In this elementary-focused session, participants will explore how coherence in mathematics emerges through intentional connections among addition and subtraction problem types. Educators will examine common word problem structures—such as joining, separating, part-part-whole, and comparison—and how these problem types develop across grade levels. Using the progression outlined in the TEKS, participants will analyze how learning builds over time and how connecting new problem types to students’ prior experiences supports deeper understanding. The session will highlight models and representations that support student reasoning and help teachers plan instruction that tells a connected, meaningful story of addition and subtraction.
In this session, participants will examine how thoughtful task selection and purposeful questioning set the stage for meaningful student thinking and mathematical independence. Using a task-quality rubric, educators will analyze and select tasks that promote conceptual understanding and strategic reasoning rather than answer-getting. Participants will also explore questioning strategies that surface student thinking, press for clarity, and support students in making sense of mathematics on their own. By the end of the session, teachers will leave with tools and examples for designing learning experiences where students do the cognitive work and build confidence as problem solvers.
In this session, math teachers will dive into strategies that make learning more interactive, relevant, and accessible for all students. Through collaboration and real classroom examples, participants will explore ways to promote critical thinking, encourage student discourse, and connect math to real-world experiences. Special emphasis will be placed on using simple tools—like sticky notes—to increase student engagement through quick checks for understanding, collaborative problem-solving, and student voice. Teachers will walk away with practical, ready-to-use strategies that foster active participation and help all students feel confident and capable in mathematics.
This session focuses on how math language routines can strengthen student sense-making, communication, and perseverance. Participants will experience and practice routines that support students in articulating their thinking, listening to others, and refining ideas through discussion. Emphasis will be placed on how consistent use of these routines helps students persist through challenging tasks while deepening understanding. Teachers will leave with practical strategies for embedding language routines into daily instruction to create classrooms where mathematical reasoning is made visible and shared.
This session focuses on how problem-solving routines can strengthen student sense-making, communication, and perseverance in mathematics. Participants will experience and practice pairing Read-Draw-Write with routines such as Three Reads and numberless word problems to support students in making sense of problem situations before focusing on computation. Emphasis will be placed on how these routines help students slow down, attend to meaning, and use representations to articulate and refine their thinking. Participants will explore how consistent use of these paired routines supports students in persisting through challenging tasks while deepening conceptual understanding. Teachers will leave with practical strategies for embedding these routines into daily instruction to make student thinking visible and support meaningful mathematical reasoning.
Building Thinking Classrooms using engaging thinking tasks provides teachers the tools to construct a collaborative thinking culture in the classroom. At the start, beginning tasks are non-curricular and encourage the students to develop a culture of collaborative thinking. When later tasks become curricular, the students have developed a collaborative way of thinking so that everyone works together to solve problems.
Building Thinking Classrooms outlines 14 key concepts to create a more engaged student in math class. In this session, we will look at vertical learning, collaborative grouping, and handling questions in a way that puts the workload on the students.
Get ready to turn your math classroom up to eleven by ditching the "unplugged" life and plugging into the free Desmos Graphing Calculator Audio Trace features. In this high-energy session, we’re moving beyond the textbook blues to explore how auditory feedback can transform your lessons into a sensory wall of sound that supports every learner in the arena. You’ll learn to shred through quadratic functions and interpret the gritty descent of a negative slope using your ears, pairing visual data with a "math-rock" soundtrack that makes abstract concepts tangible. Close your eyes and lean into the rhythm as we channel our inner René Descartes to compose a mathematical symphony, proving that when algebra meets the amplified stage, the results are nothing short of legendary.
Listen up, people! We've got a crisis on the floor, and the patient is the student mind flatlining under the pressure of math anxiety. We’re seeing a total systemic failure of confidence, and if we don’t identify the root causes now, we’re going to lose them. This session is your crash course in emergency intervention. We’re going in deep, using high-impact tools like “Which One Doesn’t Belong?” to jumpstart their natural curiosity and shock their mathematical thinking back to life. This isn't just a lesson—it's a rescue mission for every interventionist and teacher on the front lines. Grab your gear and get ready to trade self-doubt for a pulse of empowerment, because we’re not letting another student slip away on our watch.
