How We Listen: Astrid’s Thinking about 5 x 6

27 Mar 202327 Mar 2023

"Clinical interviews are an opportunity to listen closely," I caught myself telling a colleague recently. But... is that enough? How we frame the act of listening changes our entire experience.…

Ramadan Pizzas: Mathematizing Children’s Literature #tmwyk

22 Mar 2023

Tonight marks the start of Ramadan! To honor it, I went to my daughter's first grade class to read the book The Gift of Ramadan, written by Rabiah York Lumbard…

Preserving Equality — Algebraic Thinking Across Grade Levels

13 Feb 202313 Feb 2023

Equality is a fundamental concept of mathematics. The way that we can play around with values -- adjusting numbers slightly -- but maintain equality is fascinating, and differs between operations.…

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.…

Windows and Mirrors: Fair Shares for Eid al-Adha

2 Aug 20212 Aug 2021

A man's true wealth is the good he does in the world. Hadith attributed to Prophet Mohammed (ra) Eid al-Adha Eid al-Adha was a little over two weeks ago. It…

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.  $latex \frac{1}{4}\times \frac{1}{3}$…

The Cookie Recipe: Learning Math from Students

1 Apr 20195 Feb 2022

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…

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,…

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…