Teaching for Thinking: Fostering Mathematical Teaching Practices Through Reasoning Routines

Teaching our children to think and reason mathematically is a challenge, not because students can’t learn to think mathematically, but because we must change our own often deeply-rooted teaching habits. This is where instructional routines come in. Their predictable design and repeatable nature support both teachers and students to develop new habits.

In Teaching for Thinking, Grace Kelemanik and Amy Lucenta pick up where their first book, Routines for Reasoning, left off. They draw on their years of experience in the classroom and as instructional coaches to examine how educators can make use of routines to make three fundamental shifts in teaching practice:

• Focus on thinking: Shift attention away from students’ answers and toward their thinking and reasoning
• Step out of the middle: Shift the balance from teacher-student interactions toward student-student interactions
• Support productive struggle: Help students do the hard thinking work that leads to real learning

With three complete new routines,  support for designing your own routine, and ideas for using routines in your professional learning as well as in your classroom teaching, Teaching for Thinking will help you build new teaching habits that will support all your students to become and see themselves as capable mathematicians.

Grace Kelemanik has more than 30 years of mathematics education experience. A frequent presenter at national conferences, her work focuses on urban education, special populations, and teacher training. She is a former urban high school mathematics teacher and Project Director at Education Development Center. Grace has also worked extensively with new and preservice teachers through the Boston Teacher Residency program.

Most recently, Grace is the coauthor of Routines for Reasoning: Fostering the Mathematical Practices in All Students. She is also coauthor of The Fostering Geometric Thinking Toolkit. She is a mathematics education consultant and professional development provider.

Follow Grace on Twitter @GraceKelemanik

Watch Grace and her coauthor Amy Lucenta talk about the effectiveness of instructional routines.

Amy Lucenta has extensive K–12 mathematics experience with all students, including a focus on special populations. She is a frequent professional development provider who helps teachers implement the Standards for Mathematical Practice. Amy is the coauthor of Routines for Reasoning: Fostering the Mathematical Practices in All Students.

Follow Amy on Twitter @AmyLucenta

Watch Amy and her coauthor Grace Kelemanik talk about the effectiveness of instructional routines.