I look forward to sharing this space with dedicated math educators as we work to empower all math students.  I’d like to say a bit about my “Use Your Math Power” picture books published in June 2015.

Welcome to Ms. Green’s classroom where students are learning to become powerful mathematicians. This classroom is my creation, based on my years teaching and coaching in elementary math classrooms. A first grade teacher I worked with planted the seed for this classroom when she asked for a picture book that would show her students a class engaged in math conversation. “What a great idea!” I thought. But I couldn’t find the book. Finally I decided to write a picture book myself, inspired by the teachers and students I’d worked during my career.

I wanted to show a math classroom where students are expected to work and solve problems together, where students are learning to respect and listen to each other’s ideas, and where they are reflecting on whether different ideas make sense. I thought about the different ways teachers set expectations that foster a community of mathematical thinking. And I thought about the many things that teachers do to help their students develop confidence in their power as mathematicians. I based Ms. Green and her classroom on these memories of successful math lessons.

Ms. Green recognizes that in her class there are students who are bursting with things to say, and students who are uncertain about sharing their ideas. There are students who leap to conclusions and students who take more time to process ideas. There are students who tend to speak quietly and students who have trouble listening. There are students who are not used to taking risks and students who have are just learning to cooperate with others. Ms. Green works to give all of these students the opportunities and challenges they need to grow.