How Will We Know What They're Thinking?

Curiosity about students’ mathematical thinking is at the heart of effective and joyful mathematics teaching. There are four channels via which we can gather information about student thinking: we can look at student work and products, we can observe and listen to students while they work and talk, we can confer with students about their thinking, and we can ask students to reflect on their own learning and share their self-assessments with us. We’ll explore how to open these four channels strategically, so we can gather better, richer, more interesting information about our students and their thinking, even when using curricular materials that don’t prioritize formative assessment.