Rich Tasks

I really enjoyed Wednesday's activity about the coke and super stairs. I found both activities to be very engaging because of the way the problems were presented; they were realistic and relatable. Many, if not most, people have experienced the dilemma of choosing between two different-sized glasses and we all have run up and down stairs.

I appreciate that rich tasks allow all learners to participate and start the question regardless of the level of mathematical knowledge they have. Rich tasks automatically allow for differentiated instruction because of multiple entry points; students can generate possible solutions with their current critical thinking and problem-solving skills. With this approach to teaching math, students would definitely become more willing to think mathematically. They would naturally get curious to know the answer and even if they are not able to get to the solution right away on their own, they will ask their peers and work on the problem together. The skills and growth mindset embedded in these rich tasks are essentially what children need to learn in school.

So, I decided to have a look at some of his videos on his blog. I found the money duck activity that Ve was talking about in class (for those who are interested: http://www.101qs.com/2985-money-duck). This video can start a big class discussion on probability and how the same principle is used to lure people into casinos and lottery tickets; setting a very low probability to win big money but constantly providing small incentives to keep people in. Making these rich task videos might be time-consuming but they are totally worth the time and effort for the education of our children.

http://blog.mrmeyer.com/category/fake-world-math/

In the above link, Dan Meyer talks about the importance of looking at the real world AND real work when making questions. Quite often, teachers - myself included - wonder, 'This is relevant to students' real-life because the question is about cell phones, yet they are still not interested in solving the problem...' Meyer points out that even though the context might be a real-life example, the work that is involved in could be too abstract or computation-heavy, which then quickly leads to students losing interest. This is related to the discussion we had in class about rich tasks having a high applicable context with an advanced mathematical knowledge. I have learned that in order for rich tasks to contain real world and real work, phrasing and carefully crafting the question is the most important task. After all, it is the teacher's job to pique students' interest so that they are excited about learning and enjoy coming to school. As Albert Einstein said, "The formulation of the problem is often more essential than its solution, which may be merely a matter of mathematical or experimental skill."