Coming to know and understand our students as learners of mathematics is too important to simply leave to chance. Yet we are rarely taught how to notice and respond to vital signs of student disengagement. Teachers regularly use what they know and perceive about student engagement to adjust their teaching and responses to students and to whole classes. In order to effectively respond to student engagement, teachers need to accurately judge how engaged their students are. Teachers are generally better at perceiving behavioural aspects of student engagement (on-task, paying attention) than cognitive (self-regulated learning) or emotional aspects of engagement (enjoyment, boredom, anxiety). Importantly, research tells us that it is emotional engagement that is more likely to determine if a student decides to continue studying mathematics to higher levels or to pursue a mathematics-related career in the future. This presentation explores how we can utilise student talk in the classroom to better support their growth into fully engaged learners of mathematics.
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