"Students aren’t learning because they can keep track of the learning goal. They can keep track of the learning goal because they already have a lot of the skills we want to teach." /2

I'm Not a Fan of Learning Goals One of my many unpopular opinions

"An emphasis on learning goals focuses on surface features rather than the substance of learning. Thinking drives learning... At best all of this stuff about learning goals feels like a distraction from thinking. At worst, it can actively interfere with student thinking." /1

“I would highly recommend this course to my colleagues who want to learn more about Investigations. The course truly gave me time to absorb the curriculum and have a better grasp of the concepts.”

Looking for summer PD? Our 7-wk asynchronous online course, Implementing Investigations 3, focuses on the content and pedagogy of Investigations 3, and how math ideas grow over the course of K-5. tinyurl.com/ye479nn9

2025 - 2026 SPEAKER SERIES Math Identities Matter: Cultivating Belonging & Community in Elementary Classrooms April 29th, 2026 7:00 - 8:00 PM, EDT RunningHorse Livingston

Come hear RunningHorse Livingston draw on Indigenous perspectives & long standing teaching & learning practices as he describes how math class can become a community where all students see themselves as capable & confident mathematicians. 7-8p EDT on 4/29/26. Register: www.terc.edu/mathequityfo...

Highly recommend this course about supporting the range of learners in the elementary classroom, whatever math curriculum you are using. #iteachmath #mtbos

Too many presents Once upon a time when my daughter was very young, she was given a lot of presents – it was a birthday or Christmas but I can’t remember which. What I do remember is that she played with just …

This is about uni courses but also K-5?

Playing "is 1 of the main ways to get a deep understanding of concepts & to get fluency w/ procedures. You ask 'What would happen if…?' & 'I wonder…' & you try things out... & you feel [things] like curiosity & joy & satisfaction." @davidkbutler.bsky.social

"The moment students encounter confusion is not just a cognitive event, it is a meaning-making moment. If students interpret their struggle as evidence of failure, they disengage. If they interpret it as a normal stage of thinking, they continue working." /2

Why Students Give Up on a Task—and What Teachers Can Do About It Students often start working on a task, but disengage if it gets difficult. You can use these three tips to encourage them to persist.

"In many classrooms...the real challenge isn’t students’ initial motivation. It’s helping them stay w/ a task when learning becomes difficult... Persistence...can be shaped by the environments that students experience every day & by the ways we structure learning." /1
- @cathleenbeachbd.bsky.social

Blog Posts April 2, 2026 Designing an Online Math Course That Starts With Belonging I’ve been working on a new course template for the first mathematics content course for prospective elementary teachers, foc…

Reflecting on your online PD?

"For many...math is already a place of uncertainty, hesitation or past negative experiences... So the ? became: What would it look like to design an online math course that begins w/ belonging, voice & thinking, not just content coverage?"

- @mathedeva.bsky.social

The image lays out three summer PD options: A 2-day, synchronous workshop, Going Deeper with Investigations And two 7-week, asynchronous courses, Implementing Investigations 3 and Supporting Math Learning Details here: https://investigations.terc.edu/professional-development/

Come learn with us this summer!

As one teacher said: “I appreciated the collaborative nature of the workshop–working with other teachers, hearing different perspectives, and analyzing student work together."

Learn more: investigations.terc.edu/professional...

"In general what we want to do is treat language as a resource, not a deficit. We want to emphasize academic achievement - not only learning English but also learning mathematics - and we want to honor student resources." #MLLsInMath

NEW BLOG Emotions in Math Class: How Student Reflection Can Build Awareness and Resilience How can student reflection help students and teachers recognize and navigate emotions that interfere with learning in math? See how one teacher used reflection to better understand students' views on mistakes and how those views affected their learning.

"Math anxiety & negative perceptions of math can impact students’ ability to use their 'thinking brain.'” Asking about & "being attentive to [their] emotional states & needs can help teachers negotiate & transform aspects of the learning environment that may be prohibiting" full participation.

"Being attentive to students’ emotional states and needs can help teachers negotiate and transform aspects of the learning environment that may be prohibiting students from fully participating."

