Curriculum & Lesson Prep

One of the more impactful paragraphs I’ve read about teaching mathematics came from Henri Picciotto in his post, Mapping Out a Course. Throughout the unit, go back and forth between easy and hard the whole time. Avoid the trap of starting easy and gradually making it harder, for two reasons. One, starting too easy gives the wrong impression, and students don’t launch into the unit with the right attitude. Two, gradually getting more difficult gives the impression to some stud

What if one of the most useful assessments you gave your students wasn't graded? Free Chances are one of my go-to formative assessment strategies in math. They're short, ungraded assessments designed to give students a low-pressure opportunity to make mistakes while giving teachers a quick snapshot of what students understand and where they need help. The idea is simple: Give students a chance to show what they know before the learning is finished, then use what you learn to

There tend to be strong opinions when it comes to homework. Our goal here isn't to add fuel to that debate. We simply want to explain our philosophy, acknowledge that teachers may disagree, and share some ideas for what we'd do if we did give homework. Does Homework Help Students Learn? Research on homework is more nuanced than a simple yes or no. A major research synthesis by Harris Cooper and colleagues found that homework was more strongly associated with academic achievem

If you’ve ever browsed the When Math Happens curriculum, you may have noticed that spiraling practice is everywhere. In our courses, we call these assignments Staying Fresh Problem Sets because we think that name makes more sense to students and parents. So what exactly is spiraling practice, why do we use it so often, and how can you use it in your own math classroom? What Is Spiraling Practice? A spiraling practice set mixes problems from multiple math concepts. Spiraling p

Why Error Analysis Helps Students Learn Math A key component of our curriculum and courses is error analysis. We believe—and research supports—that students make meaningful learning gains when they analyze common classroom errors. Instead of simply correcting mistakes, students examine why the mistake happened and how to avoid it in the future. This helps students develop deeper conceptual understanding and recognize common math misconceptions. But is there a specific method