Are you ready to start 2024 as the year to bring THINKING and sense making to your math classroom? Building a community is essential for building thinking classrooms. Let’s discuss the 3 mistakes I want you to avoid in 2024 as you build your math community.

In This Episode about Building Your Math Community:

• who we are teaching
• listening to student conversations
• doing the “get to know you” community building once a year

Why You Should Focus on Building Your Math Community:

Building a community is essential for building thinking classrooms. Last week we heard from Peter Lijedhal about consolidating, however that is a very advanced strategy. Peter himself said he thinks it is the hardest practice in the book. So, you might not be there yet… that’s okay because you can always go back to episode 93!

I think the first thing, and constant things we should do in our classroom is build community. A math community is special, it’s different than other parts of our classroom community. As elementary teachers that teach all subjects we have to build a community of readers, and community of writers, but also foster inquiry in our scientists and mathematicians and social scientists… it’s a lot to think about how each part of our day requires a bit of a different set of norms. However, considering what makes a mathematician and getting to know your mathematicians is at the heart of building a community.

3 Mistakes to Avoid in 2024:

1. Don’t Forget You Are Teaching Humans

Humans, our little human students, have SO many experiences that have shaped them into the little souls sitting in front of you each day. What I mean by that is… they know WAY more than you’ve ever taught them. In most cases, they already know what you’re teaching them. We often forget that our students are noticing groupings and skip counting at early ages, that they deeply understand fairness and equal sharing, and they’ve watched and helped their families solve complex problems. The list go on and on of the experiences our students have had as whole humans outside of our classrooms and textbooks. So, in 2024 let’s not forget about those experiences, but let’s USE those experiences and empower our students to bring those experiences to their work in our classroom. 

Your curriculum does a good job of incorporating culturally diverse names and situations, which is great. But what’s better is talking with your students about their experiences and letting them bring their expertise to the problem solving table. You can do that by opening up your math tasks– stop requiring students to solve in certain ways dictated by your curriculum and ask them to solve in their ways. 

2. Don’t Miss Out On Listening In To Student Conversations

One of the BEST things we ask our students to do in math class is to describe their thinking. The curriculums I coach teachers around have it embedded– turn and talks, share with your partner, YAY! However, a mistake I often see made is using this time to look ahead in the lesson plan or advance the slides or write the problem on the board that will be discussed next. I urge you not to do that and instead lean in. Student conversations with peers are PURE GOLD.

As you heard me say in last weeks’ episode with Peter and I say almost daily in my classroom is… “I’m mining your brain.” I find out what students truly understand by listening to them… not just when they are talking to me or the class and answer a question. I listen to every conversation. I want to hear how they talk to their peers when they describe their math thinking.

Have you witnessed this…

You ask students to share their thinking with the class in the math discussion and the student gives you what feels like “the right explanation” even though you KNOW they didn’t do it that way or you’re not convinced they actually believe it… their response feels like teacher pleasing. That’s because it probably is. The best way we can prove to our students that we want their messy, in-progress thinking to be shared is to normalize it, celebrate it, and pull it out of them. I LOVE getting my students to explain their thinking when they are confused… It’s when I see the most “I agree” signals from others and the conversation takes off because students all of a sudden realize they too aren’t alone in being unclear. It breaks down the walls and lets the group truly work through their reasoning.

So, how do we get students to be vulnerable and share their true reasoning, even if it’s messy, and stop the teacher pleasing with their responses? Here’s the tip…. Listen to their conversations. Try not to talk, just listen. If you do talk, say something like, “Ooo! Share that. Just like how you said it during the discussion. Keep going.” then walk away.

3. Doing the “Get To Know You” Community Building Once a Year

Don’t make this mistake, friend. I know we’ve all heard it and this has to happen throughout the year… However, making time for it is difficult, I know. I’m not advocating for you to do the same activities you did in August now, in January. Instead, I think our activities should mature and evolve just as the year does. You can do things with your class now you could NEVER have done in August. So, now is the time to push them with a harder group initiative or a juicer question to share about. You’ve built trust with them and among them, so now is the time to use that trust to push and dig a little deeper in those relationships. 

I’m a huge fan of giving the math survey or this math trauma survey multiple times a year to track progress and see how students’ mindsets are shifting about math.

This will give you some really interesting data to discuss with students, your colleagues, math coach, or leadership.

Calling All Math Coaches 👇

If you’re a math coach I want to tell you that starting today registration is open for the Math Coach Huddle– a unique group of math coaches coming together virtually each month to collaborate and learn with each other & myself.

We will have a training, feedback protocols and time for collaboration around specific topics all tailored for math coaches. I

know how alone it can feel sitting in your office planning for another observation, grade level meeting or PD without a thought partner. That’s why I created this group– the group I wish I had at the start of my math coach journey.

You can check out all the details here.

I hope to see you inside the Huddle and work closely with you in 2024. 

Teacher Friends, I’m Not Forgetting About You!

Don’t worry if you’re feeling a bit of FOMO, tons of great stuff coming your way in 2024! In the meantime, if you haven’t checked out my BEST strategy for getting every learner engaging with word problems (even if they’re below or can’t read) then you MUST go check it out now…. you can do that here.

It’s 2 quick video trainings for $27 and I promise you’ll see a boost in students’ engagement in problem solving and feeling more empowered. 

Mentioned in this episode on Building Your Math Community:

🎙️ Ep 93: Building Thinking Classrooms Professional Development with Peter Liljedahl

✏️  Math Survey

✅ Math Coach Huddle

📣 Training: Every Student Access to Word Problems

📱 Go to my instagram @hellomonamath & share with me how you’re listening!

Have Questions? 📱

My DMs on IG are always open @hellomonamath