Math Blog #4: Productive Struggle

 



    Today we will be talking about productive struggle and how important it is for students. First of all, productive struggle is the process of students tackling a complex task that is slightly out of their current abilities, but is still achievable with a little support. I love the picture above, because it shows how easy learning only provides students with temporary comfort. In order for students to deepen their understanding and develop their skills in a certain content area, they need to be slightly challenged. It also helps students cultivate their problem-solving skills. In the article, "Thriving in the Zone of Productive Struggle" the author states, "Success with just the right level of challenge encourages a growth mindset as students learn to view challenges as opportunities for growth and to persist despite difficulties. Learners need to succeed in completing challenging learning tasks—and they need to attribute that success to their own cognition and effort" (Jung, 2024). 

     This means that tasks cannot be too easy or too hard for students. When students are not challenged, they start to become unengaged, exert lower amounts of effort, and only have a superficial learning of the content. If a task is too hard for students, they become frustrated and overwhelmed causing them to lose confidence. They might think they don't have the ability to succeed in that content area.  It is like Goldilocks and the Three Bears; tasks cannot be too easy or too hard, they have to be just the right amount of challenge for the students.

    Productive struggle is a key part of the Zone of Proximal Development, developed by Lev Vygotsky. The article "Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development" states, "The zone of proximal development (ZPD) is the difference between what a learner can do without help and what they can do with guidance and encouragement from a skilled partner" (McLeod, 2024). When a student is engaged in productive struggle, this means they are working within their zone of proximal development. The task is just beyond their current ability, but the learner can still do it with a little assistance.  This zone allows students to grow their skills and increase their knowledge. Below is a graphic that depicts the zone of proximal development, I saw one similar in an article we read in class.


    Instruction needs to be scaffolded to help students achieve productive struggle in their own zone of proximal development. A little help can go a long way for students. However, every student is unique and has different backgrounds, abilities, and experiences, so scaffolding needs to be differentiated. One task might be too easy for a student, while the same task might be too hard for another student. This is something that every teacher must keep in mind when deciding to challenge their students. 

    A good way for math teachers to get their students engaged in productive struggle is by having questions of the day before the lesson. Based on class performance, this question will be just a little beyond their skill set, but they can work with their peers to figure out the solution. This question should give students the opportunity to solve it their own way. For example, one student may solve the problem by drawing out shapes, while another student might break down the question into different pieces.  That is the beauty of productive struggle, every student can do it their own way.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Math Blog #2: My Field Placement Experience

Image
                I was placed in a 4th-grade ELA/Social Studies classroom, and I learned a lot about the behind the scenes of teaching. Something very important I learned, was that teaching is a very fast-paced profession, and you need to be flexible and be prepared to adapt. On the very first day of field, our class went on a field trip. All of the teachers were concerned about their students getting their permission slips signed,  who was going on what bus, which students couldn't sit next to each other on the bus, etc. Sometimes when you plan an activity and the students are very chaotic that day, you might have to scrap it and come up with a whole new idea. If students aren't very engaged during an activity, you might have to find a lesson/activity that does.      This week, my field partner and I learned firsthand the importance of being flexible and adaptable. We had to teach a social studies lesson to the mornin...
Read more

Math Blog #1: Math Identity

Image
    Why is your math identity important? How can a teacher's math identity impact their students? In class after reading the article, "Productive Math Struggle: A 6-Point Action Plan for Fostering Perseverance" by John Sangiovanni, Susie Katt, and Kevin Dykema, I've learned how essential it is for teachers to understand their own math identity in order to help students foster a positive math identity. "By understanding our early experiences as math students and how they shaped our definitions of what it means to do math, we can learn important lessons about the instructional choices we make" (Sangiovanni, Katt, Dykema, pg. 32).      Before reading this article, I had never heard of math identity. Math has always come easy to me, so this article really opened my eyes. Even though I have always loved math, that doesn't mean my students will. It will be important for me to consistently reflect on my instructional strategies and think about my students' ...
Read more