The STEM Teacher Leadership Video Showcase features 3-minute videos submitted by teacher leaders and those engaged in creating teacher leadership programs. View their inspiring stories and make sure to leave a comment! Share on social media and "like" your favorites!Two New Questions
Description:
Math is filled with many different questions. This short video shows the power of two relatively new questions: What do you notice? and What do you wonder? As a teacher leader in a Maryland public school district, I shared the power of these questions with our new educators, showing how open ended questions without one specific answer can be as, or often more, powerful than traditional questions that have only one response. I also showed the power of open ended questions to teachers in Mexico on a recent Fulbright exchange, where teachers often taught in a very traditional manner. Showing educators the power of open ended questions helps open the conversation about mathematics.
Related Leadership Program
PAEMST Awardees
Grade Level
Informal
Keywords
Professional Development or Mentorship
Increasing Student Engagement
Pedagogy and/or Curriculum
Subject Area
Math
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Comments
Open-ended questions for the win
Hi John,
I love this reframing of math as "art" with these two important questions! In my work as a high school science teacher, I talk sometimes about how "research" can be bigger, too -- how quantitative data is important, but qualitative data is what often helps us make sense of the numbers, or where to go next.
One thing I've been thinking more about this fall is how to prime students for what they notice and what they wonder, particularly about equity- and access-related data. I'm curious about how where else these two questions have felt particularly powerful in your teaching practice.
Thanks so much for this video -- and for the fun-looking task!
:) Kirstin
In reply to Open-ended questions for the win by Kirstin Milks
Thanks for your thoughts
Hello Kristin - So sorry for the delay - I was out of town and just got back into town tonight! First, I love the idea of noticing and wondering things about equity and access data, and well, data in general. For example, I tend to notice that in education we often will talk about percentage gains (or losses) but we rarely look at the n value for stats.
The task is an amazing one - As I noted, I did it in Mexico and the students, who were not used to these type of activities really loved it!
Thanks for your comments!
Notice & Wonder
Thank you for sharing your efforts to spread this awesome routine John!
In reply to Notice & Wonder by Liza Bondurant
Thanks Liza
Hi Liza - Thanks for stopping by! Yes, it is such a great routine to share, and keeping up the use of open ended questions!
Sharing resources
John,
I loved the idea of color patterns with the math. Could you share the activity with me so I can share it with my math teachers? NJSTOY2023@gmail.com
In reply to Sharing resources by Christine Girtain
Activity Sent
Hi Christine - Thanks for stopping by - I shared a link to your email! Let me know how it goes!
In reply to Sharing resources by Christine Girtain
Same request here!
John, would love to bring this to my math teacher colleagues and my 11th graders as well! Can you send it? kristina.danahy@gmail.com
In reply to Same request here! by Kristina Danahy
Just sent
Hi Kristina - I just sent it to you!
Two questions...I agree!
I agree, John. I've asked these two questions in science with observations and data visualizations (graphs, charts, etc.) and the students' responses always amazes me. It is humbling to see responses that I haven't thought of and to learn from. I've also used these two questions with educators when looking at school data and have found them to be more inquiry-based and "inviting" for educators to digest.
Some things I (think internally) struggle with when posing these two questions:
Do you have these struggles? How do you combat these struggles?
In reply to Two questions...I agree! by Elegan Kramer
Thanks - some idesa
Hi Elegan - Thanks for the questions. To some of the things:
1. I usually will use 2 minutes of process time - I think that is enough time for students to consider something - I don't think that everyone has to come up with the same number of things - they have to do at least one of them.
2. I often will walk around the room and look at responses, and in particular if there is a quiet child who usually doesn't respond, I will try and encourage that child to share their answer. When I was in Mexico, I had some students ask as a question, "Que es eso" (What is this?). It was a GREAT question to ask, especially if they had never seen anything like it.
I hope that helps.
In reply to Thanks - some idesa by John Seelke
Thanks!
Thanks John! I love how the students were able to ask comfortably "Que es eso" and agree it's another (third?) great question :)
In reply to Two questions...I agree! by Elegan Kramer
Educator Noticings and Wonderings
Elegan,
I have similar thoughts about how to pose the questions for educators, particularly ensuring the quiet voices are heard! In the remote meeting era of 2020-2021, we used Jamboard to gather see-think-wonders a lot and that helped elevate those voices. Chart paper for chalk talks might be helpful now that we are back in person.
In reply to Educator Noticings and Wonderings by Kristina Danahy
Of course, digital tools!
I agree, Kristina that digital tools (such as Jamboard) can help draw more and different voices - thanks for the reminder :)
Questions and Reflections
I love the idea of asking them questions that they connect to and can reflect on. How do you guide the questions to be relevant- deeper/analytical questions and not "what is your favorite..."?
By owning the thought process, it sounds like students will definitely be more engaged at the personalized approach.
In reply to Questions and Reflections by Jodi Zeis
Deeper questions
Hi Jodi - that's a great question...For example, instead of which is your favorite I have often used Which one doesn't belong, and in ALL cases, ALL of them could not belong, which means that you don't get the idea of one being the favorite.
Ah, I just realized that you asked about the type of questions the students ask...I actually try and not limit any question, but if I walked by a student who asked "Which is your favorite color?" (from my sheet) - I would try and ask them to find another question that is more focused on the math or the numbers...to consider what the numbers mean...
Hope that helps!
Hi, John! I'd love to know…
Hi, John! I'd love to know if you have any additional resources for the "best places" for teachers to insert these questions -- certainly they could be asked at any time, but I also anticipate that there are "better" times (such as at the beginning of a new unit, after some kind of demonstration, or perhaps when approaching a particularly difficult problem). I'd love to see if you have additional examples!
In reply to Hi, John! I'd love to know… by Rebecca Vieyra
More to come
HI Rebecca - thanks for the questions! I can certainly share some other ideas of these types soon. In terms of when to ask these types of questions, I would usually do it at the beginning of a unit or an introduction. What was fascinating is that when I asked that question in Mexico, some saw this as a summary activity. But I see it as a lead into more discussion. For a particular lesson, this could be done as a warm up at the beginning of a lesson...Things like Which One Doesn't Belong are similar types of activities that should be done at the beginning of a lesson or a unit.
Thank you for the reminder…
Thank you for the reminder that everything I am already doing with those two amazing questions can also be applied to Math! Math is art, and yet a language that is understood around the globe. Understanding it this way, as a lesson in inquiry, taps into true number sense.