By Courtney Ortega, IM Certified® Facilitator I was recently in a meeting where a participant declared, “Grade 8 and Algebra 1 basically have all the same standards.” Have you ever wondered this yourself? Have you heard colleagues share this sentiment? At first glance...
IM 9-12 Math
Exploring the Lesson Synthesis: When do I actually teach?
Mar 2, 2023
By Lizzy Skousen, 6–12 Curriculum Writer, IM Certified® Facilitator During a problem-based lesson, the teacher does a lot of listening while monitoring student learning. When teachers are introduced to a problem-based lesson structure, they may wonder: “Do we just...
Looking back at 2022: Year-End Closeout Message from Bill McCallum
Dec 20, 2022
2022 was a remarkable year of growth and achievement at IM. Our employees are energetic, inspired, and committed to our vision of a world where all learners know, use, and enjoy mathematics. I couldn't be more proud of what we have achieved this year. And I am so...
Help Students Know, Use, and Enjoy Quadratics
Nov 17, 2022
By Joseph Koelsch, IM Certified® Facilitator “I’ve said it before: equations are the devil’s sentences. The worst one is that quadratic equation, an infernal salad of numbers, letters, and symbols.” - Stephen Colbert Did you ever feel the same way? I know that I felt...
Supporting Teachers During Implementation of Illustrative Mathematics: Big Ideas For Coaches and Teacher Leaders
Nov 8, 2022
By Sonja Twedt, IM Certified® Facilitator, 6–12 Special Projects Course Assistant Are you an instructional coach or teacher leader in a district that is adopting Illustrative Mathematics? If so, you’ve likely found yourself thinking about how to best support your...
Strategies for Instituting Equitable Math Instruction
Oct 18, 2022
Dionne Aminata, Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives, Marketing, Illustrative Mathematics Rolanda Baldwin, Vice President of Mathematics, UnboundEd Illustrative Mathematics and UnboundEd both agree that achieving racial justice in math education starts with the...
Illustrative Mathematics and IM Certified Partners featured at NCSM and NCTM 2022
Oct 12, 2022
Members of the Illustrative Mathematics team recently attended two national conferences for math educators: NCSM (Sept 26–28, 2022) in Anaheim, CA, and NCTM (Sept 28–Oct 1, 2022) in Los Angeles. We enjoyed meeting so many thoughtful educators over the course of the...
Tackling Wordy Problems: How the Three Reads Math Language Routine Supports Access for All Learners
Aug 9, 2022
Joe Herbert, IM Certified® Facilitator “These problems are great, but they’re just so wordy. My students can’t handle all that reading!” Does this sound familiar? If so, you’re not alone! Many students and teachers struggle with the language demands of IM® 6–12 Math...
Getting Ready for 2022–23: Back to School Blog Posts
Aug 3, 2022
How do you get ready for a new school year? There is a lot to do, physically and emotionally. We hope you start the 2022–23 school year feeling rested, rejuvenated, and prepared. To support you, we have curated a collection of back-to-school blog posts. These posts...
Empowering Students with the Geometry Reference Chart
Jul 25, 2022
By Tina Cardone Geometry class can feel like word salad, with a heavy sprinkling of notation on top. Students need to both process and produce mathematical language in the vast majority of the tasks they work on. Here is a portion of the warm up from a section on...
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