Better Questions: Can You Help Me?

There were many prompts to get this week's task going, and this one has hit me hard recently, and not just in math class: "Mr. Hulitt, can you help me?" Simple, right?  Let's resume the convo:

Sure, what do you need?
I don't know what to do
What don't you know what to do?
Number 7
Ok, what don't you know about number 7?
I don't know what to do

Many of our students want the easy way out.  They have been programmed since school age to be robotic answer-finders.  Give them a formula, tell them what numbers to use, plug it into a calculator, and bam(!), there's your answer.

The idea of learned helpless is plaguing our classrooms.  Without the need to rehash posts from this, this and this, I will add that the Math Practice Standards aim to curtail learned helplessness and promote better thinking in class.  Specifically MP1: Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.  I've found that low entry high ceiling tasks do this exactly.  That's the beauty of Estimation180, Visual Patterns, and Which One Doesn't Belong.  Also, Jo Boaler and NRich have more examples that expand this concept.

Have you used anything in particular?  How did it go? Please share!

Merry Christmas! Or is it?

It's hard not to get in the holiday spirit; the presents, lights, family, food and of course the break from school.  Or is it hard to get in the holiday spirit?  Today I saw that first hand. 

I had a student in a grumpy mood.  Everyone is smiling and cheerful that today is the last day of school because of Christmas break.  My student wasn't.  After giving him some time to be with himself and get some sort of control with his emotions, I was able to talk to him to see what's up.  He told me, "everyone is in a good mood, but some of us have family problems." I find out that today is the second anniversary of his brother committing suicide.  Whoa!  How do I handle this?

This student isn't stable to begin with, but all he wanted to do was talk.  I didn't have the best information for him, but I was able to listen.  Sometimes that's all our students want.  They need someone to trust.  Someone they can talk to.  Someone they can confide in.  After our little chat, he wished me a Merry Christmas. 

Teaching isn't always about the x's and o's.  It's about building relationships.  In my opinion, that's the most important aspect of school.  Learning will occur, both easily and naturally, when that relationship is made.