Hi {{custom.firstName}},

 

Can I share what is probably my favorite teacher move in all of Grade 8?

 

This move can help students see the value in wrong answers, the value of their classmates’ thinking, as well as the growth in their own thinking.

 

All of us are smarter than one of us.

 

Watch this video together and give students enough time to draw a rough draft of a sketch but not enough time to sweat the small details or get anxious about precision. You can emphasize this point: I just want a rough draft.

Tyler and the Slide

Then find a sketch that feels halfway towards a perfect graph. Snapshot it, pause the class, and share it with the class. Invite your students, first, to share three things they like about the graph, then three things they’d change about it and why.

 

The thoughts they share will help the author of the graph, and help every other student in the class. Everyone will benefit from this brief discussion.

 

You know what many students will want to do next. Offer them a little more time to make a second and final draft.

 

And now here’s my favorite Desmos teaching move. Snapshot the final draft from the same students as before. Put both the original and final snapshots into the same collection and share them. You can praise students not just for the accuracy of their final draft, but also for their growth between drafts, and for the ways they helped their classmates learn.

Two graphs - before and after.

Think about what that kind of move can help students learn about math, and what it can help them learn about themselves and their classmates as mathematicians!

 

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!

 

How likely is it that you would recommend this lesson to a friend or colleague?

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Great advice from other teachers.

Baltimore, MD

 

Give students a chance to try, then if they are struggling their hint can be the y-intercept. Students appreciated knowing where to start so their graph wasn't automatically off from the start.

 

New York City, NY

 

I took five minutes and graphed a few of the students suggestions from the warm up. It really did a great job of illustrating how different graphs can look depending on the quantities being observed.

 

Salida, CA

 

Have students watch the videos three times before they start graphing.
1) Just let it run and see what happens.
2) Watch for intervals of actions.
3) Watch for time.

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