Chapter 10 Writing

Chapter 10 – Writing for Tests and Assessments

            The text describes how math teachers have always strived for students to show their work, and not simply write down a mysterious number in which the roots are no where to be found. However, even if a student shows how they plugged numbers in to a particular formula that may not mean they understand the mathematical concept behind what they did.             Thus, “showing ones’ work” is not sufficient. This is where it is important to have portions of tests where students can thoroughly describe their reasoning in words. However, this cannot simply be something that students are expected to do thoroughly for exams. These types of writing activities must be frequently practiced in day-to-day classes for students to begin to effectively describe their thought process in writing for mathematics.

            In my field experience, the Algebra II students have just finished a unit on Probability. They were asked to write their reasoning if a certain scenario appeared theoretically feasible. Numerous students used knowledge outside of the mathematical evidence to describe if such an idea was reasonable. I cannot explicitly recall the problem, but it was something about if a student could possibly perform three activities or something, and the students were supposed to draw from the data in the earlier problems. However, many students described how students are often busy and participate in numerous activities- drawing on no mathematics at all! The directions to this problem were obviously not nearly clear enough, and I also believe that the students were not given enough practice to successfully tackle a writing problem in math class. I asked the teacher if they do a lot of writing to explain their reasoning, and she said they did not. Thus, students were likely thrown off on what they were being asked to do. It is important to remember that students need to have demonstrations, scaffolds, and practice with assignments, activities, and the types of problems they will be asked in assessments. Test day is not a time to introduce writing mathematical thinking.

            I loved the example on page 256, which had the students be the announcer for the swimmers, and describe what was going on in the race. The graph displays the swimmers race, and then the students are the interpreters. The students write what the graph tells them, and they have the chance to role play and be creative in their assessment. This is fun for the students – a fun test! As a teacher, I want to strive to constantly find these types of applications. Constant collaboration and research are necessary to continue to create curriculum, instruction, and assessment that take the material to another level of context and interest for students.