So you’ve done some work with word problems in your class and your students still don’t know where to start… Here’s what I’ve noticed with my students. Problem solving skills do not come naturally to all students. They need to learn strategies to work through the beginning, middle, and end of a problem.
Getting started with problem solving
What I’ve found to be the case with many of my students is that they literally have no idea where to begin. I give them a word problem and they stare blankly at the words because the equation they need to solve wasn’t given to them. Here are the questions I ask to get them thinking about the problem:
- What is the question asking?
- What do you need to figure out?
- What could your variables represent?
These questions give your students a place to start and the goal is that they will begin to ask themselves these questions on their own. They are vague enough so that you’re not just spoon feeding them the answers. Once your students know what they need to figure out, they can begin to brainstorm strategies for solving the problem.
Check out this step by step guide for more details on modeling problem solving ↓
Working through the struggle
The “struggle” as I like to call it is my favorite part of the problem solving process. This is where the most learning happens. I always tell my students that I can walk them through a problem ten times over, but they won’t actually learn anything until they are able to work through it on their own.
The struggle is frustrating and uncomfortable, especially to a generation of students who primarily grew up with lawn mower parents. You know, the ones who paved the way, so that their child could succeed in everything they did.
Growth mindset is so important to have not only for high school, but for life. I grew up a perfectionist and it’s something I have to work on every day, but taking small steps to accept failure and mistakes has made me so much more successful as a teacher and a person. My students know that I care way more about my students’ success as people and ability to grow than I do about their ability to use the quadratic formula.
General problem solving strategies
These are some of my favorite problem solving strategies for my high school students. I loved them so much that I turned them into a bulletin board. Check it out below!
- Create an equation
- Draw a picture
- Ask a friend
- Start with a simpler problem
- Use your resources
- Look for a pattern
- Guess and check
- Work backwards
- Make a model
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