child study Everyone Gets A Handful: Preschoolers Explore Division 28 Jan 202028 Jan 2020 One bag of cheese puffs. Four hungry children. My two children -- ages 4 and 2 -- had been playing with friends -- ages 4 and 8 -- when my…
education… Problem Based Lesson #3: Learning From One Another in Grade 4 9 Jan 20208 Jan 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…
child study Building Mental Representations 25 Nov 201917 Nov 2019 "Sabrina is fascinating. She will look at a problem for three minutes, not appearing to be thinking about it at all, and then come up with the correct answer," her…
curriculum… Using Instructional Routines to Inspire Deep Thinking 21 Oct 201918 Oct 2019 Originally published on the Illustrative Mathematics blog (October 13, 2019). We want students to think about math deeply. Creatively. Analytically. Instead, what often happens is that students race towards quick solutions. So…
in the classroom Listening to Early Understandings of Division: “12 ÷ 5 is either -3 or 0” 20 Aug 201920 Aug 2019 ___This blogpost is a part of the (2019) HUMANIZING MATHEMATICS CONVENTION: Virtual Conference on Humanizing Mathematics hosted by Sam Shah and Hema Khodai___What does it mean to divide? I love,…
assessment… 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,…
in the classroom 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…
curriculum… 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…
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,…
assessment… Presuming Competence: Using Clinical Interviews to Support Classroom Instruction 13 Nov 201827 Nov 2018 "She's not on an IEP, but she's struggling in class. What should I do?" I don't know the student -- Alejandra, or Ali, for short -- very well, so I arranged…
education Keeping a Straight Face 9 Aug 201810 Aug 2018 This is my contribution to the Convention of Mathematical Flavors organized by @samjshah2. He put a call out for presenters to ponder the "mathematical flavor" of their classrooms How does your class move…
child study… Cultivating a Listener’s Mindset — with ELs 10 Jun 201827 Nov 2018 In a post last January, I wrote about how the "mental load" teachers carry can impact their ability to listen to their students. ...but listening is critical. It's especially critical when…
