Opinion Blog

Classroom Q&A

With Larry Ferlazzo

In this EdWeek blog, an experiment in knowledge-gathering, Ferlazzo will address readers’ questions on classroom management, ELL instruction, lesson planning, and other issues facing teachers. Send your questions to lferlazzo@epe.org. Read more from this blog.

Mathematics Opinion

Q&A Collections: Math Instruction

By Larry Ferlazzo — August 04, 2021 5 min read
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During the summer, I am sharing thematic posts bringing together responses on similar topics from the past 10 years. You can see all those collections from the first nine years here.

Here are the ones I’ve published so far:

The 11 Most Popular Classroom Q&A Posts of the Year

Race & Racism in Schools

School Closures & the Coronavirus Crisis

Classroom-Management Advice

Best Ways to Begin the School Year

Best Ways to End the School Year

Student Motivation & Social-Emotional Learning

Implementing the Common Core

Challenging Normative Gender Culture in Education

Teaching Social Studies

Cooperative & Collaborative Learning

Using Tech With Students

Student Voices

Parent Engagement in Schools

Teaching English-Language Learners

Reading Instruction

Writing Instruction

Education Policy Issues

Assessment

Differentiating Instruction

Today’s theme is on math instruction. You can see the list of posts following this excerpt from one of them:

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*'Beware of Teaching Math Vocabulary Out of Context!’

Three educators share their favorite math instructional strategies, including “Turn & Talk to Your Neighbor.”

* Four Teacher-Recommended Instructional Strategies for Math

Four teachers share their favorite strategies for math instruction, including the Concrete Representational Abstract approach.

* Don’t ‘Make the Math Classroom a Project-Based-Learning-Free Zone’

Three educators share advice on incorporating project-based learning in math classes, including asking the question “What’s nearby?”

* Using Project-Based Learning in Math Classes

Two teachers share practical strategies for using project-based learning in math classes, including one called “Notice & Wonder.”

* Twelve Ways to Make Math More Culturally Responsive

Four educators share ideas for using culturally responsive teaching in math class, including by helping students make community connections.

* ‘I Am Doing My Best': Teaching Math During the School Closure Crisis

Four teachers offer remote teaching tips for math instruction, including recognizing that nothing they do is going to be anywhere near “perfect.”

* ‘Less Is More’ in Math Distance Learning

Four math educators offer advice about remote instruction, including providing more specific targets and cultivating home connections.

* ‘How to Assess Students’ Math Skills Remotely

Two math educators discuss how they are communicating student performance during the school closure crisis, as well as how they are taking care of themselves.

* Math Instruction in the Age of the Coronavirus

Two math educators share how they design their remote teaching math lessons and what they typically look like in practice.

* Elements of an Effective Math Lesson

Teachers explain how creative math lessons can spring from students’ surrounding environments and culture such as the cost of the Thanksgiving meal and the search for “math selfies.”

* Eight Educators Share Their Best Math Lessons

Math educators share their favorite lessons, including taking students for a walk around a fenced-in field, investigating student-loan costs, and working alongside a language arts teacher.

* ‘Nix the Tricks’ in Math Instruction

A three-part series about the mistakes made in math instruction concludes with answers from Hilary Kreisberg, Richard Robinson, Rachael Gabriel, Tamera Musiowsky, Fuchang Liu, Bonnie Tripp, Bill Wilmot, and Bradley Witzel, Ph.D.

* ‘It’s Time to Slow Down and Smell the Mathematical Roses!’

Sunil Singh, Laney Sammons, Abby Shink, Cathy Seeley, and Shannon Jones share their ideas on the mistakes that math teachers make.

* Mistakes That Math Teachers Make

This three-part series on mistakes made in math instruction “kicks off” with responses from Bobson Wong, Elissa Scillieri, Ed.D., Beth Brady, and Beth Kobett, Ed.D.

* ‘Tech Does Not Replace Pedagogy—It Complements It’

Kristan Morales, Cathy Seeley, and Madeline Whitaker Good write about how to use tech effectively in math classes.

*Ways to Use Tech in Math Class

Bobson Wong, Elissa Scillieri, Jennifer Chang-Wathall, and Anne Jenks offer their recommendations on using tech in math classes.

* Students Must ‘Engage in Math Problem-Solving’ & Not Just ‘Follow Procedures’

Wendy Monroy, Jennifer Chang Wathall, Sunil Singh, and Matthew L. Beyranevand contribute their commentaries about the best instructional practices in secondary math classes.

* Best Practices for Teaching High School Math

David Wees, Jill Henry, Tammy L. Jones, Leslie A. Texas, and Anne Collins share their recommendations for best practices in teaching high school math.

* ‘Writing in Math Class Is a Win-Win for Students & Teachers’

Linda Dacey, Sandy Atkins, Andrea Clark, Mike Flynn, ReLeah Cossett Lent, and Shannon Jones share their ideas on how to incorporate writing into math instruction.

* Author Interview: ‘Motivated: Designing Math Classrooms Where Students Want to Join In’

IIana Horn answers a few questions about her book.

* Math Can Be a ‘Hard Sell’

Cathy L. Seeley, Mary Mueller, Daniel R. Venables, Nancy Villalta, Erik M. Francis, and Rik Rowe discuss the challenges facing math teachers and the best ways to respond to them.

* ‘Challenges Are a Natural Part of Mathematics’

Makeda Brome, Pia Hansen, Linda Gojak, Marian Small, Kenneth Baum, and David Krulwich share their thoughts on the biggest challenges facing math teachers.

* Differentiating Algebra Instruction

Wendy Jennings, Yvelyne Germain-McCarthy, Billy Bender, Derek Cabrera, and Ed Thomas contribute their thoughts on differentiated algebra instruction.

* Effective Math Instructional Strategies—Part Two

Leslie Texas, Tammy Jones, and Denise Flick share their thoughts on math instruction, as do a number of readers.

* Ways to Teach Math Besides ‘Drill the Skill’

Anne Collins, Sue O’Connell, Alexandra Mattis, and José Luis Vilson share their thoughts and suggestions about teaching math in Part One of a two-part series.

* Several Ways to Become Better at Teaching Math

Math educators José Vilson, Shawn Cornally, and Dan Meyer contribute their responses.

* Several Ways to Become Better at Teaching Math—Part Two

Bob Peterson and Eric Gutstein offer an excerpt from their book, Rethinking Mathematics, and Gary Rubinstein contributes an excerpt from his book, Beyond Survival.

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The opinions expressed in Classroom Q&A With Larry Ferlazzo are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.

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