Math is Figure-Out-Able!

I love listening to your podcasts. I always have one lined up for my morning that keeps me intrigued and learning as I trod along. I should be sitting down rather than on the go so that I could write down some of the questions that come to mind. One that comes up over and over again as I follow along with your more conceptual approach is how do we “unteach” what students have already learned. I’m a fifth grade teacher and the only one in my grade level that doesn’t go into the algorithm for multiplication or division. And some times it’s a big challenge because kids at this age have already been programmed to do the algorithm, yet time and time again they only know the process and the steps to follow and don’t get what they are doing, nor can they get unstuck when they are trying to work independently and run into a problem. My current theory is to build up their conceptual understanding. If they want to use the algorithm, I say that they have to at least know another strategy and how to check their work and show their thinking. And on top of this there are also the kids receiving support from home and mom and dad are teaching them how they learned, again, working against what I’m teaching in the classroom even without assigning any homework. It’s crazy!! And sometimes feels like such an uphill battle!