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Check out our stories to learn more about the work of the All Learners Network. Our contributors include ALN Instructors, leaders, and math coaches. Click any of the photos below to read the full blog post.

Our Math Stories - Tara Trudo

Ellie Wallace
Belonging and Math Identity, About ALN, Professional Learning and Development

Published: November 15, 2024

All Students Have Rights in their Mathematics Classrooms

Carly Epstein
For Administrators, For Teachers, Intervention, Belonging and Math Identity, About ALN

Published: November 8, 2024

Different Ways to Math in High School

John Tapper
For Administrators, For Teachers, Belonging and Math Identity, About ALN

Published: November 29, 2024

Math Journals: What are they? Why use them?

Sandi Stanhope
Math Menu, For Teachers, ALN Lesson Structure, About ALN

Published: November 22, 2024

Considering Intersectionality and Math Education

Christa Hagan-Howe
For Administrators, For Teachers, Intervention, Belonging and Math Identity, About ALN

Published: November 1, 2024

The Complexity of Assessment

Carly Epstein
For Administrators, For Teachers, High Leverage Concepts Resources, Belonging and Math Identity, About ALN

Published: October 25, 2024

Using All Learners Online for Math Intervention Instruction

Erin Oliver
For Administrators, For Teachers, Intervention, High Leverage Concepts Resources, Belonging and Math Identity, About ALN

Published: October 18, 2024

Three Tips for Addressing Assumptions in Math Instruction

Christa Hagan-Howe
For Administrators, For Teachers, Intervention, Belonging and Math Identity

Published: October 11, 2024

More Than Tens and Ones. Supporting Students' Place Value Understanding

Tara Trudo
For Teachers, Intervention, Belonging and Math Identity

Published: October 4, 2024

ALN Working with Systems

Multiple Contributors
For Administrators, High Leverage Concepts Resources, About ALN

Published: September 20, 2024

The Power of Games

Erin Oliver
Math Menu, For Administrators, For Teachers, Intervention, Belonging and Math Identity

Published: September 20, 2024

5 Ideas for Educator PD When There is No Time

Christa Hagan-Howe
For Administrators, For Teachers, About ALN, Professional Learning and Development

Published: September 13, 2024

Counting Collections Are All Around Us

Sandi Stanhope
For Teachers, Intervention, Belonging and Math Identity

Published: September 6, 2024

Empty classroom

Setting Up Your Math Classroom Environment to Include All Students

Carly Epstein
For Teachers, Intervention, Belonging and Math Identity

Published: August 30, 2024

Female student writing on a whiteboard as a teacher and other students look on

Are All Math Standards Equally Important?

John Tapper
For Administrators, For Teachers, Intervention, High Leverage Concepts Resources, About ALN

Published: August 23, 2024

Integrating Math Models in Elementary Routines

Lilly DePino
For Teachers, Belonging and Math Identity

Published: August 16, 2024

Student raising hand with female teacher looking on

Six Questions to Get Students Talking in Math Class

Tara Trudo
For Teachers, Belonging and Math Identity

Published: August 9, 2024

Changes are Coming to the Grades 5-8 High Leverage Concepts Progressions!

Sandi Stanhope
High Leverage Concepts Progressions, For Teachers

Published: August 2, 2024

Empty Classroom

Cultivating Agency and Identity in Math for Students with Disabilities

Multiple Contributors
For Administrators, For Teachers, Intervention

Published: July 26, 2024

Three kids playing a card game.

Math Games as a Tool for Learning

Multiple Contributors
For Teachers, Belonging and Math Identity

Published: July 19, 2024

Woman presenting in a conference room full of people.

Improve Teacher Skill to Increase Student Understanding

John Tapper
For Administrators, For Teachers, About ALN

Published: July 12, 2024

Family playing dominoes

Can ALN Math Game Nights Reduce Math Anxiety?

Christa Hagan-Howe
For Administrators, For Teachers, About ALN

Published: July 5, 2024

Hands holing up one, two and three fingers. Two dice, a pile of multicolored gems and green dice.

All About Subitizing

Multiple Contributors
For Teachers

Published: June 28, 2024

Multi Color Dice

Three Dice “Games” to Build Number Sense During Transitions

Lilly DePino
For Teachers

Published: June 21, 2024

Computational Fluency: What is it?

Multiple Contributors
For Teachers

Published: June 14, 2024

Three children sitting at desks. Two raising their hands

Why Use An Inquiry-Based Approach in Math Class?

Christa Hagan-Howe
For Administrators, Belonging and Math Identity

Published: June 7, 2024

What is Number Sense?

