Shifting Math Practice to Sorting and Matching Fosters Flexible Thinking

Key Quotes

"Students want to look smart not dumb. They're very good at adopting behaviors when they feel like they can't do something especially when it happens time and time again so we want to shift that we want to change students' perception of themselves as learners in math so that they can see it is a subject for them and the second important lesson that I've learned is that the type of independent practice that I had been giving those students it had only one entry point and if that entry point didn't make sense then frankly bad luck."

Michaela Epstein argues that students' desire to appear competent influences their behavior in math class, leading them to adopt coping mechanisms when they struggle. Epstein also identifies a critical flaw in traditional practice methods: a single entry point that alienates students if that specific approach doesn't resonate.

"What we're doing here is building up habits of thinking and helping students to make that shift from mindless to mindful practice and the magic of this second step is that it's simple to implement you take what you're already doing and ask a question or two as a follow up."

Epstein explains that by incorporating follow-up questions after practice, educators can foster metacognitive habits, transforming rote exercises into mindful learning experiences. Epstein highlights the simplicity of this approach, emphasizing that it requires only minor adjustments to existing practices.

"Instead of 25 questions where we're going question answer question answer so forth we turn them into a card sort and what we would have is a set of the original questions would have a set of the answers and we would have a set of visual representations rectangular grids that show those fractions with the challenge to students being well how can might you match up these cards."

Epstein proposes transforming traditional question-and-answer practice into a card sort activity, using fractions as an example. Epstein suggests including questions, answers, and visual representations like rectangular grids, challenging students to match them, thereby creating multiple entry points for engagement.

"The web view involves practices that's reflective and that builds connections. I want to share one more principle of sorting and matching tasks with you and it's one that becomes as a consequence of exactly that and that's that these tasks promote remembering rather than forgetting and really this principle is a game changer for those kids in your class who give up easily and are full of self doubt."

Epstein contrasts a "ladder view" of math, which is fragile and prone to forgetting, with a "web view" that emphasizes reflection and connections. Epstein posits that this web-like approach, inherent in sorting and matching tasks, significantly aids in long-term retention, particularly benefiting students who struggle with self-doubt.

"The more connections that we have around anything the easier it is to remember it later on we need to ask students things like how are these problems the same how are they different could you put them in some kind of order why did you put them in that order right so that's what michaela has showed us is that when you make practice go back and forth back and forth instead of one directional you're creating that web of understanding that she talked about."

The host explains that increased connections facilitate memory, and this is achieved by prompting students with questions about similarities, differences, and ordering of problems. The host reiterates Epstein's core message: making practice bidirectional, rather than one-directional, builds a robust web of understanding.