Communication-Standards for School Mathematics

Communication is very important in mathematics. Students not only learn through communication themselves, but also learn through the communication of their peers. Through communication, students should be able to learn and develop skills such as:

• Organizing thoughts in order to explain them to others
• Communicating clear and developed thoughts to others
• Reflecting on other people's methods for solving problems
• Expressing concepts correctly

When students begin to use conversation with their mathematical language, it deepens their understanding of the subject. When a student can successfully communicate a concept with explanation to another person, it shows that they can really understand a specific concept. In the classroom, communication can be used in a number of different ways. Students can participate in discussion groups on open ended mathematical questions and even use technology such as computers or calculators to guide their discussion. Other types of communication in the classroom can be done through puzzles, building objects, diagrams, written explanations, etc. Children at a young age should be taught to reason and explain their methods for solving math problems. As children get older, they will become better at explaining their reasoning through the developed organization of their thoughts. In order for children/students to be able to communicate effectively, they will need to feel safe in their environment. This means that as teachers we must make our classrooms a safe environment for our students to present ideas and questions. At young ages, children typically see things only from their own view. Mathematics can be a difficult subject because they must look at the ideas and views of other people. As teachers, we need to guide and support our students in learning how to see things from other people's perspective. By doing so, we are then able to teach our students to think more deeply about specific concepts about mathematics and also guide them to be more successful communicators.

I think that making our classroom community feel like a safe place for students to share ideas is the first step toward successful communication. I can remember many math classrooms where I felt too stupid to raise my hand and ask a questions for the fear of what my teacher would say to me. In order for our students to communicate their ideas and questions effectively, we must create a safe place where they can learn. This may mean that we need to strengthen the community within our classrooms before we share ideas. Students need to learn and value everyone else's ideas and exploration for the subject of mathematics. Because math can be such and abstract study, students have the opportunity to explore new ways of thinking and solving problems. When we teach students to value and listen to other opinions and ideas, we can deepen our sense of understanding for the subject of mathematics. Our students are then able to relate to new ideas and methods for solving problems in which they might not have thought about on their own. I really liked the idea of students getting involved in discussion groups where they are able to explain how they were able to come up with an answer to a math problem. Other students in the group benefit from this type of group discussion because they can explain the way that they came up with the solution as well as disagree with how another person completed a problem. If students have to work out disagreements together, it can help them find new ways to solve problems as well as learning correct ways for completing a problem with their peers. When students communicate to each other in group work, they are better able to learn from each other through new methods and disagreements. Leaving our classroom open for communication and exploration will give our students better opportunities to understand the overall concepts and ideas of mathematics.