Multiple Contributors
For Teachers

Published: May 31, 2024

Two young students working together

Main Lesson in a Multi-Age Classroom

Multiple Contributors
For Teachers, ALN Lesson Structure

Published: May 24, 2024

Teaching Math to Support Social-Emotional Learning

Ashley Marlow
For Teachers, Belonging and Math Identity

Published: May 17, 2024

Woman standing talking to two adults who are seated. One is a woman the other is a man.

Planning Your Math Coaching Strategy for 24-25

Multiple Contributors
For Administrators, For Teachers, Professional Learning and Development

Published: May 10, 2024

Young child playing with base ten blocks

The Role of Models in Conceptual Math Understanding

Multiple Contributors
For Teachers

Published: May 3, 2024

What If We Focused on Student Thinking and Not Scores?

Sandi Stanhope
For Administrators, For Teachers

Published: April 26, 2024

Is integrity the new fidelity in the math classroom?

Multiple Contributors
For Teachers, Belonging and Math Identity

Published: April 19, 2024

Math manipulatives spread out on a desk

Why Should Educators Use Math Menu?

Multiple Contributors
For Teachers, ALN Lesson Structure

Marilyn Burns was one of the first in the math education field to talk about using Math Menus.  She identified three big questions that teachers consistently ask:

Kids gathered around a desk talking

Exploring 4 Categories of Number Sense Routines

Multiple Contributors
For Teachers, ALN Lesson Structure

The first five to fifteen minutes of a math block set the tone for discourse and engagement during math class. At All Learners Network (ALN)), we refer to this time as Launch. This crucial time helps to position all students as mathematicians, as...

Playing with Numbers: Early & Joyful Math Interactions

Multiple Contributors
Belonging and Math Identity

We know that when young children have positive, early experiences engaging with math before kindergarten, it has a positive impact on their mathematical understanding later in school. “Early competence with number has proven to be a predictor of...

Seven Closure Activities for Your Math Block

Christa Hagan-Howe
For Teachers, ALN Lesson Structure

Wrapping up a math lesson is an essential component of a balanced math block. All Learners Network (ALN) names this component Closure. Intentional closure in a math lesson is as beautiful as it is powerful. It is as much an opportunity for class...

Teachers gathered around a table with manipulatives

What makes professional learning effective?

John Tapper
For Administrators, Professional Learning and Development

Educator professional development is a mixed bag in many school districts. Teachers are exposed to workshops and trainings on topics as diverse as dealing with blood-borne pathogens to content-specific work for individual disciplines. The quality of...

Everyone is an Interventionist

Kate Hughes
For Teachers, Intervention

Disrupt Tracking in Math Classrooms

Erin Oliver
For Administrators, For Teachers, Belonging and Math Identity

We are sorting, separating, and segregating students in the name of support services and differentiation in our education systems. Just consider all the ways students have been sorted into some version of “low, middle, and high” groups this school...

Free Math Intervention Resources for Educators & Specialists

Christa Hagan-Howe
For Teachers, Intervention

Math intervention is a constant topic for many of us in preK-12 education.  As an organization committed to supporting math pedagogy so all students can learn math, All Learners Network (ALN) frequently strategizes with districts and schools on how...

Countering Teaching Through Telling with 4 Inclusive Math Instruction Strategies

Tara Trudo
For Teachers, Belonging and Math Identity

Picture this - a teacher stands at the front of the room. Their back is to you and they are writing an addition problem on the board: 24 + 37. They tell you to do what they are doing. “First, we line up the tens, then we line up the ones.” You copy...

Equipping Educators, Supporting Students: Partnering with ALN for a Summer Math Lab

Multiple Contributors
For Administrators, About ALN

All Learners Network (ALN)'s very own Sandi Stanhope and Christa Hagan-Howe talk through what the ALN Summer Math Lab is and how it works. 

The Five Key Components for Unlocking Math Progress

Multiple Contributors
For Administrators, High Leverage Concepts Resources, ALN Lesson Structure, About ALN

All Learners Network (ALN) is committed to improving math pedagogy so that all students can access quality math instruction. We know that it is time to move away from antiquated notions around math education and focus on strong pedagogy. It is...

Students sitting together with math manipulatives

A Call to Stop Labeling Our Students

Chris Farnham
Belonging and Math Identity

Recently,  the All Learners Network (ALN) leadership team worked on a five-year plan. We dreamed big with the goal of spreading our mission around the country. In this projection, we designed a plan aimed at supporting thousands of districts,...

Why does high school math need a makeover?

John Tapper
For Administrators, For Teachers

There is no shortage of international studies to cast doubt on the effectiveness of American math instruction. Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and  Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) are two studies...

