Session Summary
This session focuses on setting up the classroom and building an equitable math community that supports all students' learning.
Laying the Foundation for a Thriving Math Learning Community
At the start of the school year, teachers can lay the foundation for a math community in which all students are actively engaged in their learning and are able to discuss and listen to one another’s mathematical ideas. Developing and sustaining such a community involves intentional work, on the part of both teachers and students, to establish and review classroom agreements that focus on respecting the ideas of all students and developing a productive and supportive math learning environment.
Look through the images of classroom agreements, anchor charts, and other tools often used in math class.
What do these images suggest about the math community and the learning environment in the classrooms in which these photos were taken?
Envisioning the Ideal Math Classroom
What characteristics reflect your ideal math classroom? What would the classroom layout look like? How would students engage in math activities and discussions? What practices and agreements would be in place to support student learning? Spend a few minutes brainstorming, and then create a quick representation that captures your ideas. You can include sketches, diagrams, or lists of words. You can also write ideas down on sticky notes and then organize them into categories that make sense to you. Below are some examples from previous course participants.
Take a photo of your representation and upload it to the Overview Forum. Include a caption for your photo that briefly describes your representation.
Activity 1: The Math Learning Environment
Designing the layout of the classroom and organizing materials in a way that supports math learning requires careful planning. In this activity, you will explore ways to create a physical environment for math learning that welcomes and conveys respect for all learners.
The following video illustrates different ways teachers can set up the classroom. As you watch, think about how the different layouts, ways of organizing materials, and use of wall space might support and empower students as math learners.
Read Marta Garcia's blog post about setting up the classroom environment in ways that promote equitable participation and shared authority for math learning.
In her blog post, Garcia includes the following questions to consider:
- In what ways does the physical space encourage individual, partner, and small group work? Collaboration with peers? Productive whole group discussions?
- How does the physical arrangement of the classroom promote equal status, independence, and individual decision making (agency)? How does it help distribute math authority "among students, the teacher, and text"? (Aguirre, p. 47)
- What messages are present about what it means to be a doer of mathematics?
Select one of the questions to respond to in the Learning Environment Forum. In your response, consider how you already address this question through the ways you set up your classroom, as well as any new ideas or questions you are taking away from reading Garcia's blog post that you might like to explore further. If you do not have a classroom of your own, consider the classroom of a teacher you work closely with.
Activity 2: Building an Inclusive, Equitable Math Learning Community
Building an inclusive, equitable, math community is essential for students to have a positive learning experience. In this activity, you will explore a mathematics teaching framework designed to support all students in becoming mathematical doers, knowers, and sense makers. You will consider how this framework can be used to create an equitable learning environment where every student:
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engages deeply with significant mathematical ideas
- develops conceptual understanding of those ideas
- participates in mathematics activities with high cognitive demand
- experiences the joy and beauty of mathematics
Important Assumptions About Teaching and Learning Mathematics
We believe that…
- All students have mathematical ideas and can be mathematical thinkers. This includes students who might not be given access to certain types of learning opportunities because someone has made assumptions about who they are and how they learn.
- All students should be engaged and supported in making sense of and understanding mathematics.
- Developing students’ agency and identity as math learners is foundational to differentiating instruction.
Identity and agency are very interconnected; identity is how students see themselves as learners and agency is how students see themselves as having some sort of power to make choices and decisions about, and take responsibility for, how they interact with learning.
Listen as Dr. DeAnn Huinker, professor of mathematics education at University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, discusses the mathematics teaching framework, pictured below. This framework is part of the Taking Action Series, which is published by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. As you listen, consider the following questions:
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What needs to be in place within the math learning community in order for students to engage fully in the different practices in this framework?
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How does the framework support students in developing positive mathematical identities? How does it support students in developing agency over their mathematical learning?
Huinker, DeAnn and Victoria Bill. 2017. Taking Action: Implementing Effective Mathematics Teaching Practices in Grades K–5. Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
Reflect on Your Practice:
- What parts of the framework resonate with you? What parts of the framework do you have questions about?
- Which of these practices might you like to explore further with students this coming school year?
You can learn more about the Framework for Mathematics Teaching here.
Activity 3: Using Student Reflection to Support an Equitable Math Learning Community
Gathering information about students' experiences in math is an important part of establishing and maintaining an equitable learning community. When teachers take time to gather and respond to students' reflections about math class, they demonstrate their commitment to fostering a supportive math learning community as well their respect for their students' contributions. If used regularly, such reflections can help teachers see how students' thoughts about mathematics and about themselves as learners are or are not changing over time.
Read the blog post, Student Reflection: Why Ask Students What They Think About Math?
Explore the Student Reflection Tool
The Student Reflection Tool is designed to support teachers in making student reflection a regular part of their practice. The tool contains a bank of questions and sample questionnaires organized into four areas of focus:
- Area 1: Students' prior experiences with mathematics
- Area 2: Students' reflections on themselves as math learners
- Area 3: Students' beliefs and expectations for math class
- Area 4: Students' participation in math class
You can explore the Student Reflection Tool here.
Consider:
- How might you incorporate student reflection into your mathematics classroom?
- How might you use your students' reflections about their experiences as math learners to inform the development of the math learning community in your classroom?
- How might you use the Student Reflection Tool to gather information about your students at the beginning of the year?
- Return to the Overview Forum. Look through other's representations of their ideal mathematics classroom and take time to thoughtfully respond to at least one representation that interests you.
- Return to the Learning Environment Forum and read through other’s posts. Respond to at least one post that interests you.
Garcia, M. (November 5, 2021). A Space for All of Us: Setting Up the Classroom Environment [blog post]. Retrieved from: https://investigations.terc.edu/a-space-for-all-of-us-setting-up-the-classroom-environment/
Garcia, M. & Sussman, A. (October 13, 2023). Student Reflection: Why Ask Students What They Think About Math? [blog post]. Retrieved from: https://www.terc.edu/mathequityforum/student-reflection-why-ask-students-what-they-think-about-math/
Huinker, DeAnn and Victoria Bill. 2017. Taking Action: Implementing Effective Mathematics Teaching Practices in Grades K–5. Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
TERC, “Seize the Moment.” In Investigations in Number, Data, and Space®: Implementing Investigations in Grade 2, 2nd Edition. Glenview, IL: Pearson Education Inc., 2008.
Harrison, D. (2021, July 30). Empowering Students As Math Learners: An interview with Deann Huinker. [Audio podcast episode]. In Kids Talk Math. https://www.kidsmathtalk.com/post/episode-10-empowering-students-as-math-learners-an-interview-with-deann-huinker
Math Equity Forum Team. (October 2023). A Student Reflection Tool: Getting to Know Your Students. The Forum for Equity in Elementary Mathematics, TERC. https://www.terc.edu/mathequityforum/student-reflection-tool/
- The design of the classroom environment sends messages to students about authority, identity, and equitable engagement.
- Creating an inclusive and responsive math learning environment involves deciding how to set up the classroom, how to make math tools readily available, and how to establish routines and expectations for math class that empower all students as learners.
- Teachers and students work together to build a mathematical community that prepares students to share their thinking and be active listeners, and that values and respects the ideas of every learner.
- Building and sustaining a math community that supports equitable participation starts on the first day of school and continues throughout the year. Early in the school year, work on the community focuses on co-creating agreements with students about the learning and sharing of math ideas.
