access – Embrace the Challenge

in the classroom

“It’s as fat as it is tall”: Language and Concept Development with Quick Images

Some days, things just go sideways. It's the reality of teaching. I watched as Grade 1 teacher Rachel led her students into the classroom fifteen minutes later than usual. Rachel…

in the classroom

Creating Practice Opportunities with Games

8 Feb 20238 Feb 2023

In my district, we are fortunate to have core curricula that provide meaningful learning opportunities, that have helped us build coherence in terms of both content and practices across K-8.…

I Don’t Speak Russian, But…

My mother-in-law speaks three languages fluently -- and none of them are English. Her speech dances between Arabic and French and Algerian, and I do my best mental gymnastics to…

Turtle Time Trials & Leveraging Creativity To Deepen Mathematical Understanding

13 Nov 202212 Nov 2022

What if...? In a lot of tasks that we give students, there's an intended answer. Okay, sure, yes, I guess you could interpret the problem in this divergent way, but…

Restless Teachers

13 Oct 202213 Oct 2022

My favorite educators are restless. They have that itch. Nothing is ever completely satisfying. If you chat with them after a lesson, they'll tell you three things they would change.…

How Many Birds: Mathematizing “Two Many Birds” In First Grade, Part 2

28 Apr 202227 Apr 2022

I have been reading Allison Hintz and Antony Smith’s Mathematizing Children’s Literature (Stenhouse, 2022), and it has disrupted how I think about the use of children's literature in math class. In my…

formative assessment…

Understanding Negative Numbers: In Praise of Tiny Games

1 Feb 202217 Jun 2022

"Is this right?" Inaya asked me, pointing to the equation she'd recorded on her paper: 5 + (-8) = -13 We are one week into our 7th grade unit on…

in the classroom

More Peas, More Carrots: Student Agency in Representations While Problem Solving

Today, the first graders revisited "Peas and Carrots." They had spent several days exploring part-part-whole thinking in the context of games like "how many are hiding?" and "counters in a…

in the classroom

“Never Say Anything a Kid Can Say”: Peas and Carrots Edition

Yesterday was an exciting day in first grade: the launch of peas & carrots! This is the first "how many of each?" problem in first grade. Students wrestle with two…

How Much Is Enough: Using Student Feedback to Reflect on Practice

28 Jun 202112 Jul 2021

Do students need to finish every problem? When I have asked this of colleagues, everyone has responding with a resounding no! Definitely not!Not every student needs that much practice.It's okay…

Using Diagrams to Build and Extend Student Understanding

16 Dec 20196 Feb 2022

Co-authored by Kristin Gray (@MathMinds) Originally published on the Illustrative Mathematics Blog (November 25, 2019) Take a moment to think about the value of each expression below. $latex \frac{1}{4}\times \frac{1}{3}$…

Choosing a Story to Tell: Examining a Lesson Close in 1st Grade

28 Aug 20196 Feb 2022

I had planned to spend my first time in Room 12 observing the classroom teacher and getting to know her students. Instead, the teacher texted me the day before to…

One of My Favorite Games: Number Boxes

29 May 20193 Feb 2023

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…

in the classroom

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

4 Mar 20196 Feb 2022

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…

in the classroom

Daysha at the Board: Assigning Competence

2 Mar 20195 Feb 2022

"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 20196 Feb 2022

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…

#TeamBlankSpace

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…

in the classroom

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…