You've just explored two activities -- Shaded/Unshaded Circles and Cuisenaire Rods -- and examined how you might communicate about them. Now we'd like you to write about your own classroom practice. Read the following questions and answer one in light of the students and content you teach.

• Do you present problems like these in your classroom? What are some characteristics of problems that are worthwhile mathematical tasks and also encourage communication among students?
• What kinds of questions can you ask to help you know whether your students understand the mathematics in their solutions?
• What would you do if your students described solution methods that were correct but were different from the one(s) you had taught?
• What might you say if students provided an incorrect solution or method or used a combination of incorrect and correct terminology?

• Use pen and paper.
• Use a word processor.
• Use the form below.

Your work will be displayed in a printer-friendly format to enable you to print.

Thanks for writing in your journal. Please keep your entries in whatever format you choose -- you will find them useful for reference later.

  Learn how the Standards define communication