Investigations Blog
Partner Work: A Structure that Supports Equity in the Investigations Classroom
“Equitable teaching and learning of mathematics can only proceed in an environment where students engage deeply with significant mathematical ideas,” have opportunities to express their math thinking and interact with the thinking of others, take responsibility for their learning, and work together in productive ways. (Russell, et. al., 2022, p. 3) Discussions, Math Workshop, and partner work are Investigations 3 structures that offer critical opportunities to develop and support...
read moreMath Workshop: A Structure that Supports Equity in the Investigations Classroom
“Equitable teaching and learning of mathematics can only proceed in an environment where students engage deeply with significant mathematical ideas,” have opportunities to express their math thinking and listen to the thinking of others, take responsibility for their learning, and work together in productive and equitable ways. (Russell, et. al., 2022, p.3) Structures in Investigations 3 such as discussions, Math Workshop, and partner work offer critical opportunities to develop...
read moreDiscussions: A Structure that Supports Equity in the Investigations Classroom
“Equitable teaching and learning of mathematics can only take place in an environment where students engage deeply with significant mathematical ideas,” have opportunities to express their math thinking and interact with the thinking of others, take responsibility for their learning, and work together in productive ways. (Russell, et. al., 2022, p. 3) Discussions, Math Workshop, and partner work are Investigations 3 structures that offer critical opportunities to develop and...
read moreA Cycle of Reflection: Learning More about Our Students
“I’m hoping to develop a math community where everyone has a voice and I can elevate the voices of students who may not have participated in discussions in the past.” – Berta, Grade 2 Developing an equitable math learning community that centers each student’s identity, needs, and voice requires that teachers take the time to learn about their students and then act on the knowledge they have gained. In our first blog, “What Do Your Students Think About Math?: Student Reflection as a...
read moreAnnouncing a New Forum for Equity in Elementary Mathematics
The Investigations Center for Curriculum and Professional Development is excited to announce a new web-based resource to support equitable mathematics teaching and learning in the elementary grades. The new site—the Forum for Equity in Elementary Mathematics—will be a place for educators to reflect on and discuss equity, access, identity, and agency in the K-5 mathematics classroom. Its goal is to provide resources, publications, and professional learning opportunities to broaden and deepen...
read moreCreating an Equitable Math Learning Community: Getting Started in Unit 1
A focus on the development of students’ mathematical ideas requires the establishment of an equitable mathematics learning community. Such a community embodies the commitment to provide access to rigorous, cognitively demanding mathematics for each and every student, especially those who have been historically marginalized in mathematics classrooms—Black, Latinx, Emergent Bilingual, gender- and neurologically-diverse learners. This work begins at the start of the school year (and in the...
read moreDoes 80% of 65 = 65% of 80?
I recently read Digging Deeper: Making Number Talks Matter Even More by Ruth Parker and Cathy Humphreys. (This book is a follow up to their book Making Number Talks Matter.) Both books are brilliantly written and describe the authors’ process and thinking about what I consider the original number talks—a 10-15 minute daily routine where students solve computation problems mentally and discuss their strategies. One quote from Digging Deeper caught my eye about the power of number talks, and...
read moreUsing Teacher Self Reflection to Foster Equitable Learning Communities
Teaching is an academic and human endeavor that involves continuous cycles of interactions of the instructional core; students, content, and teachers. There are many factors that influence our decisions about what and how to teach the children in our care. We attend to the development of children’s mathematical ideas, and the strengthening of students’ math identities, confidence, and agency. Responsive teaching also means attending to the development of our own math knowledge and uncovering...
read moreWhat Do Your Students Think About Math?: Student Reflection as a Tool for Finding Out
“An equitable learning community requires first and foremost knowing who our students are and using that knowledge to situate math learning in the lived experiences of students, building on the knowledge and skills each student brings to school and acknowledging and welcoming students’ identities into the classroom.” (Godfrey, 2021.) Many teachers use formative assessment, exit tickets, journal writing and/or other strategies to gather information about how students think about specific math...
read moreA Space for All of Us: Setting Up the Classroom Environment
“The space has to be a sort of aquarium that mirrors the ideas, values, attitudes, and cultures of the people who live in it.” – Loris Malaguzzi, The Hundred Languages of Children. The start of the school year is an exciting time for teachers, children, and families. I remember the joy of putting together an inviting, student-centered room. Early in my teaching career this meant shopping for folders, name tags, borders and cutouts, and countless hours designing bulletin boards and displays....
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