"Responding to student ideas in the moment is tricky business. It requires patience, confidence & practice. But I think my biggest lesson was in keeping it real. The number was ugly. Ms. Jackson was not deterred. The conversation that resulted was fascinating & fantastic."
"If math classrooms only reward tidy thinking, fast recall, and compliance, we shouldn’t be surprised when students struggle with ambiguity later on."
Yes, this is the conversation we need to have!
"The Interventions We Need are rooted in content... We need more content-specific interventions. What specific skills & concepts are students struggling with? And what teaching strategies will help with that specific content?"
- @dylanpkane.bsky.social
This post, by Kristin Gray, feels like an illustration of what we mean in the Teacher-Student-Curriculm Partnership essay that appears in the Implementation Guide at every grade level.
@kristingray
"Adaptation offers a 3rd path: staying grounded in the curriculum’s design while making informed, purposeful decisions that support coherence & respond to students’ thinking. It asks not What can I insert? but How does this choice strengthen the mathematical story students are already experiencing?"
When an activity "is dropped in at random, it becomes a commercial, well-produced & engaging, but disconnected from the larger story of the mathematics. When...used w/ intention, grounded in the curriculum & responsive to students, it becomes part of the narrative & an agent for sustainable change."
A lovely variation of a growing patterns activity from @mikewiernicki.bsky.social. What if we give students an image of Stage 1 (instead of 1-3) & ask, "How might it grow?" B/c they create the pattern, students have "a real 'need' to know how to describe it."
"Most of the great teachers of mathematics know that it is important to engage students in mathematics in different ways and with different kinds of questions and tasks and they have a range of pedagogical strategies that they draw upon." - @joboaler.bsky.social #PedagogicalVariety
The math "was accessible, deep & rich. Students were more engaged & exhibited persistence. More children contributed to whole class discussions, expanding the voices heard in the classroom. Teachers learned more about students & their families, & students learned more about each other." #Excursions
Did you miss @jennalaib.bsky.social's Session? Watch the recording of it now!
www.terc.edu/mathequityfo...
I'm looking forward to this tomorrow! Free for all.
Listen. Learn. Implement. NEW 30-minute listening sessions Teacher Reflection Tools and Insights for Equitable Math Classrooms * Student Reflection Tool, 2/9/26, 3-3:30 EST * Teacher Reflection Tool for Whole Class Discussions, 3/16/26, 3-3:30 EST Get Inspired by real classroom stories — then bring your questions to our live Q&A.
Session 2 of our 30-min listening session, with time for Q&A, is fast approaching! This session will focus on the Student Reflection Tool designed by the Forum for Equity in Elementary Mathematics. Learn more: www.terc.edu/mathequityfo... and register: lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/ZIhtIun
2025-2026 Speaker Series Using Insights about Student Thinking to Shape Classroom Experiences by Jenna Laib 2/4/26, 7-8 EST
Session 3 of our Speaker Series is 7-8 EST on 2/4/26. Hear @jennalaib.bsky.social on how data gathered from students can inform responsive instruction that builds on their strengths, addresses their needs & creates meaningful math learning for all. Register: lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/HKaippJ
"Asking questions...about what students feel proud of in math, & the kinds of support they find most helpful, deepens teachers’ knowledge of their learners & strengthens students’ confidence, self-awareness, and sense of agency." It helps helps teachers recognize & build on students' strengths.
"This is why I return again and again to interviews: they help me see growth that scores alone cannot capture, and guide me towards the thinking students are ready to build next."
Looking for adult ed math curricula? The EMPower series is now available for purchase on Amazon! Mix and match to suit your program’s needs. EMPower math is taught conceptually through collaborative activities and real-world applications for adults.
Shop now: hubs.la/Q03Zzgjh0
“One of my favorite things to ask kids is ‘Are you stuck? Or are you thinking?’ I do this because it gives them agency in whether or not I support them. Sometimes, kids just need extra time to think—and if we intervene too soon, we diminish their agency.” —Paul Emerich France, Educator
Are you stuck, or are you thinking? 🤔
Paraeducators are an important and underutilized resource with great potential to impact mathematics learning in elementary classrooms.
www.terc.edu/doing-the-ma...
One teacher details how she's worked to have "students take charge of their learning...by [helping them] focus on what they already know and develop strategies that make sense to them rather than rushing to find answers and moving ahead with what is next."
1: Kids who had more time for free play...made way more progress in the lesson.
2. Using [manips] upped dramatically how much math the kids did.
3. Even when [they] weren’t doing exactly what we’d asked, they were doing math.
4. Manipulatives make it easier – even automatic – to differentiate.
SLMath and @slj.com congratulate the 40 U.S. Title I school libraries who have been named 2025-26 Mathical Collection Development Award Winners! The #mathicalbooks awards are generously supported by the Guru Krupa Foundation. Learn more: www.mathicalbooks.org/2025/12/2025...
2025-2026 Speaker Series Using Insights about Student Thinking to Shape Classroom Experiences, by Jenna Laib 2/4/26 7-8pm, EST
Did you miss Session 2? Watch the recording of @mburnsmath.bsky.social's talk about reasoning: www.terc.edu/mathequityfo...
Then register for @jennalaib.bsky.social's session which will explore how data gathered from students can inform responsive instruction! lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/HKaippJ
We all want students to "take charge of their learning" and "to empower them as learners by focusing on what they already know and to develop strategies that make sense to them rather than rushing to find answers and moving ahead with what is next." But what does that look and sound like? Read on!
"He doesn’t need to know abstract rules for arbitrary calculations, or all the different ways we might possibly misunderstand each other. He just needs to know how to say what is in his mind."
This makes me think of the places in Kindergarten where we have kids sort data into two categories. Naming a group of objects [not red] is challenging!
Launched a Gr 4 geometry lesson with this WODB (from @amplifyeducation.bsky.social). Increasingly, I ask students to focus on the commonalties that 3 of them have -- that thinking supports our work with classifying shapes based on properties. 1/2
Can. Not. Wait!
We are so excited to have Marilyn Burn presenting tomorrow, 12/10/25 at 7-8pm EST! She will share videos of students solving problems & explaining their thinking, & focus on reasoning as the foundation for building math understanding & skills. Register here: lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/HKaippJ
Want the latest in STEM education research and practice?
Discover how teachers are using robotics, how paraeducators are building math confidence, what families say young learners really need, how game design supports systems thinking, and how AI tools show up in classrooms.
➡️ hubs.la/Q03X4tdD0
