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| Andrew Gael. (n.d) Map Shapes. [Online Image]. Retrieved from http://wodb.ca/shapes.html. |
WODB is an amazing way to get all of your students thinking at whatever level of comfort and confidence that they want. As long as your students can come up with a description or an explanation for what they chose, they've got the right answer. In other words... there are no wrong answers! We spoke a lot about rich math tasks this week, and I think that these puzzles are great examples of rich math tasks (when used in the right context). Obviously, these puzzles can't be your whole lesson, but they provide students with great practice and thinking about math. WODB has open questions, that are related to real life, and allow for all sorts of different answers.
I had the opportunity to use this site during my practicum, and it was great. A couple of times a week, we would throw up a puzzle from WODB for the minds on section of our math class. We chose puzzles that fell under the strands that we were teaching at the time. Students wrote down all of the different explanations for which one didn't belong, and after about 5 minutes, we came together as a class to discuss our answers. I had the opportunity to learn a lot about my students from this activity. Some of the things that they noticed in the images and numbers gave clues to what kinds of learners they were. Additionally, there were times when they would notice differences that I hadn't even thought about! It was pretty awesome to see how all the different students in my class learned.
All in all, I think that WODB is a great way to get students talking and thinking about math. It gets them to work at their own level and challenge themselves as they need it. It's one of the coolest sites that I've come across in my short time teaching.
Use this resource. Trust me. Use it.
Lizzie, I think it is incredible how passionate you are about WODB. I think when we as teachers are enthusiasts, it allows our students to buy into what they are doing, which I think is so important. I had never heard of this activity before class this week and found that I too can see myself using this often within the classroom. I think it is a great one to get the brain going and in the right mindset. Thank you for sharing your experiences with it! I am looking forward to using it within my next placement! Great post!
ReplyDeleteThis week in math class was my first time using a WODB puzzle and I thought it was fantastic but I didn't really understand how it could go in a math problem. After reading your post, I can see how it can be used and how effective it is. I really liked that you mentioned it helped you understand what kind of learners your students were, from completing the activity I would have never thought to use it that way. I'm going to take your advice and try to implement some WODB activities in my placement.
ReplyDeleteHey Lizzie,
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree with you more. I think that WODB is a great tool to use to get your students engaged because every type of learner can get involved. I think that getting all of our unique learners involved is one of the hardest things to do as a teacher and WODB can be used to help us identify the different types of learners that our students are. Additionally, think that WODB is also great for allowing our students to learn from one another and perhaps challenge themselves to engage in different ways of thinking.
Great Post Lizzie!
Kevin