By Dr. Kristen Taylor, IM Certified® Facilitator Math teachers can talk all day about math! We get super excited when we encounter someone else who enjoys these conversations as well. But too many of our students don’t get to experience that joyful discourse, which...
classroom discourse
Multi-grade Classrooms and
IM K–5 Math™
Sep 8, 2021
By Jen Hawkins, IM Facilitator and IM K-5 Product Specialist Illustrative Mathematics believes that students can achieve success as mathematical thinkers by working through problems and consolidating their learning through classroom discussions and anchoring...
Facilitating the “Choral Counting” Routine Online
Aug 25, 2020
by Janaki Nagarajan How can we best do mathematics together in an online environment? When school suddenly shifted online last spring, I found myself overwhelmed by the learning curve for new technologies—for both myself and my students. I knew that I wanted to...
English Learners and Distance Learning: Compare and Connect
Jun 25, 2020
By Vanessa Cerrahoglu, Jennifer Wilson, and Liz Ramirez We envision creating a world where learners know, use, and enjoy mathematics. Knowing and using math goes beyond calculating and evaluating. We create purposeful opportunities for students to engage in...
English Learners and Distance Learning: Co-Craft Questions
Jun 15, 2020
By Jennifer Wilson and Liz Ramirez We envision creating a world where learners know, use, and enjoy mathematics. Knowing and using math goes beyond calculating and evaluating. We create purposeful opportunities for students to engage in sense-making and use language...
The 5 Practices: Looking at Differentiation Through a New Lens
Nov 21, 2019
By Catherine Castillo Our district had seen a downhill trend in standardized test scores in mathematics. This forced us, as educators, to take an intentional look at our teaching practices. The past few years have been an exciting time in math instruction. Research on...
Using Instructional Routines to Inspire Deep Thinking
Oct 13, 2019
We want students to think about math deeply. Creatively. Analytically. Instead, what often happens is that students race towards quick solutions. So what can we do to support this other kind of thinking in class—the slow, deep kind? By Jenna Laib One way is through...
Co-Creating Classroom Norms with Students
Aug 2, 2019
Establishing norms is critical to creating an environment where all students see themselves as knowers and doers of mathematics. Reflecting on the Illustrative Mathematics mission statement, Creating a world where learners know, use, and enjoy mathematics, how can we...
Explicit Classroom Norms to Teach Kids How to Learn From Solving Problems
Jul 29, 2019
This blog post is the fourth in a series of four blog posts exploring the student experience of problem-based learning. The first three posts are available here: (1) “How Do Students Perceive Problem-Based Learning?” (2) “Inviting Students to the Mathematics” (3)...
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