Guided Math Conferences: Chapter 3

The Structure of a Guided Math Conference

A guided math conference (GMC) is math talk between two mathematicians.  The GMC consists of four phases. 

1.     Research—The research phase of the conference should last than 1/3 of the time and consists of the teacher observing the student work and then asking open-ended questions in order to clarify or have the student explain his/her thinking. 

2.    Decide what is needed—This phase lasts a maximum of one minute, but is the focus of the conference.  The teacher gives the student an authentic compliment and then proceeds to decide: What should I teach this student to provide long-term growth?  How will I teach it?

3.    Teach to the student needs—In this phase, it is the student’s responsibility to be an active learner.  The teacher can choose from three ways (how?) to teach: guided practice, demonstration, or explanation of examples.

a.    Guided practice is the gradual release of responsibility.  Teacher does it, student and teacher do it together, and student does it with teacher guidance.

b.    Demonstration is where the teacher shows the student how to do something and does a think-aloud.

c.    Explanation of examples is when the teacher uses pre-created work (either anchor charts or another student’s work) and discusses with the student the good aspects of the work.

4.    Link to the future—Here the teacher summarizes, the student reflects on their learning, and concludes with the teacher reminding the student to use this learning in future work.