In this article, Lindsey Fowler describes how an animal rhyme--that she shared with her fifth-grade students with the intention of assisting them with the concept of metric conversions--made fostering the Standards for Mathematical Practice (SMP) more difficult. The addition of animals, which added an extraneous element that students mistakenly…

Gesture is a powerful and frequent means of mathematical communication. It is a rich modality through which we may reach out to students and they may reach out to teachers, and this is particularly true for instances in which spoken language is not necessarily a commonality among classroom participants. Indeed, our movements help us share more…

As a parent, the author stepped into his child's class on a Friday morning to a room buzzing with activity. Parents walked around the room, coffee and bagel in hand, reading stories that their child (and others) had drafted, revised, written, and illustrated. Students eagerly shared their stories and drawings, cherishing the comments and praise…

Kalchman describes and discusses preservice teachers' changing views of what it means to know and do mathematics both inside and outside the classroom walls. The context for change is a weekly assignment for methods students to describe and solve mathematical problems in situations that they confront in day-to-day life. The assignment supports…

Describes and shares one incident of a teacher's mathematics exploration in a professional development setting to exemplify the ideas of the Professional Standards for Teaching Mathematics. Focuses on the handshake problem which tries to find out how many handshakes will occur if 20 people shake hands with every other person. (ASK)

Documents the experiences of two teachers and their kindergarten and first-grade students in working with calculators as an ongoing and integral component of their mathematical programs. Focuses on ways that the children and teachers use the calculator to develop ideas of number through explorations of numerals, counting, number magnitude, and…

Investigates uses of interactive geometry software to enhance students' understanding and reasoning about two-dimensional shapes. Describes basic principles that underlie high-quality geometry instruction. Presents examples that illustrate how appropriate use of dynamic software can enhance students' geometric reasoning. (KHR)