Investigations Blog
Developing Classroom Agreements in the Investigations 3 Classroom
In our recent blog, A New Class, A New Year: The Role of Classroom Agreements, we discussed ways to work with students to establish classroom agreements that support the development of an equitable and inclusive mathematics learning community. In this blog, we share some of the ways the Investigations curriculum supports teachers in doing that work. In the first few days and weeks of school, students in Investigations classrooms work independently, with partners, and in small groups; make...
read moreA New Class, A New Year: The Role of Classroom Agreements
The beginning of the year is an exciting time; one that offers us an opportunity to get to know our students. As we learn their interests, cultures, developing identities, and preferences we are simultaneously thinking about how we can create an equitable learning community that values and respects varied ideas, competencies, and contributions. A critical component of an inclusive community is the development of classroom agreements. Many of us remember the beginning of school as a time when...
read moreEstablishing an Equitable Learning Community in the Investigations Classroom
The question is not whether all students can succeed in mathematics but whether the adults organizing mathematical learning opportunities can alter traditional beliefs and practices to promote success for all. (NCTM 2014 Principles to Actions) The development of children’s mathematical ideas is at the heart of the Investigations curriculum which supports teachers in deepening their understanding of the mathematics they teach and how their students come to understand it. Equitable learning...
read moreA Framework for Reflecting about Equity in the Investigations Mathematics Classroom
For the past two years the project staff of the Investigations Center for Curriculum and Professional Development has been studying literature that addresses issues of equity, access, identity, and agency in mathematics education (for example, see Aguirre et. al., 2013; Ball, 2018; Gutiérrez, 2007; Hammond, 2015; Kay, 2018; Ladson-Billings, 2006; Nasir, 2016; NCSM & TODOS, 2016). During this study, we have been asking ourselves: How can a mathematics curriculum be a tool for anti-racist...
read moreThe Learning Continues
In February 2021, amidst growing conversations about “learning loss” and “the covid slide,” we wrote a blog, “This Learning is Not Lost” which presented a different perspective. It introduced a series of blogs (1, 2, 3, 4), based on visits to virtual classrooms where: students were engaged by and working deeply on content students were sharing mathematical ideas and building on each other’s ideas teachers were working hard to facilitate lively and meaningful discussions and to support student...
read moreMeaningful Math Discussions: It’s about the Ideas, Not Where You Discuss Them
Our staff has been thinking hard about how teachers are using Investigations 3 to teach math in all of the different scenarios they are faced with this year. We’ve been visiting the remote classrooms of teachers we’ve collaborated with previously, to learn from teachers and students who are teaching and learning math online, and to see how the rigor and coherence of the curriculum is supporting them in that work. This series of blogs will share some of what we are learning. (Read an...
read moreMeaningful Math Talk — It’s Still Happening in the Remote Classroom
Our staff has been thinking hard about how teachers are using Investigations 3 to teach math in all of the different scenarios they are faced with this year. We’ve been visiting the remote classrooms of teachers we’ve collaborated with previously, to learn from teachers and students who are teaching and learning math online, and to see how the rigor and coherence of the curriculum is supporting them in that work. This series of blogs will share some of what we are learning. (Read an...
read moreIn Person or Remote: This is What Doing Math Is
Our staff has been thinking hard about how teachers are using Investigations 3 to teach math in all of the different scenarios they are faced with this year. We’ve been visiting the remote classrooms of teachers we’ve collaborated with previously, to learn from teachers and students who are teaching and learning math online, and to see how the rigor and coherence of the curriculum is supporting them in that work. This series of blogs will share some of what we are learning. (Read an...
read moreTeaching Investigations 3 Remotely: Not So Different
Our staff has been thinking hard about how teachers are using Investigations 3 to teach math in all of the different scenarios they are faced with this year. We’ve been visiting the remote classrooms of teachers we’ve collaborated with previously, to learn from teachers and students who are teaching and learning math online, and to see how the rigor and coherence of the curriculum is supporting them in that work. This series of blogs will share some of what we are learning....
read moreThis Learning Is Not Lost
It’s been a challenging year for teachers and students. They have been asked to pivot, sometimes from one week to the next, often with little warning, to new classroom structures and learning situations. In virtual settings or in classrooms with social distancing, teachers find that many of the moves they rely on—something as simple as kneeling next to a student to discuss their work—are not possible, and so they search for another way. At the same time, the headlines scream at them about...
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