A number of teachers have shared with me that they've had some success using math journals with their students. Personally, it's not a strategy I've tried when I was teaching. However, I do feel strongly about having students explain their mathematical thinking either verbally or in writing. To be able to explain solutions and strategies usually means there is deeper understanding of the concept. When a student isn't able to explain how they attacked a math problem, it may be that they're relying on a guess method with minimal strategies and it just happened to work.
Some great questions for math classes are:
- How do you know?
- What would happen if?
- What strategies did you use and why?
Of course, you don't always have time in those busy math classes to have all students share their thinking, so journals may just be the right tool for you. To find out how to do math journal and the kinds of writing your students can do, read on.
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