by Liz Ramirez, Director of Implementation “This makes the expectations for what I need to change visible.” “It’s not about the tool. It’s about the conversation using the tool.” Quotes from leaders who participated in IM’s collaborative research partnership this past...
K–5 Math
A Love for Math Reignited
Jul 26, 2021
By Michael Ramirez, Director of Instructional Coaching, Partnership for Los Angeles Schools “Whenever students are being helped to see major concepts, big ideas, and general principles and are not merely engaged in the pursuit of isolated facts, good teaching is going...
IM K–5 Math: An End and a Beginning
Jul 13, 2021
By William McCallum On March 20, 2015, I received the following email: Thank you for submitting your proposals to the K–12 OER Collaborative. We are pleased to advise you that Illustrative Mathematics has been selected as a vendor to create a rapid prototype unit for...
Culturally Responsive Teaching and Math
Jun 30, 2021
By Asya Howlette, Director of Mathematics and Science at Thurgood Marshall Raise your hand if you have been perplexed by professional learning that told you your class needs to be culturally responsive, but left you completely unsure about what that means in a math...
What does it mean to enjoy mathematics?
May 17, 2021
By William McCallum When I started this series of blog posts on what it means to know, use, and enjoy mathematics, I thought this one would be the easiest. Math is fun, right? How could you not enjoy mathematics? I certainly do—I love the complexity in underlying...
The Joy of Fluency
Apr 5, 2021
By William McCallum I’m not a very good skier, but I have once or twice in my life experienced the joy of a perfect run: gliding down the slopes, taking each turn with confidence. And I’ve had terrible runs where I struggled up a slope to find a detached ski, getting...
A Circumference By Any Other Name…
Mar 31, 2021
By Becca Phillips You can’t tell a child “there’s no such thing as monsters” because, well, then, why is there a word for it? I was given this advice when my own daughter was an infant, but I’ve thought a lot about it over the years, and how inextricably linked our...
Building Equitable Learning Environments for Each Student
Mar 22, 2021
By Danielle Seabold, IM Certified® Facilitator “All students can be successful in mathematics.” For most mathematics educators, we lean into this. We believe that all students can learn mathematics, and that they can be successful. However, as we focus our lens on the...
Explorations in IM K–5 Math: Challenges for Curious Students
Mar 2, 2021
By Jen Hawkins and Mike Nakamaye What do we do with curious students who are ready, willing, and able to go further with math ideas? Some students cannot wait to dig deeper into the mathematics they are studying in class. Their curiosity comes from working with a...
What Does It Mean to Use Mathematics?
Feb 22, 2021
By William McCallum Our vision at Illustrative Mathematics is a world where all learners know, use, and enjoy mathematics. In my last post I picked up that first verb and talked about what it means to know mathematics. In this post I'd like to talk about what it means...
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