Students Thinking Analysis 1

Students Thinking Analysis

Anjanette McCormack
Teachers College of San Joaquin County































Students Thinking Analysis 2


Abstract

This paper explores the mathematical thinking of a student in grade-spans K-3, 4-6, and
8
th
grade. Students were chosen by the teacher and identified prior to the study as
performing as average in comparison to their peers in mathematics. Each student was
working on practice problems on a skill that was previously taught in class. I was able to
work one on one with each student. I recorded the mathematical discourse and typed up
transcripts of our conversation. In addition to talking with students, I reflected on our
meeting and drew conclusions based on my questions and the direction we took to help
the student achieve the desired outcome. I also used strategies and techniques during my
conversations I learned from reading the book, Models of Intervention in Mathematics,
Fosnot, C.T. (2010).











Students Thinking Analysis 3


In the grade-span K-3, I chose to work one on one with a second grade girl named
Hailey. She was working on adding two digit numbers with and without regrouping. She
was able to get started immediately without any difficulties. I noticed the adding she was
doing in the first row of problems did not have any regrouping. She was getting her
answers correct, but I did notice that she was adding the tens first. She didnt add the
tens first every time. It seemed like she added the tens first if she new that amount
quickly. Instead of saying she was wrong, I continued to observe her working since she
actually was getting the correct answers. I thought, sooner or later this is going to
become a problem for her when she will need to regroup, but since I wanted to see her
thinking process, I didnt interfere. She got stuck on the very first problem that had some
regrouping. So one conclusion I was able to make at this point is that I know Hailey
knows how to add and what adding means. The problem she got stuck on was 46+97.
Again, she started with the tens but realized that it would give you 13 and she knew that
you cant have that much in the house she was focusing on (the tens house). I saw that
her teacher was using the Making Math Real (MMR) houses for place value and adding,
so I was asking her questions about using those houses. I asked, How did you add
numbers using those houses? She drew a paper work mat for me with both the houses.
She had labeled one house tens and one house ones, but in the wrong order. When I
asked her about the houses she immediately knew she how to fix her mistake and moved
the names of the houses. This made me think that she needs some more practice with
place value and making tens and ones. She used the MMR terms for tens and ones,
French fries and cheese cubes. When she was putting the number 46 in the MMR house, I
noticed she was drawing and counting out loud by tens. This told me that she knows its
Students Thinking Analysis 4


not really a 4, its 40. She also knows how to draw numbers using base ten blocks as
the model. She correctly drew cubes for the six ones. After that Hailey put the next
number in the house as well, but she erased the 4 tens she previously drew. Just to see
what she would do next, I didnt say anything. I observed that she added the 7 cubes to
the ones house without erasing the previous ones that were there. She explained how her
next steps would be to simply count the cubes and she started with the tens. When she
only counted 90, I asked her what happened to the 40 that was there to begin with? She
added them back to the tens house without any question or explanation. She started
counting the tens house again but got stuck when she got to 100. She didnt know how to
count on. She asked, What comes after 100? My response was, It depends how
youre counting. We talked about what she was counting by and then was able to count
the rest. At this point in our conversation, I realized that Hailey knows about counting
items in groups. She was able to count the rest of her blocks correctly. After working on
a few more problems with her, I felt like she was getting the hang of adding abstractly. I
feel like she needs more time and practice using the base ten blocks before moving to the
abstract problems with regrouping. I learned from the chapter we read in the section
called Listening in the Moment, the idea of using an on going assessment with students
as the work on mathematics, both individually and as a part of large and small group
discussions. Careful listening is powerful in informing teachers how to adjust their
teaching, (Fosnot, C.T. 2010). I feel like I adjust my teaching all the time to fit the
needs of the students. Most of the time it feel like the questions come to my mind
naturally as I try to discover where a student is on their landscape of leaning, (Fosnot,
C.T. 2010).
Students Thinking Analysis 5


In the grade-span 4-6, I chose to work with Kayla, who is a low to average student
in mathematics. She constantly doubts herself and lacks confidence. We were working
on her homework assignment that followed a lesson I taught on quadrilaterals. Kayla
often gets confused with the math vocabulary. Knowing these things about Kayla helped
me to guide her in our discussion. From our one on one meeting I notice that Kayla has a
difficult time thinking of a question that she could ask that would help concepts make
more sense. I knew ahead of time that I would be listening for what Kayla does know
and not focus on what she doesnt know (Fosnot, C.T. 2010). During our conversation I
was looking for entry points to help Kayla build her understanding about quadrilaterals
and their angles (Fosnot, C.T. 2010). She was confused by the word classifying. I
thought we wouldnt get very far in our conversation, unless I helped her understand
what the term classifying meant. We went over several examples and I helped her see
different examples of classifying things like clothes or pens. From there I moved on to
asking Kayla what she knew about quadrilaterals and angles. She gave short simple
answers or no answer at all. I knew that this point Kayla needs more hands on concrete
examples of quadrilaterals and angles. She is not ready to move to the abstract. She
knew a square and a rectangle both had right angles but she didnt know what a right
angle was. We pulled out the protractor and measured the angles of the square and
rectangle to see that they both measured ninety degrees. From there we talked about
what the sum of their angles equaled and how to find out what the missing angle was, if
given 3 angle degrees in a quadrilateral. Kayla is the kind of student who gets lost in a
large crowd very quickly, and benefits from one on one instruction. She is quiet in a
large group but will speak openly in smaller group settings.
Students Thinking Analysis 6


The last one on one interaction I had was with an 8
th
grade algebra student named
Jasmine. Jasmine is performing far below her peers and is in a math intervention group
for her elective class at our school. Jasmine was working on homework problems when I
met with her. Working with Jasmine was very eye opening. The first problem gave her 5
different numbers from fractions to negative numbers. She was supposed to estimate
where they would be on a number line. From her body language and our discourse, you
could tell that she lacked confidence and has been taught procedural math. For example,
she knew she had to change fractions to decimals to make it easier but didnt exactly
know how or why. She had difficulty placing the numbers on the number line, which
was surprising to me. Our conversation seemed to be helpful for her but I dont think she
knew what she was doing or why. I feel like she has to go so much farther back in her
landscape of learning to a place of true understanding. I assumed by 8
th
grade a student
would know where numbers fall on a number line. I looked for opportunities to validate
her thinking and had mini celebrations to boost her confidence.
In conclusion, by analyzing student thinking, I learned how to spend more time
listening and observing instead of jumping in too fast to save the day. Even though I
worked one on one with these three students, I also learned that you can assess students
thinking when they are working in groups. Teachers immediately want to help and give
answers, but doing so may be distractive and cause the teacher to miss out many
wonderful learning opportunities to find out how a student is thinking (Fosnot, C.T.
2010).


Students Thinking Analysis 7


References
Fosnot, C.T. (2010). Models of Intervention in Mathematics: Reweaving the
Tapestry. New York: National Council of Teachers of Mathemtics