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…
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…
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?…
#tmwyk… Ramadan Pizzas: Mathematizing Children’s Literature #tmwyk 22 Mar 2023 Tonight marks the start of Ramadan! To honor it, I went to my daughter's first grade class to read the book The Gift of Ramadan, written by Rabiah York Lumbard…
curriculum… Windows and Mirrors: Fair Shares for Eid al-Adha 2 Aug 20212 Aug 2021 A man's true wealth is the good he does in the world. Hadith attributed to Prophet Mohammed (ra) Eid al-Adha Eid al-Adha was a little over two weeks ago. It…
#tmwyk Making Meaning with Arrays: More Preschooler Division 20 Mar 202020 Mar 2020 While my 2 year old napped, my 4 year old and I baked some chocolate chip muffins. "You know, mama, there are 4 people in all," she announced, while swirling…
#tmwyk… Everyone Gets A Handful: Preschoolers Explore Division 28 Jan 20205 Feb 2022 One bag of cheese puffs. Four hungry children. My two children -- ages 4 and 2 -- had been playing with friends -- ages 4 and 8 -- when my…
in the classroom Listening to Early Understandings of Division: “12 ÷ 5 is either -3 or 0” 20 Aug 20195 Oct 2022 This blogpost is a part of the (2019) HUMANIZING MATHEMATICS CONVENTION: Virtual Conference on Humanizing Mathematics hosted by Sam Shah and Hema Khodai___ I love, love listening to early understandings…
assessment… What does it mean to be “struggling” in math class? (Eduardo’s Story) 5 Feb 20195 Feb 2019 It was a sea of dots. Eduardo's work for 47 + 27 Over and over again, for both computational and story problems, third grade student Eduardo drew dots. Eduardo's work,…
curriculum… #TeamBlankSpace 3 Jan 2019 Every time a child says, 'I don't believe in fairies,' there is a fairy somewhere that falls down dead.J. M. Barrie, Peter Pan (1904) When a work page is overly rigid…
assessment… Presuming Competence: Using Clinical Interviews to Support Classroom Instruction 13 Nov 201827 Nov 2018 "She's not on an IEP, but she's struggling in class. What should I do?" I don't know the student -- Alejandra, or Ali, for short -- very well, so I arranged…
Jenna Laib 