Solving Problems is the key element in the Japanese classroom and not just any old problem. Each lesson is a piece of art: highly crafted, detailed,and thought-out. The teacher asks him or herself, "How can I get the students to learn the most about this concept? What should I ask them to do? What numbers would be best to use in this particular problem? How will the students react? What will their solutions be? How should I follow up their solutions?"
And then the students are asked to actively solve a problem themselves. They are not guided through it. They might be confused but that's okay. It's part of the learning process.
The gong sounds. Everyone bows. Then the active learning begins. "What's the area of this wall? Get to it. Figure it out." Students are climbing on chairs with rulers, writing down their results. They spend time on the problem, a lot of time. They commiserate. They discuss.
Japanese lessons assign problems in which students have to invent new solutions or procedures that require them to think and reason. They take math very seriously but it's enjoyable.
Since I'm a writer, the math side of my brain clouds up into a fog.
ReplyDeleteI think writing is very much like math actually. With writing, there is always a problem to solve: How can I make this idea complete? What is the right word to express this particular idea? In what order should I put these words or sentences or paragraphs?
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