Why is this mistake so attractive for students to make? If you saw this mistake in your classroom, what would your next step be?
Category: Algebra 1
Where did this kid go wrong? What does it reveal about his understanding of solving equations? What is your next step for him?
Where did the kid get 48 from? How would you help him, err, not get 48 in the future?
The mistake is clear. Why is this mistake so damned tempting, and how would you help?
Here are the questions:
Here are the student answers:
What’s he messing up on? Focus in on #2. Â How did he get 11 as his answer?
Clearly, the student’s work has more than one issue. But what issues doesn’t it have? What does the student clearly know that you could build on? What’s something that he clearly needs to work on, and how would you help?
Categories
Backtracking
What does the student understand, and what does she not? How would you help?
“The line’s too big.” So what? Why does this matter to the student, and what does this reveal about his understanding of graphing?
This mistake is a classic in my classroom. What does the student understand about combining like terms, but what is the conceptual model that makes this sort of mistake so enticing?
What does the student know? What are the student’s misconceptions? How would you help?