Last week I subbed in the Grade 7 Math class. While I was going through a few problems, I made the mistake of asking a question of the entire class.
Why was it a mistake?
Callahan, Samantha. preschoollearning1.jpg. 2013. Pics4Learning. 2 Jun 2025
When I was asking the students the questions, one student kept answering them. He was answering correctly, which was impressive, but what were the other 24 students doing while this was happening?
After this lesson, I started thinking back about how I used to handle this kind of situation when I was in the classroom full time.
I thought that grouping students and having them talk within their groups would be good. Then I could call on a group and they would tell the class what they answered. Another way could be to pair students up and have them "turn and talk", but the issue here is time.
What are the other students doing while a few are active?
Then today on my way home I heard this podcast that talked about how to make discussions better. Give it a listen.
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[Math Chat] 149: Common Mistakes That Shut Down Math Discussions (And What to Do Instead) #mathChathttps://podcastaddict.com/math-chat/episode/199233095 via @PodcastAddict