Becoming an Expert

​When you learn a new skill, how do you know that you have become an expert? For the students in Ms. Nirschel's 4th-grade class, the answer is easy: "when you can teach it to someone else."

In 4th-grade, solving division problems is one of the exciting new math skills that students learn and master over the course of the year. Not only have the students in class been practicing the skill of computing long division problems, but many of her students are now experts in solving long division problems. They have moved beyond knowing how to independently solve a problem to be able to teach someone else how to solve a problem.

Last week, several experts taught their friends how to solve a problem. Equipped with a pencil, paper, and a lollipop (for some excitement), the students demonstrated that are ready to call themselves long-division experts.