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Recent Newsletter Articles
Career Pathways Toolkit: An Enhanced Guide and Workbook for System Development
Organized around six key elements of career pathways, each section includes resources and writable worksheets to help state and local ACP teams with implementation. (Downloadable PDF available online) Read More
Articulate Your Learning Objectives
A simple 2-page guide with advice on articulating clear and learner-centered course objectives. Links within the document include a list of action verbs that is extremely helpful in defining what kind of learning and demonstration of that learning we expect upon completion of a lesson, unit or course. Read More
Backward Design
A useful 3-page summary of the what and why of backward design as an effective approach to designing a course, with a focus on the learning rather than the teaching. Read More
Which Mistake to Pursue?
This blog post describes a class's exploration of an open-ended perimeter problem. Read More
Why Before How
Teachers can use this book to build the concept of place value, encourage students to consider multiple methods for solving problems, and build real understanding of the meaning behind addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division paving the way to beginning algebra. Read More
The Problem with Math is English
Molina explores the relationship between mathematical instruction and language. "The Problem with Math Is English explains how language-focused conceptual instruction leads students to a deeper understanding than traditional procedural-based teaching methods." Read More
The Story of Two Words and One Simple Tweak to Get Students Talking
Teacher Sarah Van Der Werf shares some observations about attending to vocabulary in math instruction and shares a strategy for helping students access unfamiliar vocabulary in math class. Read More
Weird Conversation About Perimeter
A teacher's conversation with a student about what perimeter means. Read More
What Does “Coherence” Look Like?
Author Robert Kaplinsky's accessible explanation addresses what coherence looks like in math instruction. Read More
The Best Way to Learn Math is to Learn to Fail Productively
Manu Kapur's research finds that students are more successful when teachers allow them to have a period of (teacher-planned) productive struggle with material before the teacher provides direct instruction on the math strategies. Read More