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Geometry Shouldn’t Be “Plug and Chug”
The numerous posts I’ve seen recently about geometry concepts reminded me of a conversation I had with a teacher last year. The teacher expressed he didn’t need to teach his students the concepts of volume and area, they only needed to know how to “plug” numbers into the given formula and calculate. There are few things teachers say about instructional practices which appall me, but that day, I was appalled. Why rob students of understanding when you can challenge their thinking with activities like these?
@wheeler_laura shared her 4-part lesson on similar triangles in this post allowing inquiry and review of students’ prior knowledge of triangles. Technology was woven into the lesson as well. By the time students arrived at the procedural fluency component, they had an understanding of why they were multiplying to find the unknown sides.
Dane Ehlert causes you to pause and think about how you’re helping students make sense of triangle theorems with this post and this post.
And during a time when people are using the catch phrase “Don’t be basic” @lisabej_manitou provides what she calls quality basic stuff. Her students taken a concrete look at quadrilaterals and make connections from background knowledge to current and future knowledge. And although it seems basic to her, the purpose of bringing out students’ misconceptions and understandings is huge.
New goal, help that 7th grade teacher see his connection to the geometry understanding students will need in 10th grade.
Written by Jenise Sexton (@MrsJeniseSexton)
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