What do you think?
mike
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what do i think?
i'm guessing that T learned "a system" for solving a math problem - a kind of fancy algorithm - but didn't learn any conceptual understandings about math - with a focus on the "trick" for solving a problem that a more skilled partner could employ, which could be rotely replicated. a kind of mimicry - also aperceptively learned perhaps or more likely strengthened was that math homework is completing a lot of problems one after another, with the emphasis on getting the right answer and not demonstrating understandings of the math concepts. why would anyone want to find 30 percent of 80? 80 what? so also what is aperceptively learned is that school work is decontextualized - perhaps that's already understood, if not verbalized.
still - how to build in a sense of accomplishment or control? fill in the squares that stand for pages completed. a graphic organized of work completed. i wonder from where that was picked up?
the judicious decision to pick mid-range problems - safety? the judicious decision to do homework - though are the other activities that captivating? or something to do until Dad comes to pick up T.
wondering how much of the entire activity was to maintain safety and control by T ?
lots of interesting possibilities to come back to.
would love to talk to T in a week and go over some similar problems and discuss strategies - document thinking - talk aloud.
phillip
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