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…
Uncategorized Tomás and the Jellybeans: Increasing Access 5 Nov 2024 How do we support students who are struggling to access grade level content? In my own school, I focus my efforts on co-teaching and coaching, but I also see students…
#tmwyk The Love Graph 17 Jul 2024 My 8yo daughter, S, held up a piece of paper with a jagged line drawn on it. "Mama. What do you notice? Do you see any high points? Or low…
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…
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!…
Uncategorized “Is zero a number?”: Interviews with a Whole Class of Kindergartners 19 Sep 202319 Sep 2023 When I first became a math specialist in my district, I was assigned to work with upper elementary, middle school, and... kindergarten. I had never worked with kindergartners in an…
Uncategorized Featured in EdWeek: “Graphs Are Hard for Students to Digest. Can a ‘Slow Reveal’ Help?” 28 Aug 202330 Aug 2023 Last May, EdWeek journalist Sarah D. Sparks contacted me regarding an upcoming article about data science in K-12 education. I was immensely flattered that she wanted to schedule a time…
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,…
Uncategorized How We Listen: Astrid’s Thinking about 5 x 6 27 Mar 202327 Mar 2023 "Clinical interviews are an opportunity to listen closely," I caught myself telling a colleague recently. But... is that enough? How we frame the act of listening changes our entire experience.…
#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…
assessment… Listening to Understand: Visualizing Adrian’s Thinking about Comparing Fractions 26 Feb 202326 Feb 2023 Marilyn Burns recently blogged about a 38 second video clip that I probably spent 380 seconds watching. (click on the image below to read the post -- but then come…
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.…
in the classroom Peas and Carrots… and Beans 9 Feb 20238 Feb 2023 Last year, our first grade team had the opportunity to work with Investigations authors from TERC -- the inimitable Karen Economopolous, with Megan Murray in absentia. To prepare for our…
games… Facilitating Number Boxes, Part 2 – Supporting Reasoning with Representations (Learning With Students) 15 Dec 20223 Feb 2023 "Hmm.. 8 + 3. Let's put the 8 in the ten frame. If we add 3, will it be more than, less than, more equal to 10?" Kyleigh missed parts…
assessment… I Don’t Speak Russian, But… 13 Dec 2022 My mother-in-law speaks three languages fluently -- and none of them are English. Her speech dances between Arabic and French and Algerian, and I do my best mental gymnastics to…
curriculum… Turtle Time Trials & Leveraging Creativity To Deepen Mathematical Understanding 13 Nov 202212 Nov 2022 What if...? In a lot of tasks that we give students, there's an intended answer. Okay, sure, yes, I guess you could interpret the problem in this divergent way, but…
Jenna Laib 