Post It, PROVE It...Getting Students to Reason (1)

I have taken on a huge task this year.... Turning my students' apathy into a passion for learning.... The new Common Core standards are rigorous and require students to reason and apply.  I have created a lot of new ideas to implement in my classroom this year to get my students to think, reason, apply and justify.

One of the ideas I have come up with is my new Post It! PROVE It! idea...  I posted about my Post It! PROVE It! idea previously this summer. My acronym for PROVE is: Precise Realistic Organized Verbal Explanation

My students started doing Post It! PROVE It!, last week.  So far it has gone really well considering they have only been doing it for four days.  I am excited to see the level of reasoning they reach over time. The students will do Post It, PROVE It four days a week.  I believe that the team discussion and collaborative reasoning is an essential part of their learning and their understanding of the mathematical concepts.

Implementing Post It! PROVE It!
Once I put the Post It! PROVE It! problem on the board, the team member that is Recorder/Reporter writes the problem on the team whiteboard.

Here are examples of this week's Post It! PROVE It! questions.

After the recorder/reporter has written the problem on the team whiteboard, the team discusses the problem. Once the team has determined the answer, the recorder/reporter "posts" the teams answer. The team continues their discussion and the recorder/reporter writes the team's written justification.  Their written explanation has to be in complete sentences and include academic vocabulary.

After all of the teams have "posted" their answer and have written their justification, I randomly choose two teams to report to the class.  I have explained to the students that I am going to give them constructive criticism to help them understand how to be more precise when they are explaining their reasoning and to help them become better writers.  I can tell that this is beneficial by the written responses on my students' homework.  :o)

Here are some pictures of my students and their first week of Post It! PROVE It!

It's not all "Sunshine and Roses".... I am having trouble with some students still fighting the process.  They think it is too hard.  My common phrase last week was: "It's Okay Not to Know, But It's Not Okay Not to Try".  My goal is to: "Change Their Words..... and Change Their Mindset".... But so far about 75% of my students are giving an honest effort to think more and to become better writers.  Hopefully this percentage will increase over time... :o)

Thanks for stopping by. Check back for more Post It! PROVE It! updates and progress. :o)