In my first number talk, my professor provided feedback that I was unsuccessful in representing my students’ thinking. For example, in this particular moment, I missed an opportunity to represent Alizah’s thinking by not circling the two groups of three and one group of two she saw on the smart board. Furthermore, by not circling the groups to show my students more tangibly how Alizah reached the answer of eight, I also missed an opportunity to make Alizah’s thinking more accessible to all my students. Put another way, I struggled to create multiple entry points into the number talk that matched the fluid needs of my students so they could all engage in, explore and deeply understand the mathematics.
In my second number talk, I was more intentional in representing my students’ thinking. For instance, as seen in this moment, I successfully showed Cameron’s thinking by drawing a number line on the smart board. Such a pedagogical move is critical as my drawing can help make Cameron’s thinking more comprehensible for the other students by providing a visual representation. Specifically, in the context of my classroom, this drawing can help engage and make the information more comprehensible for my nine ELL students. Many of these students still struggle to grasp technical and academic English and may not fully understand their peer’s oral explanations of their strategies. Thus, by providing a visual representation, I can make the conversations in the number talks more accessible to my ELL students regardless of their English proficiency level.
