Building Thinking Classrooms

Welcome to a 7th Grade Math Thinking Classroom!

I’m so excited to have your child in class this year, and it is one of my highest honors to teach your child. My class may look a little different than math classes your child/you have previously experienced, and I want to make sure you have some important information up front. 

• Thinking Tasks - these are given in order to encourage conversation and learning through and amongst students. These look like a singular “task” that allows students to discover the math we’re focusing on OR they may start with a very basic question and work their way through a self-paced progression towards a question that meets the depth of the targeted standard. These are our daily classwork and aren’t typically graded.

• Random Grouping and White Boards - students will be placed into groups of 3 students that are randomly selected each time.  They will meet those peers at a vertical white board (attached to the walls) to begin working on a task or series of questions together after a very brief instructional introduction.

• Questions answered - there are three main types of questions in a classroom: stop-thinking, keep-thinking, and proximity. I will do my best to encourage students to grow in their ability and confidence by answering primarily keep-thinking questions, as they do what the name implies: they keep kids THINKING - my entire goal this year!

• Homework - students will be given opportunities to check their understanding. This is different from traditional homework in a few ways: they are truly for your CHILD to check THEIR understanding, they aren’t for a grade, answers will be given at the same time as the Check Your Understandings (CYUs), worked solutions will be given a few days after the CYU is given, and lastly, students have the ability to work on these with peers if needed or with you at home - but they should NOT be getting to a point of frustration while doing them - if so, please circle what frustrated them and we can go over it together in class.

• Student Autonomy - students have the ability when working on a task in class to get help from peers as needed, as well as to “steal” a next question from other groups in order to continue working. They only steal the problem, not the work, so that they may continue processing through the content. This allows them to set the pace and not be waiting for all other students to “catch up”.

• Notes - notes will be written in their math booklets and students will keep it with them at all times. Students are welcome to bring them home for reference on a CYU or for personal studying. 

Thank you for sharing your child with me this year.  I look forward to building a relationship with your child and watching them mature and grow this year.  We are going to have a great year!