My Favourite No

I cannot claim that this was my idea.  I heard about it at a Workshop I attended years ago and I have been using this daily in my math classes ever since!  This is a quick way to a)do a quick check-in with all of your students, b) correct any common mistakes that might pop up and c) celebrate your students' math thinking even though they may not get the correct answer.  The activity is truly simple:  Give each student a problem to solve.  That's it!  The cool part is what happens once you've collected the answers.  

I used to have students complete the problem on sticky notes (and you still could) but I now prefer to use an app like Whiteboard.fi.  

As responses come in, I sort them into two categories: yes & no.

The "yes" students clearly understood the problem and were able to show what they know.  (I quickly check them off in my notebook as having understood the problem).  The magic comes from the "no" pile.  I choose one and announce that it is my favourite no.  I keep the student's name anonymous and I rewrite their solution in my own handwriting (on paper with a document camera or on the interactive whiteboard) so that they owner cannot be identified through their handwriting.  And then I challenge students to try and figure out why it is my "favourite no".  This automatically has them identifying the things that were done correctly, they often see great things and make excellent connection that I wouldn't necessarily have seen.  Once we have identified all the great things about the solution, I ask students to pair-share and see if they can figured out where the problem went wrong.  This analyzing piece has been instrumental in my students beginning to analyze their own work rather than wait for me to decide whether they are right or wrong. 

 You may be wondering how I choose my favourite no and that depends.  The choice is very intentional and is based on common errors I see or common misconceptions, or a really different way of thinking. 

This activity has so many positive outcomes! Students learn that mistakes are ok and are an integral part of the mathematical process and that exploring mistakes help us improve our mathematical understanding.  Once the shame associated with making mistakes is removed, students become much more willing to take risks in class.

Video example of "My Favourite No" in action!

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