Warning Signs

My simple response to this article was, “Wow I do that…”  After reading the other posts, I see I am not alone in this practice.  I never stopped and considered my intervention in another student’s thinking could potentially damage the learning process.  The value in letting students go through their complete thought process is in essence what the Common Core is all about.  Judgment comes in when I observe the thought process of the student as it plays out before me.  I believe it is a situational issue for a teacher.  I have to be able to observe and attempt to see where my students are going in their direction of thinking.   Being careful to ensure that students do not develop an incorrect algorithms or conceptual understanding of a task is just as important as allowing the freedom to construct their own unorthodox methodologies.   This article was very eye opening to me because I tend to be a controlling teacher that likes students to do things my way.  With class sized of 30-34 students it is hard to find the time to assist every student with their derived methods of solving tasks.  I am looking forward to Monday to self-assess my interruption of student’s learning and try to determine how frequently I do it over time.