Replying to a Wrong Answer

I recently discovered the mathtwitterblogosphere... you know, because I have nothing else to do ;) Anyways, through their site, I found this blogging initiation. I'm too late to join in on the actual initiation, but I decided to read through their prompts to get ideas. One of the options from week one was to take a picture of something in your classroom that you're proud of and then write about it. Clearly I don't have a picture, but I am proud of myself for thinking through this issue and finding a productive way to improve my teaching style.

When a student raises their hand in class, they're taking a risk. Whether they're asking a question or answering one, there is the potential that their classmates will think them particularly smart or particularly dumb. I've often struggled with how to respond to students in particular situations, but one that bothered me recently was what to say when a student answers incorrectly. I don't want to emphasize their wrong for fear of embarrassing them, but I'm obligated to make a point of clearing up any misconceptions.

So what's a teacher to do? Turn to google, of course. These are results of my search or results of my thought process that the search invoked. The most helpful reference was here.

When a student answers incorrectly...

• Emphasize any part of their answer that is correct: "I really like that you remembered to subtract first, but can someone else help us with what comes next?"
• Accept answers from other students: "Ok, thanks! Did others have a different response?" The idea here is to have several students answer and by the time I affirm the correct answer, the students have mostly forgotten about the original wrong answer.
• Affirm their thought process: "That's not quite what I'm looking for, but I understand why you think that." Sometimes I explain the misconception here, others times I move on to give a correct answer. It usually depends on how "popular" I think their misconception may be.
• Lead them to a correct response: "Are you remembering that trapezoids have only one pair of parallel sides?"

These have been immensely helpful to me and my students have benefited as well. I love discovering ways to be a better teacher! This idea will definitely be something I continue to mull over and seek to improve.