Why Should Teachers Plan for Misconceptions?

In education, classrooms are comprised of students with various educational backgrounds. Each student in the classroom has his or her own understanding of mathematics and previous knowledge from past grade levels. However, sometimes these understandings contain misconceptions and educators must address them in order for their students to achieve mastery within an objective. In order to combat misconceptions early, educators must plan ahead for potential errors in the classroom and analyze what misunderstandings may occur that could potentially prevent a student from fully grasping a mathematical concept. In addition to this planning process, teacher must allow be able to differentiate between what errors should be addressed through a full class discourse and what errors should be addressed through individual corrections based on the type of conceptual understanding(s) that are essential to the given objective.

The readings below will provide you with an understanding of how to choose which misconceptions should be addressed in the classroom and will provide you with an opportunity to practice planning a misconception moment in the classroom.

By the conclusion of lesson 4, you should be able to analyze existing lesson plans and determine potential student misconceptions for your classroom.

Lesson 3: Understanding Planning for Misconceptions

Objective: Participants will reflect on the impact of planning for misconceptions in the classroom and determine what errors should be addressed during mathematics lessons based on student work.

Directions: Read the following excerpt from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and Teach Like a Champion: Field Guide 2.0 then answer the reflection questions below.

Readings:

Article 1: Inspection-Worthy Mistakes

Article 2: Planning for Misconceptions

Reflection Questions:

Use the Discussion tab at the top of the page to answer the following questions and share your thoughts with other participants in this course.

1. As an educator, summarize how to determine what errors should be addressed through full class discussion.

2. Explain how pre-planning for errors benefit student mastery and create an effective learning environment.

Lesson 4: Practice Planning for Misconceptions

Objective: Participants will identify an error analysis moment from an existing lesson plan and develop potential misconceptions.

Directions: Use the following template to plan for a potential misconception from an existing lesson. The misconception selected should deepen conceptual understanding and will be used during Unit 3's practice. Once your planning is complete, answer the following reflection questions below. An example of the template has been provided for you.

For Reference: Planning Template Example

Task: Planning for Errors Template

Reflection Questions:

Use the Discussion tab at the top of the page to answer the following questions and share your thoughts with other participants in this course.

1. Analyze how planning for misconceptions in the classroom provide a deeper understanding of the lesson's objective(s).

2. Explain your process of determining what error to address in the classroom based on your understandings from the readings in lesson 3.

Next Steps

Done? Continue to Unit 3: Developing Discourse & Implementation to access your final lessons!