“I Don’t Get What They Don’t Get!”

I was working with my co-teacher and we were planning math lessons for the next week. We were to begin a unit on linear equations which we had taught many times before. Many of our students struggle to understand the concept of slope even though we have come up with many creative ways to introduce and explore linear functions. Despite our best efforts, we were not reaching all of our students. My co-teacher turned to me and said “I don’t get what they don’t get!” That was a pretty profound statement coming from her considering that she was an expert in understanding how to help students “get it”. This made me pause and consider what I had learned in my on-line classes at Lesley. I remember learning that students need a strong foundation in ratios and an understanding of proportional reasoning in order to be successful in learning about slope. Was this part of the problem? We decided to give our students a pre-assessment and learned that our students were weak in proportional reasoning. As a result we spent several days exploring proportions and using proportional reasoning to solve problems. Students were finding success with this work because they had been exposed to ratios and proportions before and just needed more practice to solidify their understanding. The day came when we moved onto slope. A day or so into our explorations, one of our students practically stopped the class. He stood up and announced, “Wait, just a minute here. Could you say that slope is just a ratio and that’s all there is to it?” I gave this student a high-five and felt great relief. At times during the past week, I wondered if the work with proportional reasoning would make an impact. This was the first hint that it had indeed helped. My students were having less difficulty with the explorations and needed less support. Follow-up assessments showed that they were indeed learning and were “getting it”. We still had students who required interventions and support, but overall, we had found a better way to introduce a difficult topic.

I am now halfway through my on-line masters program in math at Lesley. This is just one example of how the math classes I have taken thus far have impacted my teaching practice. I am finding that with every class I gain new insights about student thinking and understanding. This allows me to develop tools that I can use to help guide my students toward mathematical success and true understanding of concepts. When I can figure out what they don’t get, then I have the opportunity to make changes that will help me become a more effective teacher in the classroom.