Be Less Helpful

Dan Meyer – my favorite math teacher to follow on the internets – ran an interesting presentation that focuses on a great pedagogical concept:

Be less helpful.

I’m simplifying a bit, but the main idea is to set your students up with the puzzle, and then let them wrestle with it. Don’t give students answers. Rather, get them to ask more and more questions. Then see what they discover.

It might be a coincidence, but Dan fellowshipped with Google. Google recently released this excellent video. I highly recommend viewing. A good end of the week conclusion.

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