Week+One+Lesson

__InCarolyn:__ In my 50 minute lesson, I introduced the problem solving tool box. I had printed out a hard copy and cut out the individual piece. As a class we discussed each of the "tools" and how they might help in solving mathematical problems. I then ask the class to move into groups of 3-4 and they were to work on the VELS design task on page 151 of the year 8 maths text book. Some groupd had difficulty in getting started and I noted that these were the students that generally have difficulty in problem solving anyway. I ask them to start off the with breaking down tool and they were able to move on with the task. At the end of the class, I asked the students if they found the tool box useful and some replied that yes it was a good tool, but others found it confusing. I believe that the ones who found it confusing were the ones who used the wrong techniques for the task. In future, I would have them brainstorm which tools might be useful for the specific task at hand.

Celia _ I did not quite do it the way you asked for, am preparing for that tomorrow, but thought I would be inspired and use ideas from thoughts you gave me. Strange sentence. Well started the lesson by dividing students into groups of three year 10 simultaneous equations already taught, but needing review. One person as scribe, one as spokesperson, and one as being ready to answer any of the questions from the teacher. Put a question of the harder type we did on the board, and asked the students to write the working out on one side of the paper and on the other side to explain the steps taken to solve the problems. I then wandered around. I found this an educational wander, hearing the explanations, and seeing the problems, but also seeing the communication and questioning. Our students were very ready to do it.

Charles - In my lesson with year 8 students I introduced Game of 31 (from Maths300) and asked paired students to compete each other. I indicated to the students that there was a proven strategy to win everytime. I allowed the students to compete each other over a 20 minute period asking them to vary the number of cards across and the total each time. After a period of competition and frustration amongst certain members of the class I asked that groups of four be formed to problem solve the strategy applicable in ensuring victory in this game. Clearly, students were immersed in this challenge and demonstrated persistence in deriving the “formula” for gaining an advantage in this game. Groups submitted their suggested strategy in writing whereby most were able to articulate their answer in simple language while some were able to describe the solution using an algebraic expression. This lesson was highly successful in introducing students to the application of problem solving skills.

**Ainslie: That's great Celia, these ideas are what we need to add to our unit planners. It is a different approach to revisiting a topic, one that many would not necessarily think to do. It would be great to see our unit planners come alive with these pedagogical approaches so that they occur across all classes and not just the lucky few.**

Sarah: I used the problem solving toolbox with both of my year 8 math classes. I had to use photopies of the pages because I hadn't finished my cut out laminated pieces. When I initially handed them out to the groups (they were working in groups of 4), it was really interesting because a couple of the kids looked at the page, pointed to a couple of the tools and said "I do that when trying to do worded questions!" That led into a discussion about how these were a more formal way of identifying what strategies we could use. We worked on one of the yellow circle problems from the exercise we were working on. The kids had a go at the problems and then we identified what strategies had they used to get their solutions. It got a bit competitive because I said each group had to come up up with as many solutions as they could. There were quite a few that had the same stratgies, mostly "Work Backwards", "Have I seen a similar problem", "Look for a pattern", "Test all possible combinations" and their favourite (not surprisingly), "Guess and Check". The activity worked really well, encouraging the students to work collaboratively. I'll need to do this more often though because to start off with they were really hesitant and didn't really know how to work together on something rather than just get one person to do it all. That was the most difficult part, getting them all to have a go but we got there in the end. I've made an enlarged magentic set to take to class to stick on the whiteboard!

Micarle: I qucikly introduced hthe problem solving toolbox with bith my Year 10 Focus Classes. They used the toolbox to work through a Money Maze activity, in this activity the students had to add or subtract money as the move through the maze ending on a designated amount. Students mainly used the' work backwards', 'Guess and Check' and 'Test all possible Combinations'. It was great and allowed students to try, discuss and find preferred strategies. Click the edit tab and write a brief description of the activity you trialled with your class.

In the Discussion tab you will find an area to reflect on your class activity.


 * EXAMPLE:**

__Ainslie:__ In my lesson I divided the students into groups of four and gave them a worded problem to solve with no extra input. We then discussed what strategies they used, and we then looked at the toolkit. Each group received a toolkit and were then given another problem to solve. This time keeping track of their strategies. At the end of the lesson we completed a PMI based on the two approaches to solving problems. The aim was to illustrate the importance of strategies when problem solving. xcjkzxjlkcj