Standing Up for Math (The Thinking Classroom)

    The Thinking Classroom has positively changed how my fourth graders engage with math. As we are at the midpoint of our school year, the impact of having students work on vertical non-permanent surfaces in random groups has been effective across our math units. The random groupings means everyone has to explain their thinking - 4th graders never knew if tomorrow they'd need to help someone else understand their strategy.

    Our first unit on place value really showed the power of vertical non-permanent surfaces ("whiteboards on walls"). Instead of writing numbers in expanded form on worksheets, my students were working cooperatively around their boards, drawing number lines and place value disks, and having deep conversations about why 2,354 is actually two thousands, three hundreds, five tens, and four ones. The physical act of drawing and erasing helped them experiment with different ways to break numbers apart and put them back together.

    Our most recent unit on multiplication and division showed how far they've come as collaborative problem solvers. When given complex word problems, such as sharing 347 items among different groups, students naturally used various strategies, such as drawing arrays to using repeated subtraction to identifying number patterns. The gallery walks between whiteboards allows students to analyze and learn from their classmates' different solution methods.

    Using the Thinking Classroom, I see students who used to hate math standing confidently at their boards, working through problems with their peers, and enjoying the process. 4th graders have developed stronger problem-solving skills, increased confidence in mathematical discussions, and a deeper understanding of core concepts. Most importantly, they're building a foundation of collaborative learning that will go beyond the classroom!