tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3681844217728149466.post831044844912884259..comments2023-06-26T08:46:27.152-04:00Comments on Biology and Blueberries: Penny IndependenceMs. Cyanococcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01858888376465911766noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3681844217728149466.post-10140512062027121282010-03-06T08:23:37.867-05:002010-03-06T08:23:37.867-05:00Thanks for the post. It's an important questio...Thanks for the post. It's an important question. I've been thinking about this in the past few days, before I read your post. I haven't tried any of this in class, yet, but I was thinking of a few possibilities.<br /><br />One, every so often give them "no help" assignments--not a quiz that would be worth a bunch of points, just a regular homework assignment. But they have to do it completely on their own.<br /><br />Two, make certain QUESTIONS "no help" questions. For any given assignment, tell that ahead of time that number 3, number 7, and number 12 are "no help" problems and they need to try them on their own.<br /><br />Here are two other thoughts, also without answers. (Sorry!) First, I think many times when we "help" students we aren't really doing that much. They say, "I don't get this one." We say, "Well, read me the question." Then they read it and they say, "Oh. I get it." I wonder if maybe we could make them aware of what we did--or didn't do--to help them that they might gain some confidence that way.<br /><br />Second, I believe a large factor in students' difficulty with complicated problems is their inability to break a problem into steps. They want to jump to the answer in one step, immediately after reading the question. I don't know what the solution to that is.<br /><br />Thanks for the post and for furthering the discussion on this issue!<br /><br />Jeff (5th grade teacher, Indiana)Jeffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06751910386235189964noreply@blogger.com