I think so much of teacher training focuses on the content and act 2. There is a lot of skill required of teachers in act one that relies on knowing your students well enough to know what will hook them and also what prior knowledge (mathematical and especially not) that you can celebrate and help them see as an asset. I also am thinking a lot about how to increasingly use more and more student thinking to drive act 3 so it really feels like they wrote the story and they exploded the Death Star instead of feeling like all the work in act 2 arrived at a predestined conclusion. It likely did, but it often feels more exciting to describe the moves of each major character in the classroom and have them continuously try to state their ultimate goal (which has to go beyond figure out #6 and start on #7). I think the same way that tv shows are often remembered more heavily based around whether the finale “landed the plane” lessons become most memorable based on how strong act 3 is and how students feel about the time they invested in the process.
"Going forward, the value you bring to your math classroom increasingly will be tied up in the first and third acts of mathematical storytelling, your ability to motivate the second act and then pay off on that hard work."
I have never thought about incorporating story-telling into math class! This blog post made me think a lot about what I can do as a future math teacher. I especially appreciated your idea that the “first part” of the story should be something simple and eye-catching that will get students motivated for the rest of the lesson. I agree with your later comments that technology can’t really “do” the second part for us. I’m curious, are you doing any further investigation/thinking about what creating that “second part” in an entertaining way would look like? It seems like it would be a large portion of the lesson, and may be hard to maintain the story-telling structure during.
I think your question demonstrates amazing instincts here, Greta. I didn't really have a handle on the second act when I wrote this post. Nowadays, I try to design environments where students can try out their early ideas from act one, get feedback on them, and develop them. Kind of like how in this Desmos activity screen, students can try out any graph they want, press play, get feedback, and then try again.
A significant portion of teacher training tends to emphasize content and the second phase of instruction. However, there is a vital aspect in the first phase that requires teachers to have a deep understanding of their students. This understanding enables them to identify what will engage their students and recognize their existing knowledge, including non-mathematical knowledge, which can be celebrated and used as an asset. I am actively contemplating how to increasingly incorporate student thinking in the third phase, so that it feels like they are the ones shaping the narrative and achieving the ultimate goal, rather than simply arriving at a predetermined conclusion after the work in the second phase. While there may be a predetermined outcome, it is more exciting to describe the actions of each major character in the classroom and have them continuously strive for a larger objective beyond simply completing one task and moving on to the next. Just as memorable TV shows are often judged by how well they conclude their storylines, the effectiveness of lessons is heavily influenced by the strength of the third phase and how students perceive the time they invested in the learning process. Therefore, it is crucial to provide students with the necessary resources to facilitate their success.
I think so much of teacher training focuses on the content and act 2. There is a lot of skill required of teachers in act one that relies on knowing your students well enough to know what will hook them and also what prior knowledge (mathematical and especially not) that you can celebrate and help them see as an asset. I also am thinking a lot about how to increasingly use more and more student thinking to drive act 3 so it really feels like they wrote the story and they exploded the Death Star instead of feeling like all the work in act 2 arrived at a predestined conclusion. It likely did, but it often feels more exciting to describe the moves of each major character in the classroom and have them continuously try to state their ultimate goal (which has to go beyond figure out #6 and start on #7). I think the same way that tv shows are often remembered more heavily based around whether the finale “landed the plane” lessons become most memorable based on how strong act 3 is and how students feel about the time they invested in the process.
Good luck with the bigger projects!
Thank you for the link to Willingham, and Ask a Cognitive Scientist column
"Going forward, the value you bring to your math classroom increasingly will be tied up in the first and third acts of mathematical storytelling, your ability to motivate the second act and then pay off on that hard work."
my take home of this write.
I have never thought about incorporating story-telling into math class! This blog post made me think a lot about what I can do as a future math teacher. I especially appreciated your idea that the “first part” of the story should be something simple and eye-catching that will get students motivated for the rest of the lesson. I agree with your later comments that technology can’t really “do” the second part for us. I’m curious, are you doing any further investigation/thinking about what creating that “second part” in an entertaining way would look like? It seems like it would be a large portion of the lesson, and may be hard to maintain the story-telling structure during.
I think your question demonstrates amazing instincts here, Greta. I didn't really have a handle on the second act when I wrote this post. Nowadays, I try to design environments where students can try out their early ideas from act one, get feedback on them, and develop them. Kind of like how in this Desmos activity screen, students can try out any graph they want, press play, get feedback, and then try again.
https://teacher.desmos.com/activitybuilder/custom/5b7598c9427f050af07d2d5f#preview/fdfbbc72-d41c-44b7-a895-d1e4ea71f5c5
Tennessee got a new curriculum by Savvas. Did you know they integrated 3-Act math tasks into their content?
Yes! Something like ten years ago I worked with them on those tasks.
A significant portion of teacher training tends to emphasize content and the second phase of instruction. However, there is a vital aspect in the first phase that requires teachers to have a deep understanding of their students. This understanding enables them to identify what will engage their students and recognize their existing knowledge, including non-mathematical knowledge, which can be celebrated and used as an asset. I am actively contemplating how to increasingly incorporate student thinking in the third phase, so that it feels like they are the ones shaping the narrative and achieving the ultimate goal, rather than simply arriving at a predetermined conclusion after the work in the second phase. While there may be a predetermined outcome, it is more exciting to describe the actions of each major character in the classroom and have them continuously strive for a larger objective beyond simply completing one task and moving on to the next. Just as memorable TV shows are often judged by how well they conclude their storylines, the effectiveness of lessons is heavily influenced by the strength of the third phase and how students perceive the time they invested in the learning process. Therefore, it is crucial to provide students with the necessary resources to facilitate their success.