ICE agents will be stationed outside Marine Corps graduation events in South Carolina As the U.S. continues to fight the war in Iran, the Marine Corps has boosted protection measures on bases, requiring everyone to present REAL IDs, passports or birth certificates to access any sites.

"ICE agents will be stationed outside graduation events for the nation’s newest Marines to identify whether any of their family members are undocumented, according to the Marine Corps."

TOMORROW! We are so excited to learn from Judit, and to "visit" a 3rd grade classroom as we think about supporting multilingual learners in elementary math classrooms. 3/31/26, 7-8 EDT. Register here: www.terc.edu/mathequityfo...

Make 10-15 sets of 4 cards -- showing the multiplication equation (or fraction) and 3 different representations. Then play Concentration! #GamesAsMeaningfulPractice

Come learn from Judit, one week from tonight! Analyze video from a 3rd grade class as we think together about supporting multilingual math learners. 3/31/26, 7-8 EDT. Register here: www.terc.edu/mathequityfo...

A book cover shows two girls working together. One with the pencil, one gesturing. "Learning Together: Organizing Schools for Teacher and Student Learning" by Elham Kazemi, Jessica Calabrese, Teresa Lind, Becca Lewis, Alison Fox Resnick, and Lynsey K. Gibbons

Our staff is reading Learning Together right now, by Elham Kazemi et al. Highly recommended for thinking about how to achieve the vision you describe!

"As a general impulse, [individualizing instruction] can pull us away from our real work: creating dynamic learning environments where we are all learning together. We sacrifice community. So how do we balance the individualization of our approaches with the whole class experience?"

"It is such a welcome relief to me to be able to position myself as a guide and partner in exploring challenges, patterns, and math language that center in curiosity."

Assemble a building according to dice rolls. The game ends when a player’s building exceeds 40 cubes. High score wins, with 1 point for each of the following:
• Forty or more cubes
• Tallest building
• Greatest volume
• Greatest perimeter around the base
• Most area on any one side

When did "math become the subject we monitor rather than the subject we lead"? @pamseda1.bsky.social

Can't wait for this one!

An image of the Early Childhood Data Science website home page. It shows representations from young students that show: 1) "us and all the people visiting today" as faces or circles, arranged in what appears to be a sketch of classroom 2) a bunch of smiley face stickers that says "This is the people in my class" 3) a representation showing that 4 people in this class are 6 and 15 people are 7 with a hand-sketched table. There are two columns, one for 6 and one for 7 year olds. Each row is numbered from bottom to top and responses are shown with a hash mark in the appropriate row. There is also an equation 4+15=19 with arrows showing that the 4 represents 6 year olds, the 15 represents 7 year olds, and the 19 represents all of the students "all together".

We love seeing Investigations students' representations of data in this new framework re Early Childhood Data Science! www.terc.edu/early-childh...

"Ongoing examination and reflection on the diversity of student participation in mathematics discussions is essential in teaching all students to view themselves as crucial contributors." This article describes a free downloadable tool for doing this! #TeacherReflection

Freely available sequences of related activities, designed to enhance grade-level content and provide opportunities
for students to see themselves & others in the mathematics they are learning and to uncover their unique mathematical strengths, experiences & interests. #Excursions

"Responding to student ideas in the moment is tricky business. It requires patience, confidence & practice. But I think my biggest lesson was in keeping it real. The number was ugly. Ms. Jackson was not deterred. The conversation that resulted was fascinating & fantastic."

"If math classrooms only reward tidy thinking, fast recall, and compliance, we shouldn’t be surprised when students struggle with ambiguity later on."

The Interventions We Need Trigger warning: education consultants read with caution

Yes, this is the conversation we need to have!
"The Interventions We Need are rooted in content... We need more content-specific interventions. What specific skills & concepts are students struggling with? And what teaching strategies will help with that specific content?"
- @dylanpkane.bsky.social

This post, by Kristin Gray, feels like an illustration of what we mean in the Teacher-Student-Curriculm Partnership essay that appears in the Implementation Guide at every grade level.