This is part of the Five Minute Friday series. Today’s prompt is: Keep

Keep is a tough word for math. There’s only so much paper you can keep (like your homework, your students’ old tests, etc.).

But maybe “keep” isn’t about keeping stuff.

For teachers, it’s keeping in mind where the students are. Where we might have once been ourselves.

It’s also keeping your hands to yourself (so to speak). I was Socratically teaching a student the other day and a friend teacher was waiting to talk to me.

I asked her to hold on while I worked with this student. It would only be a couple of minutes before I could pause.

So she sat and watched.

As the student made an error, she said (out of habit), “No…”

I stopped her quickly.

“Keep your thoughts to yourself,” I asked her.

I asked the student a question he knew for sure. He answered.

Then I asked the analogous question that he was struggling with. He answered. Incorrectly.

So I asked the student the known question again.

We went back and forth with this.

And occasionally my teacher friend would begin to respond. But she would refrain.

She learned to keep in her “teaching” and start to let free her questioning.

It was very encouraging for both of us.

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