Course 5 is now in action! I decided to begin with the launch of my perplexity problems with a small group of students. I was excited, and a little but nervous (funny enough!) to get started with the implementation of my final project. The problem that I chose to start with was Estimating Paper Consumption.
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We found a quiet space outside of the classroom, students brought their math journals and a pencil and we were ready to go. The students also seemed to be excited at the prospect of math being presented to them in a different way. We began with the movie and just by watching it, they had an idea that the problem had to do with how much paper that we use. When I introduced the task, there eyes lit up with excitement. I could tell that they were ready to be challenged. They struggled a bit with the estimation (what could be the correct number of trees, high estimate and low estimate), so I explained that they only needed to right down what they could. We then went on to talk about what information would be needed to be able to solve the problem. They did a great job together of brainstorming some questions which then lead us to figure out what was information needed.
We looked at the information that was given to us to solve the problem and then they had some work time. It was interesting because even though the focus of the lesson was on estimating (about how many…) and using our extended multiplication facts, they all wanted to do exact calculations. This provided the perfect opportunity for me to throw in a quick review of a mini-lesson that we had done before: using estimating instead of exact calculations and the situations that lend themselves better to estimation. Because I had a small group of students, I found that it was easy to be able to have them lead me to a teaching point (if necessary). I really liked that this problem was able to address any needs that they required as learners. When I presented this problem to them, that hadn’t occurred to me as my purpose was focused on the problem, but in hindsight, it makes perfect sense.
The general consensus was that they really enjoyed this “new” way of doing math. Some found the estimating idea vs finding the exact answer a bit challenging. Most enjoyed stepping out of their comfort zone and thinking in different ways. You can see the students feedback here.
For my next problem, I plan to present it to the whole class, using fractions, the unit that we are currently working on. I was glad that I chose a small group to pilot my project with. Their questions and feedback have given me a lot to reflect on and I look forward to working with the students on the next perplexity problem.
