Manipulative Reflection

Manipulative Reflection:

How do you know students deepen their understanding while using manipulatives?

            I am a big advocate for students working with hands-on material as they learn a concept. There are so many different types of learners; not everyone learns the same materials in the same way. Many students need hands-on materials to help them learn, especially students who like tactiles or who are kinesthetic or visual learners. Additionally, many students with learning disabilities or special needs also benefit from working with manipulatives because they are able to gain a better understanding of the material. Moreover, as students think about a concept, they can use manipulatives to explore, investigate, ask questions, and extend their knowledge. Teachers can ask guiding questions and monitor the students to see how they are using the manipulatives, what they discovered, what they are representing and how and why, if they could represent something in multiple ways and how, and how they know their representation is accurate. Students can also use manipulatives and work in partners or in small groups to build ideas/learn off of each other and gain a deeper understanding for the material. In addition to teacher observations, guiding questions, and class discussions, students could give a presentation in small groups or to the whole class incorporating their manipulatives, and the teacher could see if they are appropriately using the manipulatives.

How do you know if the students can transfer their understanding from manipulatives to other situations?

            I think it is wonderful that students work with manipulatives, especially when first learning about a concept. However, it is also important that students are able to think about the concept without always relying on manipulatives. For instance, if students must rely on manipulatives to add or subtract or to find common denominators in fractions, then when they come a time when they are not presented with manipulatives, they will struggle. Plus, students should begin to think from more concrete to more abstract. If I were to use manipulatives, I would want to have real-life examples/story problems that eventually go along with the manipulatives (i.e. incorporate money word problems with manipulatives). This would show that the students could think more broadly and more critically about the concept. If I were to use manipulatives and then pull the manipulatives away, I would have students discuss their thoughts with partners or in small groups. For example, rather than using manipulatives (or after using manipulatives), students could have conversations with their peers about the concept, which allows them to dig deeper into the concept and take their knowledge to another level. Students can also think about a concept and draw it on paper. In addition, students could use an app to explain their thinking (i.e. One app that Lauren presented is called  “Explain Everything,” and this would be great for students to represent and show what they learned; Rather than being provided manipulatives, they can draw their own pictures/tools that could aid them understanding the concept).

How could you assess that understanding or growth?

As previously mentioned, teachers could ask guiding questions and monitor students to see if they understand what the manipulatives actually represent/if they understand the concept. Students can also orally discuss their manipulatives/representations and work in partners or in small groups to build ideas/learn off of each other and gain a deeper understanding for the material. In addition to teacher observations, guiding questions, and class discussions, students could give a presentation in small groups or to the whole class showing what their manipulatives mean/represent. The teacher could see if they are appropriately using the manipulatives. Moreover, I think it would be neat if the teacher were to describe a problem or situation and the students had to draw it on paper or mini whiteboards. This could then be shown to the teacher to assess their knowledge. Also, the opposite can be done; the teacher can show a manipulative representation and the students have to reflect and discuss or write what that representation means. This could also be shown to the teacher to assess their knowledge. In addition, the “Explain Everything” app would work well because students can use pictures and words to explain their knowledge of the concept and can present this information one-on-one (with the teacher), in partners, in small groups, or to the whole class. Depending on the teacher and how important the objective/task is, the teacher could choose to use a checklist or rubric to help them focus in on specific criteria.

When students work in groups, how do you hold each youngster accountable for learning?

            It is critical that all students participate when working in groups. Students always have different reasons as to why they won’t participate; they may “not feel good,” are bored, the material is too challenging/they’re frustrated, the material is too easy, they are confused, etc. Whatever the reason may be for why a student is not participating, the teacher should always encourage student participation (praise students who are participating/if there is a class point system, should only give a class point if all students are participating). In addition, keeping groups small between 2-4 people is ideal. Students should work with each other but not work with so many people at one time that their ideas get lost or they let someone else do all of the work. One great way to make sure each student is accountable is to assign different roles to each student. For instance, one student could be the recorder (writes down all formulas/math words), another person is the illustrator (draws a picture to represent their math thinking), another person could be the facilitator/leader (make sure everyone’s ideas are heard, see if they could look at an idea differently, think about what to do next), another person could be the discussion organizer (leads and organizes discussions, asks reflective questions), etc. With roles, all students are engaged and in charge of something specific which makes sure they are on-task. Also, when students present, the teacher could require that each student must speak for approximately an equal amount of time (i.e. Student A presents two facts, Student B presents two facts, and so on). This would allow all students to be accountable for specific information and demonstrate their learning.

When students work in groups, how do you assess each youngster’s depth of understanding?

            When students work in groups they could present their information to the whole class, and the teacher could require students to have different levels in their presentation (i.e. words, pictures, sentence explanation, word problem, real-life examples, non-examples, etc). This will allow the teacher to see if the students could take the concept and think about it more abstractly/in more detail. As for the teacher, he or she could use a checklist or rubric. The students could have a group task, and the teacher can use a checklist or rubric and create different categories depending on what he or she is looking for the students to accomplish (i.e. content understanding, if they included all the steps of the assignment, participation, behavior, if they are able to make connections/apply it to the real-world, etc.) Checklists or rubrics can help the teacher see the strengths and weaknesses of the students. I think it would be wise for the teacher to individually assess/monitor each student and his or her progress as well as have a portion on the checklist or rubric for group participation. There could be one group grade but I don’t think this would be effective because each student is different, thinks differently, and contributes a different amount of knowledge/work. Also, as said previously, while the students are working in groups, the teacher could use guided questions and conversations to assess each youngster’s depth of knowledge. In addition, each student in the group could fill out an exit slip or complete a reflection about the content, which would show the teacher the extent to which each the student in the group understands the material.

How are you improving students’ problem solving skills with the manipulatives?

            I LOVE LOVE LOVE manipulatives. Manipulatives are an amazing resource that allows students a tangible material to work with as they dissect a problem. When students are completing an activity or a test, I think they will struggle and be much less successful if they don’t have manipulatives. Manipulatives are not a way for students to “cheat,” but rather they are valuable learning tools that allow students to better understand and/or deepen their content knowledge. Manipulatives are hands on, provide a nice visual, allow students to find patterns, helps students correct mistakes/errors in thinking, and guide students as they break down the problem. Plus, if students are confused about a problem, manipulatives are a tool they can use to visually represent and better understand the problem and the concept.

Final Thoughts

            Last class we worked with different manipulatives: Snap blocks, Pattern Blocks, Nets, Centimeter Cubes, and Cuisenaire Rods. Out of these five, I liked the pattern blocks and centimeter cubes the best. I think they are easy for students to manipulate and can be used for a variety of concepts. I would also like to get base ten sets for my classroom. The nets were my least favorite because they were harder to work with, harder to use for a broad range of concepts, and geared more towards upper elementary/middle school students. I cannot wait to use tons of different manipulatives in my classroom to help my students better understand and gain a deeper knowledge of the content.