SENDING LIGHT TO THE GARDEN: WHEN CONFERENCES GO WRONG

SENDING LIGHT TO THE GARDEN:

WHEN CONFERENCES GO WRONG

Our students are like all plants.  They need good soil, watering and plenty of sunlight to thrive.  Our goals as teachers are to provide the water and sunlight.  Their minds are the good soil.  When we provide “water”, we nurture their thinking and help them discover all they can be.  However, there are times when we need to “send in the light.”  Plants don’t survive on “water” alone, they need plenty of sunlight to stretch their stems, leaves and petals.  Our students need the same.

There are times when our conferences can go wrong.  It is during these times, we need to “send in the light” for our students.  There are three instances where conferences can get “off track” and no growth is happening.  At those times, it can be as though we are banging our heads against a brick wall, pulling teeth, etc.  Sometimes, we are just speaking a foreign language.  The language of math and not the language of our students.  

The first instance of unproductive conferencing is funneling.  Funneling occurs when a teacher is looking for a specific answer and does not receive it.  The teacher continues to question the students, each question is narrowed until the only answer remaining is the teacher’s desired one.

I teach Sunday School to the high school students at my church.  When we discuss a scripture passage, I generally have a specific answer in mind.  I find myself changing my questions, until I get the answer I want.  I have never thought of it as funneling, but it is true, my questions become narrower, until only my answer remains.  I have often told my students that there is no correct answer, but there is generally an answer I am looking for.

A second indication that a conference has gone of the rails could result in the dreaded “blank stare.”  These deer-in-the-headlights, eyes glazed over looks, occur when students do not comprehend the material nor the teacher’s questions.  The students seem to respond with vague, almost cautious and noncommittal answers; answers, such as, “Ummmmm;” “Errr;” “Okay.”  These indicators show that the students have not understood the material, have a mistaken reasoning or misunderstood the teacher.

The third indicator of a unproductive conference is the “pushback.”  A student will push back when he or she feels that the teacher does not understand his or her reasoning.  In a conference where the students feel misunderstood, the students protest the teacher’s nudge.  A pushback occurs when the students are performing the task and have a clear understanding of the material and the teacher is trying to correct their work.  The author emphasizes that students have a strong desire to understand the material and to be understood.  It is in those times that students will pushback and “fight” for their position.

In the book, In the Moment, there is an example of a pushback.  The students are sharing 45 crackers among 6 friends.  The students have parceled out six groups of crackers.  However, the teacher believes the students have confused the number of friends with the number of crackers.  One student explains that the group knows that 6 * 6 = 36, so their first sharing is 6 to each friend.  Afterwards, they will share the “leftovers.” This example shows that the students have not confused the assignment and are working to solve the problem, based upon their knowledge.  Once they have divided the initial 36 crackers, they will deal with the 9 crackers that remain.

Once the teacher is aware that there is a mis-communication, he or she has many choices to remedy it.  The author describes three.  The first is to “anchor to the task.”  Anchoring to the task occurs when the teacher refocuses the conference and, in essence, starts the conference over.  The teacher can ask the students to retell the problem, act it out, visualize the problem through manipulatives, and connect it to their current work.  These activities will allow all parties to begin anew and help to alleviate any lingering confusion of the students.  This strategy is best used when the conference results in a blank stare or pushback.

The second strategy a teacher can employ, when putting the train back on the track, is to elicit more information.  By asking additional questions and restating student answers to ensure everyone is on the same page, the teacher is able to alleviate some of the students’ confusion, along with his or her own.  This strategy is best used when there is confusion after funneling a desired response and receiving student pushback.  The teacher is able to state student reasoning through more probing questions and remove any lingering confusion.

The third strategy is to “anchor to student work.”  The purpose of the conference is to ensure that students are reasoning through the assigned task.  If confusion arises between the students and teacher, the parties can look at the work performed by the students to discover where any misconceptions or faulty reasoning on the students’ part has occurred.  The teacher can point out a specific portion of the work and ask probing questions and reiterate his or her understanding of the student’s process.

As I read these obstacles, I thought about how I ask questions, not only to students, but in other areas of my life, where I teach.  I discovered that my primary form of gaining student information is through funneling.  I have received many a blank stare.  After receiving the stare, rather than start at the beginning or restate student ideas, I begin to restate and narrow my questions.  I like having some new strategies to rely on. 

I think my favorite strategy is to elicit more information.  It is important to remember that students have a strong desire to be understood.  This desire is almost as strong as their desire to please the adults in their lives.  By asking more probing questions and eliciting more information, teachers and students can find themselves, again, on the same page and not at logger heads.  It is important to be sure that all parties have a clear understanding of what the students are doing; what the teacher has requested; and what the assignment really is.  Once these three items are understood by all parties, the “sun begins to shine” and our students begin to grow.  Just like flowers in a garden.