5 Strategies To Get Students Talking In Middle School Math Classroom

In the classroom, a conversation is a huge part of learning. Teachers can also help students talk about their questions or misconceptions, especially in math classrooms. Therefore, it is easy to understand that the students who speak and interact regularly in a math classroom can more easily overcome the fear of solving math problems. They start solving the problems with the help of their teachers by asking questions, then discuss the same with their classmates and share their problem solving strategies with each other. 

Therefore, the teachers must focus on getting students talking, especially in middle school math classrooms, by using different strategies. Teachers can do so by encouraging the students to think and share their methods to solve a problem. They can also let the students interact in an open format. Teachers can let the students form a group where students can work together and rely on one another to reach the solution. Teachers can also provide an in-depth understanding of a particular concept or problem.

5 strategies that teachers should introduce in their math classroom to get the students talking:

Strategy 1: Ask Three Before You Ask Me

• In this technique, a teacher can encourage students to come up with strategies to solve a particular problem. The rule here is to discuss the same with one another as a team or as a group after solving it individually. 
• Students are expected to seek help from peers before asking the teacher. 
• The teacher’s role is to appoint or designate student experts who can help and demonstrate various math-solving problems to the other students. 
• This will help to create a good bond among students.

Strategy 2: Encourage Independent Problem Solving

• In this strategy, students need to gather information by themselves first. The teachers should give them a particular math topic and some time to explore different theories and formulas to get exposed to related problems. 
• Later, they can compare their approaches to the solution of the problem by discussing them with their friends or other groups during math discussions. 
• This strategy is very essential, especially for middle-school students as it builds confidence in them to solve math problems. 
• Teachers can also engage the students by asking questions that will encourage group discussions. This will help students to talk more openly about their approach to solving the problems. 

Strategy 3: Learn From Mistakes to Achieve 

Learning math is all about knowing your mistakes while solving the problem and correcting them by understanding the concept clearly. 

• Teachers should remind students that mistakes are part of the learning process and can be corrected by acknowledging the misconception.  
• This can be done if students are taught to recognize their errors while solving a problem in math. 
• Encouraging students to talk about their misconceptions and practice questions as many times as they need will help them understand math easily.
• Teaching the students that they should discuss every problem or question with the teacher or peers if needed to solve the problem will help in removing the hesitation they might have.

Strategy 4: Encourage A Creative Environment For Students

Teachers can try various methods to gather information from the whole class through various teaching techniques or methodologies. 

• Thumbs up/thumbs down: Teachers can ask a question to allow students to respond quickly and efficiently using Thumbs up/Thumbs down . It means it may be yes or no, true or false, and can be X or Y. Therefore, students can respond by using the thumbs up and thumbs down symbols to select their choices. 

• Response sticks: Teachers can write each student’s name on a popsicle stick or make paper folds and place them randomly in a vessel or a bowl and select the name of the student written there. The student then responds to the question in the teacher’s desired format. This keeps students engaged in the lesson because they know they might be called on at any point during the lesson.. 

Strategy 5: Collaborative Learning Math Strategies

When students work in collaboration with other peers, it makes them take small risks before presenting themselves in front of the whole class. The following strategies can be used for instruction in the math classroom.

• Numbered heads: Teachers can assign numbers individually to every group or every student. Students know that any member of their group may be asked to solve the problem and through this, they will prepare themselves to have the same level of understanding. 

• Think-collaborate-share: Students can think and explore individually first and then they can get paired in a group and share their views or approaches to carry out any solution in the right way. 
• Teachers should ensure that they work in harmony and while learning as a team, they can share their thoughts and understandings without any fear or hesitation.

Also read: 5 Ways To Encourage Math Talks

Takeaway

These are some basic strategies to get students to talk or interact in classrooms to clear their misconceptions. This helps them explore new mathematical ideas within a group of peers. Here, we have discussed how teachers can support students to talk in math classrooms. This is how teachers can make students present their ideas and approaches in front of the whole class. This collaborative form of understanding leads to enhanced learning among the students to have more interest and confidence to solve problems.