Using Digital Tools to Give Every Student a Voice

By Cathy Yenca
October 14, 2016

When I began my teaching career, I remember scripting lessons, meticulously drafting every question, and designing instructional materials from scratch with hope that my students would "get" the math. While I knew all of these things were important, what I didn't realize at the time was that I was often so focused on planning that I forgot to check in with my students to see what they knew! In my mind, careful planning and a seemingly successful lesson execution equated to student learning by default.

…And in many cases, I was wrong! In these moments, I knew I needed a way to check in with my students to better guide my planning and instruction.

In my current 1:1 iPad classroom, using technology tools to make student thinking visible has become a regular part of our classroom culture and learning. The line between instruction and assessment has become blurry. Imagine my epiphany when I started checking in on student thinking on a regular basis, multiple times during each lesson, to see that some students were on the wrong track… and some students had amazing ideas that I might have otherwise missed!

While I'd heard and read research supporting the profound impact formative assessment can have on student learning, no one mentioned how much it would psychologically hurt to have worked so hard, only to feel like I'd failed to serve a portion of my students. Alas, my skin grew thicker as I realized that these mistakes were opportunities for learning… and even physically growing brains! (Read more about this at www.youcubed.org/think-it-up/mistakes-grow-brain/)

Growth mindset is a current and research-based educational idea that takes time to embrace. While we often think of imparting a growth-focused learning lens to our students, we as teachers need to think about our own growth as well. When students don't "get it", though it may sting a bit, this information helps us make informed next-steps. Additionally, I'm a firm believer in showcasing student thinking in an environment where mistake-making is an accepted part of the learning process. Why keep such precious student work for the teacher's eyes only?

I'm thankful for the technology that delivers valuable mathematical thoughts to me and to my students in a timely way, both correct thinking and mistakes! I hope to help other teachers experience strategies and tools that facilitate this sort of classroom environment. This is about so much more than technology, isn't it?

Be sure not to miss Cathy's session at the 2017 NCTM Annual Meeting in San Antonio:

Using Digital Tools to Give Every Student a Voice

Simply put, we value student thinking. Technology tools that help us gather, examine, and share students' mathematical thinking inform our instruction and help create a growth-mindset classroom culture. Bring a tablet or laptop, and be ready to wear your "teacher hat" and "student hat" as you experience strategies to try in your own classroom.