In the Zone......

The weeks leading up to winter break were busy ones for our Second grade mathematicians.  The students were challenged with mastering many new concepts in our latest unit.  They experienced first hand what it felt like to gain mastery of something after what initially felt new and even frustrating at times.

Second graders are continuing to make sense of and develop various strategies to solve addition and subtraction problems with totals amounting to 50 and over.  We've practiced numerous ways to add and subtract larger numbers, with students having opportunities to find a way that makes sense to them.

We spent time discussing and learning about even and odd numbers, and investigating those numbers in terms of being broken into equal groups of two.  We used real life examples within the context of partners (groups of two) and teams (two equal groups) to reinforce this.  We looked at the number of students in our class and members of our family to provide meaning for the students.  Classroom games also became a reinforcement to provide additional practice with even and odd numbers.

This investigation led to developing fluency with skip counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s.  We counted bags of objects and materials in our classroom to gain mastery of this concept.  Students soon realized that counting a set of 100 objects in groups of 5 or 10 is much easier than counting each and every object!  Students became familiar with tally marks to represent groups of 5 and keep track of their counting.

Perhaps one of the most important break throughs this past month has been the ability to become deeply immersed in our learning, or as we call it, "being in the zone."  During class one day, a particularly challenging concept was introduced.  One of the students continued to get frustrated and complained of not understanding the material, saying, "It's too hard.  I can't do it."  This was clearly an opportunity for the entire class to learn about perseverance and not giving up when things get difficult.  We talked through the concept again as a class, and had another go at the problem.  The class was silent, each student working to his or her full potential.  After some time had gone by, a visitor came to the door, and some students stopped what they were doing to greet the visitor.  This same student, the one who felt the task was impossible, said "Wow, I actually forgot where I even was and what I was doing until I heard voices."  He was so "in the zone"  that time slipped away and it just became him and his math work.  We then talked as a class about this idea of being in the zone.   This is the place where effort and enthusiasm meet, and where students engage in thinking at the deepest level.  This is a place I see more and more of our second graders - a place where I may need to give them 2, 3, even 4 reminders to finish up their work because they are so deeply involved.

My goal for the Second graders is to see learning as a journey, not a place that can always be reached immediately. Giving students time to reflect about the challenges they've faced, and the mistakes and revisions they've made, will give them the confidence to continue when things are difficult. When we persevere, we also need to celebrate the success. After this particular day, we congratulated one another on hanging in there, and reflected on the pride and sense of accomplishment that everyone felt. It was an amazing learning opportunity for all.