Thursday, March 10, 2016
Read and Reflect: Kids Warned about Posting Online (AVID Weekly)
Read this post from AVID Weekly about digital citizenship and then post a reflective comment. Please comment on another classmate's comment to either respectfully challenge an idea, or to support an idea in agreement.
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
Why use the "three-acts" process for problem-solving?
I was recently introduced to a new way of thinking, referred to as the "three acts" by Dan Meyer. This process is very useful for taking a difficult problem and breaking it down into steps, leading to new questions.
Act 1: This is when the conflict is introduced to us, sort of like a movie, book, or TV show. What is the main problem? What do we think is being asked of us? What are our initial questions?
Act 2: Now we are provided some more clues to the problem or conflict. Just as a TV show develops its characters and script, our act 2 provides vital information that's necessary for solving a problem. But we may still have questions to ask, as any higher-level thinker would understand. Never settle for the most basic response!
Act 3: Our resolution. We finally learn the solution to the conflict or problem. With a math problem, we arrive at our "answer." However, this is where we should also extend the thinking, asking "What if" type questions.
What I've noticed is that this three-act process leads to students being perplexed. We become obsessed with solving the problem and asking more questions. Dan Meyer argues that this process of problem-solving would lead to students grasping a better conceptualization of math problems, which is a more enriching thought.
With respect to math education today, there's too much scaffolding for students. In other words, we don't allow students the opportunity to ask important questions before providing them with all of the information they need to solve a given problem. Don't you think this is a problem? What are your thoughts on the matter?
Reference:
Meyer, Dan. (2011, May 11). The three acts of a mathematical story. (Web log comment). Retrieved from http://blog.mrmeyer.com/2011/the-three-acts-of-a-mathematical-story/
Act 1: This is when the conflict is introduced to us, sort of like a movie, book, or TV show. What is the main problem? What do we think is being asked of us? What are our initial questions?
Act 2: Now we are provided some more clues to the problem or conflict. Just as a TV show develops its characters and script, our act 2 provides vital information that's necessary for solving a problem. But we may still have questions to ask, as any higher-level thinker would understand. Never settle for the most basic response!
Act 3: Our resolution. We finally learn the solution to the conflict or problem. With a math problem, we arrive at our "answer." However, this is where we should also extend the thinking, asking "What if" type questions.
What I've noticed is that this three-act process leads to students being perplexed. We become obsessed with solving the problem and asking more questions. Dan Meyer argues that this process of problem-solving would lead to students grasping a better conceptualization of math problems, which is a more enriching thought.
With respect to math education today, there's too much scaffolding for students. In other words, we don't allow students the opportunity to ask important questions before providing them with all of the information they need to solve a given problem. Don't you think this is a problem? What are your thoughts on the matter?
Reference:
Meyer, Dan. (2011, May 11). The three acts of a mathematical story. (Web log comment). Retrieved from http://blog.mrmeyer.com/2011/the-three-acts-of-a-mathematical-story/
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