Engagement & Active Learning

One of the big themes of the When Math Happens Geometry curriculum and Geometry courses is Math is Art. That’s why you’ll find construction art challenges throughout the curriculum, with an art challenge included in every Geometry chapter. But it wasn’t always this way. When I first started teaching Geometry, I tried to avoid constructions as much as possible. They seemed confusing, difficult to teach, and even harder to make engaging for students. Then I discovered that a co

One of my favorite ways to unlock curiosity in math class takes just a few minutes. It's called an estimation challenge. For years, I put an estimation challenge on the projector as students walked into class. They made a guess, completed their warm-up, and then we paused to share estimates before revealing the answer. An estimation challenge is waiting for students as they walk into class. It was simple. No elaborate setup. No special materials. And students loved it. If I e

I’ll be honest: I don’t really like vocabulary. It’s not exactly exciting, and I think vocabulary can sometimes be overemphasized in math classrooms. But vocabulary is important. Students need a common language to communicate, explain their thinking, and make sense of mathematics. So instead of making vocabulary a list of words and definitions to memorize, I like to give students a reason to think about the word first. Here’s my favorite 5-minute routine for introducing math

If you’re interested in implementing 3 Act Math or other open-ended math problems, I highly recommend the book 5 Practices for Orchestrating Productive Mathematics Discussions. The 5 Practices framework helps teachers plan and facilitate productive math discussions so students can share strategies, analyze mistakes, and connect mathematical ideas. In this post, I’ll walk through how I used the five practices during a linear functions lesson using the Stacking Cups activity. L

Think-Pair-Share: A Powerful Strategy for Math Classroom Discussions Think-Pair-Share is probably the most common learning strategy in my classroom. But before we move on assuming we know how it works, it’s worth slowing down and really looking at what it should look like in practice. For a long time, I thought I understood Think-Pair-Share, but I didn’t truly grasp it until someone modeled the routine for me in a real classroom. When implemented well, Think-Pair-Share become