It has never been more imperative that we develop mathematical thinking in students. The Covid-19 pandemic caused significant loss of in-person classroom instructional time that will never be recuperated. We simply don’t have the capacity to teach every procedure, process, and fact that we may have in the past. We need to focus students’ thinking on big ideas that transcend individual topics and units. We need to welcome students back and engage them in grade level content, all the while knowing they have unfinished learning from 2020 and 2021 – or before!
Add to the challenges, students in different classrooms, schools, and districts have had wildly varying experiences in content and engagement. It is critical that we figure out how students think, what they understand, and develop their mathematical thinking. While the challenges in the 2021-2022 school year may seem insurmountable, we believe that focus on mathematical thinking is a high leverage strategy.
Reasoning Routines are the perfect vehicles to address unfinished learning. Within a routine, students learn the interconnectedness of mathematical ideas and develop important thinking that transcends the individual task at hand. The thinking students develop in reasoning routines arm them with powerful strategies to approach a wide range of mathematical situations.
It won’t be simple or easy, and will require our collective wisdom and continued collaboration. So, we are kicking off a free webinar and following it with two more deeper dives and we hope you’ll join us.
