education… Inputs and Outputs 20 Oct 2025 I recently returned from NCTM in Atlanta. It was a beautiful week of learning and connection (and late night karaoke -- priorities). "Let's See What You're Saying." On Friday, I…
in the classroom Anderson’s Endless Zeroes 12 Apr 202512 Apr 2025 Who makes the mathematical laws? Autodidact Abraham Lincoln managed to become a lawyer in spite of his lack of a formal education. After serving one term in the US House…
in the classroom How Many Nivelsnorts: Assessing Silly Story Problems 7 Nov 2024 This morning in grade 4, we asked students to write a story problem and solve 104 ÷ 8. I told students that they could write what they want, but it…
education… Why Do I Love This Student Work: Examining Context & Bias 22 Oct 202423 Oct 2024 When we look at student work after school, long after the students have left the building, we make inferences -- guesses -- at what students were thinking. We ascribe meaning…
education… “Yes! And!” 10 Oct 202413 Oct 2024 “Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your…
curriculum… Estimating Products and Co-Planning in Grade 4 30 Jun 2024 How do we get students to make sense -- make genuine sense -- of numerical operations? In a Grade 4 Classroom One of the fourth grade teachers invited me into…
in the classroom Where’s the Action: Kindergartners Representing Stories in Math Class 28 May 202428 May 2024 Over the years, I've come to call word problems 'story problems,' even though the story can be pretty weak. "There are 5 balloons. Three are blue, and the rest are…
in the classroom Fraction Intervention: Sonata for Eighth Notes in E Flat Major 24 Apr 202424 Apr 2024 As we waited for others to arrive, Ava couldn't help gushing about her weekend. Her parents had taken her to Montreal for the weekend to see Olivia Rodrigo in concert.…
curriculum… A Tale of Two Division Contexts 17 Apr 202417 Apr 2024 A few minutes after publishing my last blog post, "A Third Grade Dilemma: Dividing by Zero," I received an e-mail about it from my father. (We are the cutest family.…
in the classroom A Third Grade Dilemma: Dividing by Zero 6 Apr 20246 Apr 2024 In a third grade class, students were in triads playing a game of "Headache," which is sometimes called Salute. Two students place cards on their foreheads, facing out, and the…
curriculum… Purposeful Number Choices: Fraction Subtraction 24 Jan 2024 Today, I introduced Number Boxes (blog #1, blog #2, blog #3) to a fifth grade class. (Read blog #1 for the rules to the game.) The teacher was looking to…
games… Fraction Addition: Playing a Game With Many Shades of Fluency 5 Jan 2024 Today in grade 5, we played Addition Compare with Fractions (Investigations, Grade 5, Unit 3). Students draw fraction cards, calculate the sum, and compare sums. My description there is deceptively…
assessment… How Amalia Multiplies: Listening and Learning from a Fourth Grader 19 Dec 2023 It's hard not to let our own bias creep into teaching situations. For one, our decision making processes thrive on context: what thinking has this student demonstrated about this topic?…
in the classroom “It Has All the Numbers on the Clock”: Context and Connections 2 Oct 2023 I'm fascinated by how student ideas are shaped by context: what are the big ideas in our current unit? How did we launch the activity? We make connections -- constantly!…
in the classroom The Desmos Art Project 29 Jun 202313 Feb 2024 In the last week of two of school, the 8th graders worked on Desmos art projects. It is a glorious capstone to their K-8 math experience at our school. The…
education… Fractions in Fractions: Sparking Creative Mathematical Thinking 9 May 2023 Third Grader Owen was ready for third grade math a while ago. I only met him recently, but I'm guessing he was ready in... second grade? First? It's unclear. Something…
in the classroom “Teachable Moments,” and a Tale of Two Detours 27 Apr 2023 Throughout my preservice teacher program, there were many conversations about "capitalizing on the teachable moment." They were mystical -- cinematic, even. At some point, good fortune would smile on you,…
curriculum… The Case of the Impossible Triangles 3 Apr 20233 Apr 2023 The first thing I noticed when I walked into Caitlin's third grade class was that every student was, with bowed head, focused on writing in their math notebooks -- even…
in the classroom “It’s as fat as it is tall”: Language and Concept Development with Quick Images 7 Mar 2023 Some days, things just go sideways. It's the reality of teaching. I watched as Grade 1 teacher Rachel led her students into the classroom fifteen minutes later than usual. Rachel…
curriculum… Preserving Equality — Algebraic Thinking Across Grade Levels 13 Feb 202313 Feb 2023 Equality is a fundamental concept of mathematics. The way that we can play around with values -- adjusting numbers slightly -- but maintain equality is fascinating, and differs between operations.…
Jenna Laib 