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The Blog of a K-8 Math Specialist

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Tag: equity

assessment…

I Don’t Speak Russian, But…

13 Dec 2022
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…
curriculum…

“What Are You Hoping For?”: Facilitating the Number Boxes Game to Develop Reasoning – Learning with Teachers

8 Dec 20223 Feb 2023
Number Boxes is one of my favorite games to play. The set up looks similar to an Open Middle problem, with empty boxes that you will place digits into. Open…
in the classroom

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

16 Dec 2021
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…
curriculum…

Reducing Bias & Desmos

17 Aug 202117 Aug 2021
When I am teaching in person, I circulate around the room. When I first started teaching, I would circulate in similar patterns, winding my way through the desks and rows…
education

Pushing the Edge: Podcast with Greg Curran

6 Jan 20216 Jan 2021
I am supremely honored that Dr. Greg Curran invited me as a guest on his most recent season of his podcast, Pushing the Edge. Greg is an incredibly thoughtful and…
response

An Open Letter to the Seattle School Board

28 May 202026 Jun 2020
Last night, I sent off a letter to the Seattle School Board in support of Tracy Castro-Gill, the head of Seattle's Ethnic Studies Program Manager, who was recently removed from…
education…

Blindspots

5 Mar 202026 Jun 2020
---originally published on slowrevealgraphs.com -- In January, I chaperoned a field trip to Boston's Museum of Fine Arts. We took in the larger-than-life portrait of George Washington and troops crossing…
child study…

Assessments: Capturing a Moment in Time

20 Feb 20205 Feb 2022
It can be tempting to overgeneralize what we learn from an assessment. See how that second grader drew tally marks to solve 54 + 28? He's a direct modeler. He…
curriculum…

Reflections on the Problem-Based Learning (Symmetry Mini-Unit)

10 Jan 20206 Feb 2022
This is the last post in the series on experimenting with problem-based learning in Claire's fourth grade class. The other posts in the series are: Getting Started with Problem Based…
curriculum…

Problem Based Lesson #3: Learning From One Another in Grade 4

9 Jan 202026 Jun 2020
This is a post in a series about problem based instruction in fourth grade -- centering on a series of lessons classroom teacher Claire* and I taught about symmetry. This…
education…

Problem Based Lesson #2: Making Connections with Symmetry in Grade 4

8 Jan 20205 Feb 2022
This is a post in a series about problem based instruction in fourth grade -- centering on a series of lessons classroom teacher Claire* and I taught about symmetry. This…
curriculum…

Problem Based Lesson #1: Launching Symmetry in Grade 4

7 Jan 202026 Jun 2020
This is a post in a series about problem based instruction in fourth grade -- centering on a series of lessons classroom teacher Claire* and I taught about symmetry. Part…
curriculum…

Getting Started with Problem Based Learning in Grade 4

6 Jan 202026 Jun 2020
What are the conditions that inspire teachers to take on problem based instruction? This isn't a story about how you can determine when a teacher -- novice or experienced --…
education…

The Story of Fibonacci, and the Math Ethnic Studies Framework

17 Oct 201917 Oct 2019
In the late 12th century, a young Leonardo Bonacci -- better known as Fibonacci -- traveled with his merchant father from their home in Italy to Algeria (North Africa). They…
education…

When Our Beliefs Become Compromised… (part 1)

30 Jul 201928 Aug 2019
When are the times in my own teaching that my belief in kids and communities is compromised?  - Cornelius Minor (@MisterMinor) Heinemann Teacher Tour, July 27, 2019 Cornelius isn't a…
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…
education…

“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…
assessment…

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,…
curriculum…

“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…
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…

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Recent Posts

  • Using Slow Reveals to Illuminate Tiny but Powerful Details in Graphs 2 Jan 2023
  • Facilitating Number Boxes, Part 2 – Supporting Reasoning with Representations (Learning With Students) 15 Dec 2022
  • I Don’t Speak Russian, But… 13 Dec 2022
  • “What Are You Hoping For?”: Facilitating the Number Boxes Game to Develop Reasoning – Learning with Teachers 8 Dec 2022
  • Would You Believe Me? #tmwyk 26 Nov 2022
  • How do we measure change in data? 25 Nov 2022
  • Turtle Time Trials & Leveraging Creativity To Deepen Mathematical Understanding 13 Nov 2022
  • Seventeen Pumpkins 2 Nov 2022
  • Five Little Pumpkins: Kindergarten Conjectures 31 Oct 2022
  • Restless Teachers 13 Oct 2022

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Upcoming Conference Presentations & Workshops

February 26, 2023
Build Math Minds’ Virtual Math Summit 
(online, free registration!)
“Using Clinical Interviews in the Math Classroom: Learning from Students”

March 25, 2023
RIMTA Conference (East Providence, Rhode Island)
“Slow Reveal Graphs: An Instructional Routine to Promote Sensemaking About Data”

March 30, 2023
ATMIM Conference
(Worcester, MA)
“Games that Promote Equity and Mathematical Brilliance in the Upper Elementary Classroom” (with Louisa Connaughton)

RECENT SPEAKING

December 1 – 2, 2022
NCTM Regional
(Baltimore, MD)
“Rethinking Pre-Assessments: Gathering Data with Equity in Mind”
“Games that Promote Equity and Mathematical Brilliance in the Upper Elementary Classroom” (with Louisa Connaughton)

November 5, 2022
WMMP Fall Institute (South Hadley, MA)
“Slow Reveal Graphs: An Instructional Routine to Promote Sensemaking about Data”

September 2022
NCTM Annual Meeting (Los Angeles, CA)
“Rethinking Pre-Assessments: Gathering Data with Equity in Mind”

READ MORE…

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#tmwyk 5 practices for equity based instruction access assign competence blog centering students ideas child study claire clinical interview counting desmos discourse division education equity five practices formative assessment fractions games geometry grade 1 grade 2 grade 3 grade 4 grade 5 grade 6 grade 7 grade 8 identity illustrative mathematics instructional routines intervention investigations Investigations (Inv3) kindergarten listening making connections mtbos multiplication my first school notice and wonder number talks pedagogy presume competence problem-based instruction problem-based learning productive discussions race remote learning response slow reveal graphs student thinking student work subtraction tech tools visual prompt visual representations what if wonderings writing

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#tmwyk access centering students ideas child study clinical interview desmos division education equity five practices formative assessment fractions games geometry grade 1 grade 2 grade 3 grade 4 grade 5 grade 6 grade 7 identity illustrative mathematics intervention Investigations (Inv3) kindergarten listening making connections mtbos notice and wonder problem-based instruction problem-based learning productive discussions race remote learning slow reveal graphs student thinking student work tech tools writing
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