The Math They are Doing

Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics by Peter Liljedahl
Corwin Mathematics, October 1, 2020

Building Thinking Classrooms is, at its core, a set of recommendations for how to get students to think about the math that they are doing. Peter Liljedahl and his team of researchers used a data-driven approach to determine the impact of various classroom interventions on student outcomes. Their work is distilled into 14 key practices–where students work, how we give tasks, and how we form groups, to name a few–that are straightforward and fairly easy to implement. A thinking mathematics classroom finds students problem-solving collaboratively, discussing their findings, and reflecting on their work. Further practices instruct the teacher on how to scaffold lessons, differentiate for different types of learners, and assess students' understanding. Taken together, the 14 practices can have a transformative effect on the classroom, inviting teachers and learners to think deeply about mathematics.

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