Mathematics standards and practices highlight the vital role that language plays in mathematics education. However, there remains a common misconception that mathematics is somehow language-free or less linguistically demanding than other content areas. This qualitative study describes an intervention implemented in six elementary mathematics methods courses. The intervention was designed to attune prospective teachers’ noticing to the language modalities and supports in mathematics teaching and learning. The intervention began with an observation tool that prospective teachers completed in their field placement classrooms. This article classifies prospective teachers’ noticings and explicates how these noticing became a pedagogical catalyst for further learning and discussion in subsequent mathematics methods classes.
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Jody Guarino, Shelbi Cole, and Michelle Sperling
In a humanized approach to assessment, the design of the instrument itself is only a small part of the overall process.
Kaycie Maddox
This department provides a space for current and past PK–12 teachers of mathematics to connect with other teachers of mathematics through their stories that lend personal and professional support.
Catherine A. Little, Sherryl Hauser, Jeffrey Corbishley, and Introduction by: Denise M. Walston
From the Archives highlights articles from NCTM’s legacy journals, as chosen by leaders in mathematics education.
Madelyn W. Colonnese
A teacher implements this type of personal prose in the classroom to help students make sense of fractions and communicate ideas.
Enrique Ortiz
This article presents an example of discovering an idea through creative play. After some trial and error, I drew a wonderful image, which I later learned was a two-dimensional view of a four-dimensional shape called tesseract.
Mollie Siegel, Cathy Sinnen, and Penny Smits
Ear to the Ground features voices from several corners of the mathematics education world.
Rob Wieman, Lindsay Freedman, Paul Albright, Deb Nolen, and Jessica Onda
Four teachers and a teacher educator move from guided notes to strings in a series of problems that support students in increased engagement, reasoning, sense making, and problem solving.
Ruthmae Sears
Min Wang, Candace Walkington, and Koshi Dhingra
An example of an after-school club activity gives educators some tools and suggestions to implement such an approach in their schools.