Learner Variability
As a teacher, I took a great deal of pride in my practice. I was especially proud that I tried to meet the needs of all my students. When I think of who my students were over the course of my career, their backstories and experiences were wide and varied. Many of them came from diverse backgrounds: homes where English wasn’t the first language, families of divorces, trauma experiences, and learning challenges. Some had trouble understanding the culture and expectations of school. They were square pegs in round holes. School wasn’t their friend because of the way they learned and the impact of their experiences on learning.
My new mantra has become Learner Variability: how to build experiences that foster the assets that students bring to a classroom. The work of Digital Promise is groundbreaking. The resources developed by Digital Promise provide a framework that has helped me gather concepts for the professional learning experience developed at CueThink. Learner variability is embodied in CueThink through supports that foster mathematical flexibility and encourage positive math mindsets.
CueThink provides students with Mathematical Flexibility through the four phases of problem-solving (Understand, Plan, Solve and Review) and the scaffolds that are embedded within each phase. With CueThink, students make sense of the problem or task, select and write about their strategies, construct the solution and revise the answer based on peer and teacher feedback and self-reflection. CueThink’s considerable power lies in building learner flexibility in relation to mathematical thinking. The application provides students with tools and features that respond to each learner's needs, as they build conceptual understanding in mathematics. One of the best examples is CueThink’s Solve Phase where students can use a variety of tools to visually represent their thinking and orally explain their understanding through the use of a screencast video. The combination of the written and spoken concept allows learning to transcend one-dimensional thinking. Additionally, CueThink builds students’ 21st-century skills of critical thinking, collaboration and more importantly, math communication through the peer-to-peer learning platform. Based on feedback from their peers and viewing others’ strategies and representations in the class gallery, students are better able to reflect on and revise their own work.
CueThink supports Social and Emotional Learning through Math Mindset by building students’ self-concept as a math thinker. The four phases, and the ability to navigate the process in a non-linear fashion, provide multiple entry points into a task to boost student self-efficacy. CueThink’s focus on student-centered instruction allows students to actualize a strong positive mathematical mindset. Student-centered instruction is dependent on teachers having the ability to anticipate, listen to, and understand students’ thoughts and ideas. Mathematical discourse allows students to find confidence in the language of math. Student’s ability to express mathematical ideas grows with each CueThink thinklet. Hesitancy, excitement, frustration, and joy can all be revealed through a thinklet. Rather than thinking alone on a problem, students can view peer solutions and get insight into another classmate's thinking. CueThink shifts students’ perception of making errors by placing the emphasis on “what are all the different ways our learning community can solve this mathematical problem to learn and grow from each others’ perspectives?”, rather than “did you get the correct answer?” This positive collaboration is the key to building a positive mindset - we are all mathematicians.
CueThink is proud to announce that we will be working with Digital Promise as a recipient of a Learner Variability Project (LVP) Initiative Grant. This work will allow us to further expand our innovative approach to problem-solving by continuing to focus on mathematical flexibility and improvement of math mindset. Our collaboration with Digital Promise will allow us to develop new tools for our users and further enhance the CueThink experience.
Next Steps - Ideas to Expand your practice
Read Square Peg by Todd Rose.This book had a profound effect on my own thinking about the journey our students take in classrooms and the impact of learner variability.
Once you have students create Thinklets, explore CueThink’s gallery. Think about:
How does the Gallery improve their mathematical flexibility?
What teaching moves can I use to help students build a strong mathematical mindset?
Take a virtual trip to Learner Variability Project at Digital Promise website. This website consists of materials and ideas that will inform your practice and help you bring learner variability to your students.