Being Curious
Courtney LaRoche
Wayzata Public Schools
MCTM VP Middle School
The past four days, I have had the opportunity to visit many middle school classrooms. The teachers in my district are focusing on using teamwork and team strategies to engage students in rich mathematical tasks.
I noticed that the key shift to student-centered classroom is:
- The teacher being really curious about student thinking and reasoning.
- Students being really curious about each other’s thinking and reasoning.
Being curious, allows for teachers and students to listen to each other rather than listening for right answers. Max Ray from The Math Forum supports this idea in his 5 minute ignite talk Why is 2 is greater than 4: A Proof by Induction about the difference between listening for vs. listening to. After watching, I thought back to a video clip I’ve watched over and over and shared with many teachers, “Be Genuinely Curious” by Kristin Gray. Kristin highlights what listening to students really looks like and the critical connection to curiosity. I’m curious to know what these clips make you think about in connection to your classroom. Share!