage each student was bringing to the class.
What my students taught me in this exercise was how important it was that I create a "safe space" for asking questions. We've all heard the expression that "there are no dumb questions." And yet we've all heard questions that made us shake our heads and wonder how this student is going to make it. Well, that's my job: to make sure this student has the opportunity to make it. And it's not going to happen if students' amygdala is triggered in fight-flight mode. So when a question is asked, it MUST be taken seriously and with kindness. As my Department Chair says: "No 'comma-dumbass,'" meaning that nobody in the class should answer a student's question in a tone that sounds like it could be followed with "......, dumbass." Also, that when a student proposes a solution, we need to deal with that response right away rather than merely ignore it and keep fishing. However, these are details.
The broader implication was a continued attendance to my students' needs. For one student, about a week later, I asked her, "Do you feel like you know enough students now who can turn to for help?" For another, "How are you doing with the pace of the class? Are you able to stay up with each lesson?" And another, "I've noticed that I haven't seen your phone on the desk anymore. Tell me about how you've managed to not let it be present as a distraction." Yet another, "You are a rock star in tennis. How do you deal with problems and frustrations in tennis? Do you seek out your coach for help or do you tend to solve the problem on your own?"
Those of you who know the modern buzz words in education will recognize immediately what "Mathacognition" is doing: Building relationships. Through a simple Google-doc, I get to know my students fears, hopes, struggles, and successes. They tell me about other classes and teachers that bring them success and how they might find the same success in my class.
As the year goes on, I give prompts to the entire class unpersonalized. For example: List behaviors that have led you to success in this class. What are some things you haven't tried yet that might lead to even more success? What obstacles to your success do you encounter inside the classroom? Outside the classroom?
Because our school provides a rather nifty grading narrative that describes the qualities of a student performing at the various grading-marks, I can also ask students to give a well supported analysis of what grade they should receive......and why NOT the next higher grade! Think about that. Students become their own evaluators and give themselves feedback on what needs to improve!
By the end of the year, I revisit with the students some of their earlier offerings. Their emotional word association is revisited to see if we've moved the needle. They can specify what strategies worked for them and which didn't. They acknowledge their own role in the learning process. At our school we are required to give end-of-the-year comments. For some students, a simple copy-paste from their Mathacognition page tells the story that should be shared with parents.
What I haven't done yet: Made a list of prompts or questions that serve as a template through the year. Part of me says that's what I should do for year 2. Another part says that I should never do that at all so that it never becomes stale and remains personal to the students in front of me. What will I do? I'm more interested to hear what you would do! Please comment!
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