Supercharging Three Common Practices in Math Classrooms 

Supercharging Three Common Practices in Math Classrooms 

This article explores the benefits of three common instructional practices: prompting turn and talks, using and connecting representations, and facilitating whole group discussions. We look at two different ways of implementing each of the powerful practices, to highlight ways their use can be maximized to further increase student engagement with each other and the mathematics.

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Meeting Challenges with Commitment and Cariño Is a Good Life

Meeting Challenges with Commitment and Cariño Is a Good Life

Never doubt the big impact something small can create. A tiny acorn grows into a towering tree, providing air for the world around it to breathe. A flicker of ember being carried by the wind can spark a towering inferno. And then there is Executive Director Rosita Apodaca, who announced her retirement after 22-years with the IFL and a lifetime of inspiring students and fighting to ensure that each and every child are given a fulfilling educational experience.

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Making Space for Creativity Using A Mathematics Lesson Routine

Making Space for Creativity Using A Mathematics Lesson Routine

Creativity in mathematics abounds at the intersection of belief and practice! When the belief that all learners are doers of mathematics and enter the classroom with valuable lived math experiences intersects with the use of a lesson routine that offers space for students to do the thinking, learners become the creators and authors of the material from which they learn.

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4 Effective Communication Strategies in Multilingual Math Classrooms

4 Effective Communication Strategies in Multilingual Math Classrooms

“If you cannot read the word problem, you cannot do the math.” This statement is false on many levels! Students who are receiving math instruction in a language other than their native language are doers of mathematics! And as teachers, it is our job to utilize specific strategies that allow every student in each of our classrooms to engage in thinking deeply about the mathematics. In this article we share four strategies for math teachers to use when working with multilingual students who are working on their English skills while also learning math.

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Liberating Your Summer Readers

Liberating Your Summer Readers

A district’s goal for summer reading should be to help students continue to build their independent reading skills and to foster a love of reading. Students who take up summer reading typically have access to compelling books and choice in what they read (Shin & Krashen, 2008). To achieve a reading program with books that engage students, student voice should be central to summer reading lists.

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Building Allyship Among Educators

Building Allyship Among Educators

As educators our goals are to inspire, motivate, and empower the students we interact with every day. Can any of these goals be truly accomplished when we have educators in our schools that feel disenfranchised, alone, and unsupported by their colleagues? Becoming an effective educational ally is a journey that requires substantial self-reflection, a strong sense of self-identity, and a willingness to step up and advocate for a colleague.

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Mathematical Representations: A Window into Student Thinking

Mathematical Representations: A Window into Student Thinking

Representations are windows into student thinking and reasoning. In a time of virtual classrooms, using visual representations is more complex, but as important as ever. If a teacher values students’ thinking, they need to consider how to make it possible for all students to represent that thinking. This article addresses the use of representations and the questions that help students connect representations to deepen understanding of math concepts.

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Using 4 Learner-Centered Routines to Build Positive Math Identity in Equitable Classrooms

Using 4 Learner-Centered Routines to Build Positive Math Identity in Equitable Classrooms

Every person is a “math person” and using learner-centered routines can support students in seeing themselves as doers of mathematics. This article, the second of a two-part series, shares how’s and why’s of four learner-centered routines that provide opportunities for students to build positive math identity by creating space for voice, agency, and actually doing mathematics.

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