.png?width=2000&height=675&name=2023%20ALN_standard-red%20(3).png "All Learners Network logo")
Strengthen Resilience with Math Anxiety
You hear the chime. Chairs scrape across the floor. You see your classmates walk towards the meeting space and find a spot on the rug. Your teacher gets out the easel markers and some linking cubes. It is time to start math. What is happening in your body right now? Many students are coming into schools with symptoms of anxiety that are preventing them from engaging in their learning. Anxiety is associated with feelings of panic, tension and helplessness. Anxiety affects the brain's working memory. Some students experience symptoms of anxiety only when they are faced with a math task. Why?
.png)
What does an intervention cycle look like?
All educators can frame the process of their work with students as a cycle. All Learners Network (ALN) particularly recommends this specific framing to special educators and interventionists, or any teacher working with students in small groups. Using a cycle of instruction provides both educators and students a structured process for reflecting on growth and moving forward in math understanding. It actually functions as a rapid cycle of inquiry, where we are seeking information about our students’ thinking, planning responsive instruction, and monitoring growth in a continuous cycle. The inte …
.png)
What Do I Do With a Small Group?
Whether you are a classroom teacher, an interventionist, special educator, English as a second language teacher or other educator you might be wondering what do I do for small group math instruction? We know all kids do not learn math at the same time and in the same ways and we know all kids need access to high quality grade level instruction. That is why our All Learners Lesson Structure includes opportunities for both inclusion and differentiation. What happens when we get to that differentiation part? All students may be engaged with purposeful offerings through Math Menu and one or more e …
.png)
Why Concrete Tools Matter in ALL Math Classrooms
Concrete tools (manipulatives) support access, equity, universal design and differentiation in every math classroom. Manipulatives support mathematical connections and deep understanding. So why are they missing in so many math classrooms, especially in the older grades? The use of math manipulatives provides hands-on access to all students where quantity is observable and abstract concepts contextualized, creating a more inclusive math classroom.
.png)
How to Plan for Sustainable, Lasting Math Improvement in Schools & Districts
Math pedagogy is the key to improving math performance and math understanding for all students. Pedagogy is the single most important element in instruction to improve math performance and understanding. Teachers are the critical element in improving math understanding and fostering positive math identities. To improve their practice, teachers need supportive instructional coaches and administrators equipped to guide and invest in math pedagogy professional development. Curriculum, math programs and textbooks on their own do not make significant improvements in math understanding. One or two “ …
The Background on the Newly Revised HLC Progressions
All Learners Network (ALN) originally created the High Leverage Concepts (HLCs) Progressions as a resource for classroom teachers, math interventionists, and special educators who create learning opportunities for their students daily. We wanted to build grade level progressions directly connected to the concepts highlighted in our High Leverage Concepts (HLCs) that would provide “road maps” for instructional decisions based on student evidence.
.png)
How do we encourage playful, productive struggle in Math Menu?
Our goal in Math Menu is for students to feel both relaxed and curious. Let’s use a recess analogy to help visualize our menu practice. At recess, students are independent and engaged in an activity of their choosing. They are motivated, playful and happy. Some students are working hard at various games and challenges all across the playground space. Others are focused on independent play and exploration. Some students are working to master a particular skill or apparatus. Most students are relaxed during recess. Their curiosity, interest, and preferences drive their choices.
.png)
All Learners Network's Evidence-Based Practices Alignment
Evidence-based practices (EBPs) are specific strategies, activities, or programs that have been found to be effective for improving student outcomes and backed by rigorous, high-standard research, replicated with positive outcomes (What Works Clearinghouse, 2020).
.png)
What is Explicit Systematic Instruction?
How can you support your students in interventions so that they are building conceptual understanding and connecting mathematical concepts and strategies to strengthen their understanding? One recommendation in the IES practice guide from What Works Clearinghouse (2009) is to provide systematic explicit instruction. But what exactly does this mean for our students?
Discourse in the Mathematics Classroom
What is discourse and why does it matter? Discourse is the communication of ideas where there is interaction between students' own thoughts and ideas and the consideration and examination of the ideas of others’ to make meaning and grow collective knowledge. With a significant shift in the role of the math educator from the holder and giver of knowledge to one who facilitates and presents meaningful and engaging tasks, math educators must develop skills and strategies that promote student discourse to position them as meaning makers. The educator role in discourse can be considered in three pa …
