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Creating and Sustaining a Safe
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Issue 3: |
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Students
learn best when they are actively engaged in the lesson. Working
with tasks such as those found in Making Sense of Problem
Solving means that students may experience disequilibrium
at times. This can be uncomfortable for students. To ensure that
they don't shut down even in uncomfortable situations, there are
many things that need to be considered.
First, a student needs to feel comfortable in the classroom when he or she is asking a question, sharing a solution method and possibly sharing errors in thinking or solutions. In other words, a student needs to feel safe. When students take the risk to share their thinking, encourage the rest of the class to look for what is right in the ideas presented. Often, looking for the "right" in one child's thinking is just the piece another student needs to springboard toward more complete understanding. View any ideas presented as contributions to the class as a whole. Mistakes in this setting are not seen as failures, but as opportunities for everyone to learn and grow. Tell students that they are all expected to follow classroom rules and be respectful of each other. Teachers need to be vigilant to ensure that no mocking, teasing, laughing or inattention occurs when others are sharing their thinking. Be sure that classroom rules include treating everyone with respect, treating classroom materials with respect and expecting students to be actively responsible for their own learning. Students know that they are being respected as individuals when they are given choices and when the teacher provides lessons that are tailored to match their levels of understanding. The Making Sense of Problem Solving materials offer many suggestions for adjusting instruction to match the needs of individual students. |
At the end of a lesson or at class meeting time, give
students the opportunity to give and receive acknowledgments
for actions that have contributed to the group. Students
can also acknowledge themselves, because they know how much
energy was expended to complete a task. |
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