Hi {{custom.firstName}},

 

Congratulations on wrapping up Unit 1! Put that experience in the rear-view mirror by dropping some feedback on the whole unit. It’ll make the lessons better for you next time, and it’ll drop a few tickets with your name on it in a raffle for Desmos merch.

 

Invite. Celebrate. Develop.

Teachers have told us that a student’s success in these lessons depends on the teacher’s success with lots of different teaching moves, but three in particular:

  1. Inviting student thinking.
  2. Celebrating student thinking.
  3. Developing student thinking.

One of the biggest challenges our team of former teachers ever undertook was inviting students who dislike math to share their mathematical thinking.

 

So throughout this unit, we’ll share with you the most helpful ideas we’ve learned for inviting student thinking in this program, in the hopes that they're helpful for you as well. 

 

You can't break math.

One way to invite more student thinking is to let students know that it’s impossible to break math.

 

Students often think that math is fragile, that unless they offer the right answer, expressed in the right way, something bad will happen—a bad grade or bad feedback, for example. With this program, we've created representations of math that are responsive, rather than rigid. Students can throw an idea at the representation and it’ll react in some interesting way. They can learn from that reaction and then throw out a new idea. But math won't break.

Too many balloons attaching to a carrot.

What does it look like in Balloon Float?

On Screen 3, consider letting your students know that if they don’t yet know what to do, they can try out any number of balloons and see if that makes each object float. If it doesn’t, try again. They can’t break it. As they’re trying and playing, ask them to think about patterns they’re noticing.


That move will calm lots of students’ nerves. It’ll invite more student thinking, giving you more to work with later.

 

Enjoy yourselves!

 

Dan & the Desmos Classroom Team

PS. Please give us feedback on the last lesson.

Use the feedback form or just click your answer below then click "Submit" on the form!

 

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