Status & Mindset Interventions
In her book Strength in Numbers: Collaborative Learning in Secondary Mathematics, Ilana Horn writes: “Judgements about who is smart based on prior achievement or social categories violate a fundamental principle of equity and are consequential: learning is not the same as achievement” (2012, p.20). The resources below were curated to help you redefine "smarts" in math, disrupt status divisions, develop growth mindsets, and foster a collaborative math community.
Anticipatory Planning
How often does your planning for math involve searching for the "best" problem and then thinking about how you want to teach the problem? It's safe to say this is how most of us approach(ed) lesson planning. The problem with this approach, however, is that it is teacher focused and neglects to consider how students might perceive and respond to the problem. Conversely, anticipatory planning focuses planning efforts on imagining how students might respond to a problem and using that information to plan questions that will push and clarify student thinking and build understanding by sequencing and connecting approaches students are already using.
If you've ever tried to facilitate constructivist math learning in your classroom and it fell short of your expectations, it's likely because the key factor, anticipatory planning, was missing! The template below can help you prepare to facilitate constructivist math learning in your classroom. Grab a planning buddy and give it a try!
Anticipatory Planning
How often does your planning for math involve searching for the "best" problem and then thinking about how you want to teach the problem? It's safe to say this is how most of us approach(ed) lesson planning. The problem with this approach, however, is that it is teacher focused and neglects to consider how students might perceive and respond to the problem. Conversely, anticipatory planning focuses planning efforts on imagining how students might respond to a problem and using that information to plan questions that will push and clarify student thinking and build understanding by sequencing and connecting approaches students are already using.
If you've ever tried to facilitate constructivist math learning in your classroom and it fell short of your expectations, it's likely because the key factor, anticipatory planning, was missing! The template below can help you prepare to facilitate constructivist math learning in your classroom. Grab a planning buddy and give it a try!
Mathematical Agency
Improvement Community
Abolishing the phrase "I'm not a math person."
Since Fall 2016, the Center for Research on Equity and Innovation at the High Tech High Graduate School of Education has brought together 21 elementary, middle and high schools from across Southern California to improve student agency and learning outcomes in math, particularly for students from traditionally marginalized groups. The network has used Lesson Study to test, refine and spread student-centered classroom practices that build learning communities where students experience a sense of belonging and develop their mathematical identities.
Participating Schools
San Diego MET
Vista High School
Ingenium Schools
Vista Magnet
Middle School
High Tech High Schools
Jefferson Middle School
Discovery Charter School
Isana Academies
Chula Vista Hills
Vista Innovation &
Design Academy
Global Vision Academy
This work is generously supported by: KnowledgeWorks
Jobs for the Future, the Nellie Mae Foundation, the Overdeck Family Foundation, and the Oak Foundation.
