VLUS Celebrates Creative Problem Solving
On Tuesday, September 29th all VLUS staff and scholars celebrated the
first ever “Day of Problem Solving.” The day celebrated the creativity
and perseverance needed to solve complex tasks. Working in advisory
groups, scholars and staff in tackled a complex problem together.
Whether talking in small groups, using diagrams on white boards, or
silently working with pencil and paper, everyone took on the challenge.
At the end of the activity the groups reflected on the skills needed to
take on such challenging tasks.
VLUS’s Day of Problem Solving
aimed to engage the VLUS learning community in a challenging problem
solving experience; to celebrate multiple problem solving strategies,
creative thinking, and perseverance; and to foster collaborative and
cooperative problem solving and communication. Setting the stage for a
year focused on the art of problem solving in and outside of
mathematics, the activity allowed scholars and staff to reflect on their
own habits as problem solvers.
This focus on problem solving
will be sustained throughout the year with the VLUS Problem of the Month
routine, adapted from Inside Mathematics. Each month VLUS will present
our scholars with a non-routine problem for them to attack. At the end
of the month scholars may submit a write-up of their thinking. Three
VLUS scholars will then be selected to share their thinking with the
school. Again, the Problem of the Month routine focuses on celebrating
the problem solving process to highlight the thinking and perseverance
of all scholars.
October 1st marks VLUS first Problem of the
Month called “Squirreling it Away.” VLUS looks forward to seeing what
its excellent problem solvers come up with this month!