Math Vision: How will your students experience math in your class?

When you consider how you want your students to experience math in your classroom, what comes to mind? This is your math vision. Your math vision is what you want your math class to look like, sound like, and feel like. Your math vision also includes the actions by both teachers and students that will make that vision come to life.

Before we start… this free guide will give you 8 ideas for how to develop an engaging & motivating math culture

What is a vision?

When we think about a vision I find it beneficial to think about the visions for organization we know. So, for a moment consider an organization you care about. Do you know their vision from memory? What do they stand for or what they are all about?

For me, what comes to mind is the Red Cross. I know that they are all about being there to support people with blood donations, & trainings for cpr, lifeguards, etc. When I look at their website I can see right away that indeed this is their vision. They have a strategic plan to support people in times of need and ways to motivate people to donate to support those causes. They have a vision that is memorable and known by those that are engaged with their organization.

That is exactly what we want for your math vision. We want it to be a strategic plan for success- math success! Your vision will serve as a guide for when you face challenges in math class, whether those challenges are in your planning, assessment, or collaboration. You can use your vision to help guide you to make decisions. And finally, we want your math vision to be a way to motivate all the stakeholders around your common goals. Your math vision can help families, colleagues, support staff, and students work toward ensuring math is both joyful and challenging!

Crafting Your Math Vision

Okay, now for the fun part! It is time to craft your math vision. Imagine your ideal math classroom. What do you hope it will feel like, sound like, look like. How will children think? What will they think? How will collaboration work? What role will reflection play?

As you craft your math vision consider the following questions.

• How do you want your learning environment to be?
• How will your lessons develop the future mathematicians?
• What do you want to add, change, maintain?

Create a list of statement that you envision your classroom to be. Start with the prompts above, but let yourself freely flow ideas onto your list.

Your list will be comprehensive and likely long. Take some time to look it over and condense similar ideas. Refine your list to 5-10 statements that really represent your math vision.

The next step is to think about how the teachers and students in your room can make that vision come to life. Think of what moves can be made to achieve your math vision.

Steps to Creating a math Vision

So, once you’ve gathered around the stakeholders & staff members to create your math vision as your first step toward prioritizing your math culture… here’s how. 

1. Consider what visions and guiding principles you already have in place. 
2. Look at models of math visions. An example is linked below. 
3. You might also look at some anchoring texts (do this especially if you’re whole school is not yet on the same page when it comes to instructional techniques. If you have lots of different departments that don’t teach math coming together you’ll want to keep this brief and high level. Linking it to your own school vision is also important. 
4. Mark language you agree with or aspire to. 
5. Create a list of 5 to 10 statements you believe are true about math at your school and what you envision your students will embody as graduates. 
6. Develop lists of things students and staff will need to do to make those statements come to life. 
7. Spend time working independently and in small groups to share and generate ideas. 
8. Finish with groups or individuals sharing one phrase they are leaving thinking about. 
9. The facilitator will collect each groups/person paper and look for similarities and type up the first draft. 

A math vision example

This is my math vision for my own classroom. In fact, this is just one version, because each year I tweak it based on my students and their needs. I suggest you keep your math vision as a living document in which you add to, change, and revise through out the school year!

Sharing Your Math Vision

Now that you have created your vision it is time to share it! Use your vision to guide you as you make curriculum decisions, plan lessons, and develop your classroom culture.

Be sure to share your vision to ensure that every stakeholder is familiar with your vision. Think back to the RedCross example. We know their vision from memory because it is shared widely, well known, and clear. That is the goal for your vision.

Supporting Reading & Materials

Much of the vision work will be related to growth mindset. You can read more about a growth mindset in the math classroom here.

I often use information from students’ Math Stories as a way to revise my math vision. Check out this blog post about how to engage students with their math stories.

More Culture Creating Ideas Here

If you’re looking for even more ways to engage your students in math class and build a strong classroom culture check out this list of 8 ways to Transform your Math Culture!

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