Building Confidence and Increasing Inclusion Through Launch

Carly Epstein
ALN Lesson Structure, Belonging and Math Identity

What is inclusion in a classroom really? Inclusion is talked about in education in many different ways and takes on many different forms. Inclusion is more than just being in the room. It is more than ‘just’. 

Why Should ALL Math Blocks Include Launch?

Multiple Contributors
For Teachers, ALN Lesson Structure

At All Learners Network (ALN),  we start every balanced math block with Launch. Launch is typically about 5-15 minutes, depending on your time and schedule, and focuses on building number sense, reasoning, community and productive math discourse....

Making Math Lessons More Inclusive: ALN Problem Introduction Protocol

Multiple Contributors
For Teachers, Belonging and Math Identity

What if there was a way to get students more comfortable sharing ideas during a math lesson? What if there was a way to reduce the amount of “I don’t knows” during a math lesson?

Math as a Door Opener

Ashley Marlow
High Leverage Concepts Resources, About ALN

All means all. Not “some” or “most,” but every single person deserves to have a humanizing learning math experience that affirms themselves as the capable, competent math thinkers that they are. As educators, we must consider all aspects of a person...

New Free Membership Level to All Learners Online (ALO)

Christa Hagan-Howe
About ALN

All Learners Online (ALO) is the self-paced professional learning and math instructional resources platform by All Learners Network (ALN). ALO delivers its members with high quality self-paced professional learning, math resources, and more. ALO...

What are the High Leverage Concepts Resources?

Christa Hagan-Howe
For Administrators, For Teachers

Who is All Learners Network?

Multiple Contributors
About ALN

Unpacking Belonging in Math Class

Ashley Marlow
For Teachers, Belonging and Math Identity

Why is belonging in math class so important?

Feeling a sense of belonging is a vehicle to engagement. Engagement promotes both learning and empowerment as an expert learner. At All Learners Network (ALN), we believe in opening the doors to all...

Why do the High Leverage Concepts (HLCs) focus on one skill?

Multiple Contributors
For Administrators, For Teachers

What is math coaching? What is not math coaching?

Multiple Contributors
For Administrators

All Learners Network (ALN) facilitators Erin Oliver and Tara Trudo pull from their experiences as classroom teachers, interventionists, math specialists, and coaches to collaborate on this basic coaching primer.

White table has a succulent in the background and the foreground has wooden letter blocks that spell resilience.

Strengthen Resilience with Math Anxiety

Kate Hughes
For Teachers, Belonging and Math Identity

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...

What does an intervention cycle look like?

Katie Jacobsen
Intervention, High Leverage Concepts Resources

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. 

...

What Do I Do With a Small Group?

Tara Trudo
For Teachers, Intervention, High Leverage Concepts Resources

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...

Why Concrete Tools Matter in ALL Math Classrooms

Carly Epstein
For Teachers, High Leverage Concepts Resources

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,...

How to Plan for Sustainable, Lasting Math Improvement in Schools & Districts

John Tapper
For Administrators

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...

The Background on the Newly Revised HLC Learning Progressions

Sandi Stanhope
High Leverage Concepts Resources

All Learners Network (ALN) originally created the High Leverage Concepts (HLC) Learning Progressions as a resource for classroom teachers, math interventionists, and special educators who create learning opportunities for their students daily. We...

How do we encourage playful, productive struggle in Math Menu?

Erin Oliver
For Teachers, ALN Lesson Structure

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...

What is a Professional Learning Outreach Coordinator?

Pat Buono
About ALN

Here at ALN, our mission is paramount in everything that we do. We’re constantly visiting our decision-making process and asking, “does this decision work with our mission in the way that we would want?” 

All Learners Network's Evidence-Based Practices Alignment

Ashley Marlow
For Administrators, For Teachers, About ALN

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...

What is Explicit Systematic Instruction?

Erica Moy
Intervention

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...

Discourse in the Mathematics Classroom

Carly Epstein
For Teachers, High Leverage Concepts Resources

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...

What is Specialized Math Instruction?

Erin Oliver
For Teachers, High Leverage Concepts Resources

Specialized Math Instruction (SMI) focuses on improving instructional techniques–or pedagogy– of all educators for teaching mathematics for all students.  

A Case for High Quality Math Instruction for Students with Complex Needs

Glenn Patterson
Intervention, Belonging and Math Identity

I would like to discuss a topic dear to me - the importance of high quality instruction for math students with complex cognitive needs. In the state of Vermont, these students tend to fall under the disability category of Intellectual Disability. My...

The word math displayed on a background.

