.png?width=2000&height=675&name=2023%20ALN_standard-red%20(3).png "All Learners Network logo")
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Playing with Numbers: Early & Joyful Math Interactions
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 future success in school mathematics into the high school years” (Denton & West, 2002; Duncan et al., 2007; National Mathematics Advisory Panel, 2008). It matters what experiences and opportunities we create for young children to develop joyful moments when investigating mathematical concepts. The evidence is there - it makes a difference. And- man …
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Disrupt Tracking in Math Classrooms
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 year.
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Countering Teaching Through Telling with 4 Inclusive Math Instruction Strategies
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 down the numbers, the symbols, the formula. You write what they write. You do what they do. The day ends and you can do what they do - but you have not developed your mathematical understanding. You have not flexed your own problem-solving muscles. When you are asked to show your thinking or explain your answer - you’re silent. You learned to copy, …
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A Call to Stop Labeling Our Students
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, schools, teachers, and most importantly, individual student success. Over the five years, this equates to ten times our current outreach. As we spoke to our financial advisors, even though everything that we had projected was based on business data, we still wondered if we dreamed too big and should scale back our projections. Our financial advisor, Brenda …
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Building Confidence and Increasing Inclusion Through Launch
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’.
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Making Math Lessons More Inclusive: ALN Problem Introduction Protocol
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?
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Unpacking Belonging in Math Class
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 learners, especially those who have historically struggled to learn math in traditional instructional design. Inclusion means all students are considered when designing instruction and providing access to grade level mathematics. Maslow (1943) posits five sets of goals, or basic needs, which are related to each other and are arranged in a hierarchy of im …
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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?
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