September 30, 2025Honoring Diversity, Learning Environment, Math Classroomby Math for All

Manipulatives: Not Just for Kids, Not Just for Strugglers

By 1953, scientists knew much about DNA, including its chemical components and how they related to each other. There was even X-ray crystallography of the molecule. However, the structure of DNA in three-dimensional space remained a mystery. James Watson and Francis Crick experimented with building wooden models, creating several until they found the one that fit all of what was already known. This work, which relied heavily on the use of physical models, earned them and their colleague, Maurice Wilkins, a Nobel Prize. Their discovery of the physical structure of the DNA molecule was a breakthrough that lead to massive advances in the understanding of genetics and in medicine.

Fostering Spatial Thinking in Young Children

Spatial thinking—the ability to visualize, manipulate, and reason about objects in space—is essential for success in mathematics and other subjects such as science, engineering, and technology. Spatial thinking plays a role not only in learning about basic shapes, but it is also important in higher mathematics such as geometry and algebra. For instance, spatial thinking can help students to visualize word problems (e.g., using arrays to think about multiplication problems), picture equations and graphs, and to solve problems related to area, volume, and angles. In today’s world, where more time is spent indoors with increased passive screen time and limited opportunities for exploration and play, spatial skills are often underdeveloped in young children. However, research shows that young children can improve their spatial thinking by working with teachers (Casey et al., 2008) and parents (Borriello & Liben, 2018; Hall et al., 2023; Verdine et al., 2019).

Putting Students at the Center: Helping Teachers Make Decisions About Instructional Strategies to Ensure the Success of Diverse Learners in Math

As mathematics classrooms are becoming more and more diverse, teachers aiming to help all of their students learn are increasingly challenged. Pandemic-related learning gaps, the arrival of newcomers who may have experienced interrupted schooling, and the increase in the number of students with disabilities in general education classrooms have intensified performance differences among students. It is widely recognized that teachers require help and support to meet the varied needs of the different students they serve. There is less certainty, however, about the kind of support that will help teachers to make this happen.

Honoring Diversity: What, why, and how?

The Math for All team has been reading Carol Ann Tomlinson’s Everybody’s Classroom for the past few months. There are many connections between Tomlinson’s work and our work in Math for All, as well as some key takeaways that deepen our understanding of making math accessible to all students. In this blog post, we explore what honoring diversity means to us and, building on Tomlinson’s work, take a deep dive into a flexible mathematics classroom environment that can enhance our ability to honor students’ diversity as learners.

AI, Oh My! A First Foray into ChatGPT and its Usefulness to Math Teachers

Recently, I’ve been reading a bit about AI—artificial intelligence—the technology that is supposed to change the world as we know it, including the world of teaching. The changes are anticipated to be so momentous that the President issued an executive order to make sure that the development of AI is “safe, secure, and trustworthy.” In the world of education, students are already using AI to do their homework. After all, it can write papers, analyze texts, and solve problems. Some even say that AI might eventually make teachers obsolete. That certainly hasn’t happened yet, and while AI tools can help students cheat, they also have the potential to help them learn and help their teachers develop better lessons that deepen learning.

Supporting Student Discourse after the COVID-19 Pandemic

Do your students seem less enthusiastic about working in math groups or communicating their ideas and thoughts in class? If so, you are not alone. Teachers with whom we work are observing a decline in students’ skills to work together and express their thoughts. What has been the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on students’ discourse? A great deal has been written about the impact of the pandemic on student learning, standardized assessment results, and students’ social skills (Mervosh & Wu, 2022, Associated Press, 2022, Campbell, 2021). However, little has been written about how students’ ability to communicate their mathematical understandings has been impacted. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted students’ abilities to develop mathematical discourse with their peers and communicate their mathematical understandings. This post will provide explicit structures and routines that can be used in classrooms to develop students’ ability to engage in productive mathematical discourse.

Who Really Invented Math?: A Need for Inclusive Math History in K-12

“When am I ever going to use this?” We, the authors, have been talking about math education since we met eight years ago, and trust us, this is not an easy question to field. Teachers can’t really predict which mathematics problems a student will face, so the quick answer has become, “In the future you’ll come across a problem and “presto” you will see the relevance of this bit of information.” In all fairness, while this is a time-saving response for the teacher, it does not address the real issue, which is “Why does the American student ask this question in the first place?”

Math Classroom