Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics

The response of the folks who got to see Peter in person was overwhelmingly positive. And we know that there are many other math teachers who were not at one of the workshops but who’ve read the book and are starting to implement the 14 practices in their classrooms. We want to support these efforts! As a result, here is what we are thinking so far—we would love your suggestions:

1. We have already booked Peter to come back to Connecticut next May.

2. Everyone who registered for one of Peter’s workshops has been added to a separate mailing list, and if you are interested in being part of the BTC community of learners, please use this link to sign up. Anyone can add their name. And if you know anyone who is implementing or interested in BTC, please send them the link to the mailing list. You won’t be snowed with emails—you’ll hear from us occasionally when we have something new to share—and of course you can unsubscribe at any time.

3. We will keep this website updated, and eventually expand it, so that it becomes a hub for relevant information.

4. We have created a small advisory group including folks from the state department of education, universities, district central office, and we hope to add a couple of teachers and building leaders.

5. Derby hosts a regular community of practice for leaders in a variety of roles—there’s a meeting coming up on June 5th, and we are going to devote that meeting to following up on the BTC workshops. The details (start and end time, for example) have yet to be ironed out, but it will be most of the day, and we can accommodate a large group in the space, the Derby Fieldhouse, which is a wonderful facility. (Shout out to the superintendent, Matt Conway, who has allowed us to use the space on a number of occasions—much appreciated!) If you’d like to join us, register here, no cost.

6. We are hosting a workshop for math coaches who are supporting the implementation of BTC on October 18 at Mercy-by-the-Sea. We'll talk about the relationship between BTC and a district's strategy and vision for high quality instruction, and how to create the conditions for implementation of BTC. And coaches will be able to network and learn from each other. Register here, $90 per person, including breakfast, lunch, and a copy of Making Coaching Matter.

7. We know that there are many schools and districts where there is interest in implementing BTC but they don't have anyone in-district who has any experience with the 14 practices. We would like to create a database of interested folks so that expertise can be shared across districts—we have some design work to do on that, but stay tuned!

8. We are going to host a meeting for teachers who are interested in talking about how to "fill in the gaps" in BTC, i.e. provide further detail on implementation that teachers can use, so that they benefit from the wisdom of each other and don't have to learn everything about implementation from their own trial and error. We hope this turns into a robust and supportive community of practice. The first meeting will be on June 30th, 9am-noonish, at the Milford BoE. Register here, no cost.

If you have any other feedback, or suggestions for how we can further support efforts to implement BTC, please email Isobel at istevenson@partnersforel.org.

Resources for Tasks

AirTable Math Tasks 

BCAMT Tasks

Numeracy in GPSD Problems Worth Solving in a Thinking Classroom

Menu Math

Other Resources

Professor Liljedahl's website

Follow Professor Liljedahl on Twitter

Buy Building Thinking Classrooms on Bookshop.org

Enter to win a set of Wipebooks!

Professor Liljedahl's Visit to Connecticut April 2023

 Book Discussion