Student-Created 3 Act Tasks

10 Jul 201917 Nov 2019

Ashley, an experienced 2nd grade teacher, added the 3 Act Tasks to her repertoire this year. Among Ashley's many strengths include listening thoughtfully to students and engaging them in the design process. She…

Students Surprise Us: Interviews with Juliet

20 Jun 201919 Jun 2019

Have you ever had a student just gloriously prove all your assumptions wrong? Things move so quickly in a school. In order to grapple with the pace of our days,…

A Tribute to My First School: The End of the Beginning

19 Jun 201917 Nov 2019

Yesterday, my First School closed. It was the school that took a chance on me, where an optimistic principal hired me -- a green, green 21 year old -- to…

One of Favorite Games: The Skip Count Game

30 May 20196 Jan 2020

This game is part of my "simple but high leverage" collection of games that are flexible, engaging, and easy to prep. Others include Number Boxes and the Answer Is... I've played the…

One of My Favorite Games: Number Boxes

29 May 20196 Jan 2020

This game is part of my "simple but high leverage" collection of games that are flexible, engaging, and easy to prep. Others include The Answer Is... and the Skip Count Game. I…

One of My Favorite Games: The Answer Is…

28 May 20196 Jun 2019

This game is part of my "simple but high leverage" collection of games that are flexible, engaging, and easy to prep. Others include Number Boxes and the Skip Count Game. I have…

The Simple-but-High-Leverage Game Collection: Making Games Routine

28 May 20196 Jun 2019

We use instructional routines in part because their predictable structure allows students to focus on the mathematics. So why don't we do this with simple, high leverage games? Games aren't…

The Cookie Recipe: Learning Math from Students

1 Apr 20191 Apr 2019

Fourth grade teacher Alicia and I have a beautiful habit of doing math together when planning. We try out problems, and anticipate ways we think students.* *This work is made…

You’re Both Right: Examining and Honoring Mathematical Assumptions

21 Mar 20191 Apr 2019

Even from across the room, there was no mistake: Jacob and Ian were deep into a mathematical debate. Jacob had pulled his chair up to Ian's desk, and they were…

Mathematical Connections in a Kindergarten Science Unit

18 Mar 201915 Mar 2019

"I'm sorry, we're only loosely doing math today," Jessica apologized as I walked into her kindergarten classroom. "We're deep into our structures unit in science, and I'd like to keep…

The Striped Snake Barbecue Puzzle: Exploring “Challenge” in 3rd Grade

4 Mar 20193 Mar 2019

Who gets to be challenged in class? How does the work we give students impact their status (or how they perceive their status) in the classroom? Meet Calvin You've probably…

Daysha at the Board: Assigning Competence

2 Mar 201913 Jun 2019

"Sit down, Daysha... Daysha." Six-year-old Daysha shot me an icy glare while she leisurely pumped hand sanitizer onto her open palm. The rest of her class was all sitting on…

“I see the same hands”: Dealing with Discretionary Spaces

12 Feb 201912 Feb 2019

The teacher frowned as she looked out at her 25 students, only 3 of which had their hands raised -- the same three students who always had their hands raised."I see…

What does it mean to be “struggling” in math class? (Eduardo’s Story)

5 Feb 20195 Feb 2019

It was a sea of dots. Eduardo's work for 47 + 27 Over and over again, for both computational and story problems, third grade student Eduardo drew dots. Eduardo's work,…

“Why is the math teacher here for social studies?”

16 Jan 201915 Jan 2019

I slipped quietly into Room 304, trying not to distract the fourth graders, who were finishing up a writing assignment. I set up my laptop to project to the white…

Talking about Geometry in Kindergarten, Part 2: The Shape Hunt

5 Jan 20194 Jan 2019

Talking helps us make sense of ideas. Talking helps us synthesize our ideas. Talking helps us communicate our ideas. We want to get this kindergarten class talking -- a lot…

Talking about Geometry in Kindergarten, Part 1: Same or Different

4 Jan 201917 Nov 2019

  Talking helps us make sense of ideas. Talking helps us synthesize our ideas. Talking helps us communicate our ideas. We want to get this kindergarten class talking -- a…

#TeamBlankSpace

3 Jan 2019

Every time a child says, 'I don't believe in fairies,' there is a fairy somewhere that falls down dead.J. M. Barrie, Peter Pan (1904) When a work page is overly rigid…

The Museum of Rarely Used Math Manipulatives: What Do We Need?

20 Dec 201820 Dec 2018

Today in Kindergarten, we used Attribute Links to play Name My Rule. We sorted shapes based on properties (number of sides, number of 'points,' size, color, etc.). Attribute links are…

No More Mathematical Matchmaking: The Return of the Inaba Place Value Puzzles

26 Nov 201827 Nov 2018

When I first started teaching, I believed in being a mathematical matchmaker. I thought that differentiation meant giving students different tiered assignments -- it seemed much better than pushing every…