Purposeful Change: The ALN Rapid Cycle of Inquiry

John Tapper
For Teachers, High Leverage Concepts Resources

A group of math coaches and I gathered for a local PLC meeting. We had been looking at student work and discussing some of the problems of practice facing the teachers in our buildings. In any gathering of educators, it’s pretty easy to articulate...

A male teacher welcomes math students into the classroom.

Establishing Classroom Culture

Carly Epstein
For Teachers, ALN Lesson Structure

Establishing a classroom culture within the first six weeks of school is crucial for the success of a learning community. To facilitate an inclusive community culture, educators should establish routines and expectations with students, use language...

A teacher smiles at the class while a student looks on.

Inclusion and MTSS

Glenn Patterson
For Administrators, For Teachers, High Leverage Concepts Resources, ALN Lesson Structure, Belonging and Math Identity

I spend a lot of time in schools in many different grade levels and while there are more differences than similarities in the goings on of a 1st grade classroom and a 10th grade one, a major similarity is the question of inclusion. How does one...

A young child learns with math manipulatives

Establishing a Feedback Culture

Erin Oliver
For Teachers, High Leverage Concepts Resources

Use Student Work as Feedback We are in the business of being responsive.As educators we strive to establish a thriving feedback culture in our classrooms enriched by constantly looking at formative assessment data and responding. When armed with...

A team of math educators discuss their work.

Math Coaches Make an Impact

Erica Moy
For Administrators

Coaches provide support for teachers who have multiple demands through job embedded professional development. One key element essential to effective math instruction, that a math coach in particular provides, is supporting teacher knowledge of...

David’s Math Class: A Story of Inclusion

Glenn Patterson
For Teachers, Belonging and Math Identity

Often, when we talk about differentiation and inclusion, the responsibility is put upon the teacher to create, provide, and derive the means for low floor/high ceiling tasks (with multiple entry points) so all students may access the learning...

teacher_students_instructional_support

Differentiation - What Is It?

Carly Epstein
For Teachers, ALN Lesson Structure

What is differentiation and where can it be applied?A differentiated classroom is facilitated by an educator's timely and ongoing response to student needs. Educators target and implement strategies and tools that provide access and inclusion and...

A young black girl shows her classmate how to work out a math problem.

MTSS and the ALN Lesson Structure

Erica Moy
ALN Lesson Structure

Schools and classrooms are filled with diverse learners who all have their own individual knowledge and needs when it comes to learning. A Multi-Tiered or Multi-Layered System of Support (MTSS) provides a system in which educators can meet the needs...

student using math strategies at white board

Perseverance and Growth Mindset

Erin Oliver
For Teachers, Belonging and Math Identity

No matter how many years of experience we’ve logged as educators, we all have to put in the work at the beginning of a new school year to build our classroom culture.  This always starts with student relationships. 

What do special educators need?

John Tapper
Special Ed, For Administrators, Intervention

What do new Special Education teachers need most? More support for teaching math!

Systems Matter

Erin Oliver
Belonging and Math Identity

I began my career in education because I believed it was a broken system that we could mend. My senior year I read Jonathon Kozol’s The Shame of the Nation and became convinced that the way to solve poverty in our country was to...

Why Math Menu Matters Even More Right Now

Erin Oliver
For Teachers, ALN Lesson Structure

Published: Fall 2020

This school year has so many of us feeling like our first year teacher-selves, struggling with the work and effort that is required when you’re learning how to do something new.  

It feels like we are facing...

Ask a Smaller Question

John Tapper
For Teachers

I just finished working with a large group of teachers in Montpelier. They were inquisitive and eager. In the exit slips, several participants asked for more information about using questions to teach. This post is a response to...

30 Minute Intervention Block Using Math Menu

Ashley Marlow
Intervention, ALN Lesson Structure

At Malletts Bay School, we had a set 30 minute intervention block beyond what we call “First Instruction.” My everyday math block consisted of about 55 minutes for the math lesson that day and then an additional 30 minutes set aside for...

Pick the Mini-Marshmallows

Erica Moy
Intervention, High Leverage Concepts Resources

On a cold afternoon after my boys had been out sledding we were making hot chocolate with marshmallow of course! My youngest commented on how tiny the marshmallows were in comparison to the jumbo ones we use for roasting over the fire. The...

From “Hey guys!” to “Hey y’all!”

Erin Oliver
Belonging and Math Identity

I’m working on breaking a deeply ingrained habit of addressing groups of people as “guys”. I’ve played on sports teams my entire life and “guys” is just part of the sports lingo. I’ve used the word so often that now I use it...

Finding Math Outside

Tara Trudo
For Teachers

Teaching during a global pandemic has brought about many changes and some of those have been good things that have moved teaching, learning and student engagement forward in a positive way. One change I hope sticks around is getting kids outside...