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!
Lesson Study Core Practices
If your team is new to lesson study and would like to dip their toes into some of the core practices to build capacity for engaging in a full research lesson in the future, we suggest trying out the following activities:
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Core Practices
These practices are ideal for whole staff professional development workshops, a discipline meeting activity, or to structure a sequence of PLC meetings.We have presented these in a suggested sequence, however, they can be done in any order or repeated individually until a group feels ready to try the next one. The resources below can all be found on this document.​
Looking at Student Work Protocol
Successful lesson study begins with selecting focus students whose thinking we would like to understand better. This is a 45 minute protocol to guide a group of educators through the process of more deeply understanding focus student thinking.
Determining a Mathematical Goal
Establishing a clear mathematical understanding goal helps focus a lesson and allows educators to more easily assess student learning.
Determining an Equity Goal
Effective learning happens when students feel feel safe to share ideas and feel that their ideas are valued and respected by their peers. Equity goals help create and maintain structures that support this type of learning community.
Anticipating Student Thinking & Planning a Lesson
Part of planning a successful lesson is anticipating student thinking and determining what questions to ask to prompt students to grapple with the content and make connections to prior learning. This is a two part series that can be spread over two consecutive meetings.
Observing Student Thinking & Reflecting on Learning
One of the ways educators build their mathematical knowledge for teaching is to observe student problem solving. This activity outlines considerations for observing student thinking and includes a protocol for debriefing noticings.