Number Talks in High School: Successes and Dilemmas

Big Question: How can number talks be used meaningfully in high school classrooms? What is a number talk?
A number talk consists of two elements. First, students silently complete a problem involving mental arithmetic. Secondly, students are asked to share their answers and strategies aloud. The teacher will record each answer and strategy on the board as well as will provide questions to push that particular students understanding and to involve other students in the explanation and understanding of each strategy.

Why are number talks beneficial for high school students?

1. Developing flexible thinking and problem solving
Flexible thinking is essential in mathematics and number talks are one way to help build flexibility with numbers. A study by Eddie Gray and David Tall (1994) asked students to complete simple arithmetic to see what types of counting strategies these students were using. They found that those students who were designated as above average in ability were using numbers as objects that can be decomposed and recomposed in flexible ways. The below average students saw numbers as concrete entities to be manipulated through a counting process and thus were using strategies such as counting on or counting all, but not manipulating the numbers in any way. Gray and Tall (1994) state, [w]e believe that this bifurcation of strategy, between flexible use of number as object or process and fixation on procedural countingis one of the most significant factors in the difference between success and failure (132).

Number talks can help build this flexibility with numbers, evening out the playing field for students and additionally teaching them strategies for flexible thinking and problem solving.

2. Building a classroom of inquiry and sense-making

Number talks offer multiple opportunities for students to make sense of their own strategies as well as those of their classmates through teacher questioning. This can help to promote student explanation and eventually student questioning and inquiry as well. A study by Noreen Webb and her colleagues (2009) compared two types of classrooms; several with teachers who probed students for more explanation and several more traditional classrooms. Webb found that by asking students to explain their methods for solving problems and refraining from evaluating students answers, teachers helped create expectations and obligations for students to publicly display their thinking Additionally, the study suggested that in mathematics classrooms, certain kinds of instructional tasks and discourse encourage more productive ways of thinking, such as classrooms with teachers who push students to further their explanations.

3. Multiple representations of mathematical problems

Number talks allow for students to see multiple representations of the same problem. Many of these representations are algebraic; however, there are other visual representations and also geometric representations such as an area model for multiplication. In an article in Mathematics Teacher, published by NCTM, Schultz and Waters (2000) describe that students benefit from learning to choose the representations that apply to a given situation. Hence, not only do students benefit in understanding more thoroughly through seeing multiple representations, but they can also begin to use different strategies in different situations. Number talks allow them to practice using representations in multiple situations and help them to be able to realize how important representing mathematical ideas differently according to the problem or situation can be.

Dilemmas faced in and out of the classroom

Mismatch between classroom content and number talks Low student confidence to talk in front of their peers Student attachment to traditional algorithms Do the benefits outweigh the time commitments? o Time taken out of the content of the class period o Time for teacher to effectively plan and reflect Maintaining number talks in high school students think its childish How much should a facilitator push? Receiving support from other faculty or parents doing number talks alone may be difficult Choosing a problem that is at the right level Introducing number talks in a way that is meaningful to high schoolers

Potential strategies for confronting dilemmas

Choosing a problem that is at the right level o Uh-oh and yahoo strings

Uh-oh strings are another arithmetic problem that you plan in case students take longer than one minute to think about the original problem. At this point, just change the problem to this one, students will probably take a sigh of relief! Yahoo strings are the opposite: If students are done thinking after 10 seconds, the problem was probably too easy and you can immediately change the problem to a more complex one. Students afraid to share their thinking o Quick share of numerical answer o Pair or group share of strategies o Written answers o Wait time Planning and Time o Blog: numbertalks1.blogspot.commy blog with planning partner Melissa Johnson o Planning partner Traditional Algorithm o Take time to explain what an algorithm is and the importance of using other strategies as well o Have students explain why the traditional algorithm works through teacher questioning Maintaining number talks in high schoolstudents think its childish o Embed the problems in a story or everyday situation For example, calculating the price of something

Do you have ideas for how to approach some of these dilemmas?