According to Rafe Esquith in his book, Teach Like Your Hair's On Fire [Viking Adult, 2007], it is possible to develop the habit of thinking and analysis. He shares how he does so in his fifth grade class in Los Angeles.
How to Solve a Problem
At the beginning of the school year, Esquith requires his students to memorize the process of solving a problem. He also requires them to tape the process to their desks and memorize the steps thoroughly.
- Understand the Problem – Collect relevant data
- Choose an Appropriate Strategy – This includes act it out, choose an operation, draw a picture, guess and check, look for a pattern, make a chart or table, make an organized list, use logical reasoning, and work backwards.
- Solve the Problem – Pick your pencil up and ask:
- Analyze – Does my answer make sense?
Esquith admits that he often focused on winning math contests, missing the point of teaching problem solving. According to him, "the purpose of teaching problem solving should be to develop the process of thinking and analyzing." This is a skill students can apply to all areas of their lives, not just for math.
By employing this process, along with elements of the Socratic method, teachers will find more success in helping students learn to think for themselves.
How to not Solve the Problem
Too often, teachers will grow frustrated when their students do not "get it," and require more explanation. A teacher may respond with "Use your head," or "Read it again!" Often children become intimidated when they've tried "reading it again," and still do not understand.
Real patience must be applied on the part of the teacher. It may be helpful to ask if another student can attempt to explain it in his own words to the other students, or try to re-read the problem out loud and see try to employ one of the strategies from step 2 above to help the student understand.
Emotional Intelligence in the Classroom
Teachers must control their emotion when working to help students solve problems, or they will be unable to control the message they are trying to communicate.
Emotional Intelligence is when the teacher is able to sense when frustration is rising internally, most likely due to unmet expectations. Perhaps the students are not understanding the concept, or are confused. An emotionally intelligent teacher will quickly take additional steps to communicate patience and understanding of the students. In Tools for Teaching for Transformation (Self-Published, 1994), Gary Philips states 93% of the message is emotion.
So what is the dominate emotion being communicated in the classroom? Are the students equipped with problem solving skills to fall back on when they are unable to understand a concept or problem?
A calm and patient environment, where students can work out problems without fear of ridicule or condemnation will allow them the space and time to practice problem solving and begin to apply the steps to different educational and life situations.
Rachel Schaus - Rachel Schaus, contributing writer,Minnesota-based freelance writer who has written hundreds of articles relating to classical education, ...
