Conferring in the Math Classroom: A Practical Guidebook to Using 5-Minute Conferences to Grow Confident Mathematicians

All students enter our math classrooms with ideas worthy of discussion. Some of the most effective breakthroughs come from short, intentional conversations between students and teacher, yet planning for these moments can seem daunting. In her innovative book, Conferring in the Math Classroom: A Practical Guidebook to Using 5-Minute Conferences to Grow Confident Mathematicians, Gina Picha focuses on simple and transformative ways teachers can use math conferences, short conversations between teachers and small groups of students at work, to guide instruction, assess understanding, and build strong math thinkers.

Inside you will learn to:

• Facilitate math conferences to listen to students, identify and build on their strengths, and encourage them to share their math thinking
• Build a positive math identity that will help nurture student-centered math classrooms
• Ask exploratory questions to gain data-driven insight into their math reasoning and plan the next steps for instruction
• Provide differentiated math instruction based on the individual or small group needs
• Drive engaging and interactive math talk in the classroom

Picha includes teacher questioning guides, If-Then charts organized by grade level and math topic, and note-taking templates to help you get started with math conferring right away.

This practical and highly accessible approach can help students deepen their math understanding, build confidence in their math abilities, and connect learnings between math subjects.

Gina Picha, Ed.D. received her master’s degree in education from Aurora University and her doctoral degree in curriculum and instruction from Concordia University-Austin. Gina has worked in education for the past fourteen years teaching kindergarten, first grade, fifth grade, and as an elementary instructional coach, K–12 curriculum specialist and K–5 district math coordinator. She is currently an elementary mathematics curriculum writer living in Austin, TX with her husband, Deric, and two sons, Nolan and Cort.