What do special educators need?
What do new Special Education teachers need most? More support for teaching math!
Introducing: ALN 101
Are you meeting the needs of all of your math learners?
Systems Matter
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
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 more obstacles than...
ALN Releases First Chapter of New Book, “Teaching Math for All Learners”
Today, ALN is excited to release the first chapter of its brand-new book on the blog for free! This work is a collaboration of writing by multiple ALN experts focused on the All Learners Network Approach to mathematics.
In coming weeks,...
The ALN Community Forum is here!
One of the amazing aspects of the All Learners Network is the opportunity to have rich conversations with colleagues from across the state. These networking opportunities are an essential component of our cohort groups and are...
Online Math Lessons
Students distance learning at home during COVID-19
All Learners Network will be adding a new section to our website and offering up one lesson for each grade K through 8 each week for the next eight weeks. This weekly lesson...
Quick Video Intro to our Weekly Online Lessons
Hopefully, you’ve been exploring and using our new resources on our website: the weekly online lessons and the weekly webinar.
We created this video to highlight the practical application of the ALN weekly online lessons. This video highlights...
Welcome to Practice Notes
Finally! The All Learners Project (and now the All Learners Network!) is online.
And, beside all the tools and support materials we’ve posted online, there is also this blog – Practice Notes. The intention with these publications is to bring new...
The Problem Introduction Protocol
The title, Problem Introduction Protocol sounds a bit pretentious. “The way we introduce problems to provide access to everyone” was a mouthful, so we went with PIP.
The Problem Introduction Protocol was a joint effort among all the coaches at...
Precision of Language
“Wow this game is really hard!” my aunt told my son while playing an arcade game. It’s easy to drop the token in and watch it land on the wheel, it’s just not likely that it lands exactly in the winning spots. I thought about her choice of words...
Ask a Smaller Question
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
At Malletts Bay School, we have a set 30 minute intervention block beyond what we call “First Instruction.” My everyday math block consists of about 55 minutes for the math lesson that day and then an additional 30 minutes set aside for...
PreK High Leverage Concepts and Assessments
We have some good news for teachers who teach Pre-K. We believe we have identified important concepts that we want all Pre-K students to have at the end of their Pre-K experiences and how we might assess them. Let me share with you how this all...
Math with Marcie
Sorry for the delay in getting another post up. Thanksgiving and all.
Past posts have focused on the practical side (Thank you Erin, Ashley, and Sandi). For this post, I’d like to tell a story about a woman with whom I worked for...
The Problem Introduction Protocol
The title, Problem Introduction Protocol sounds a bit pretentious. “The way we introduce problems to provide access to everyone” was a mouthful, so we went with PIP.
The Problem Introduction Protocol was a joint effort among all the coaches at...
Using Work Places in Bridges to Differentiate and Support All Learners
Practice Notes has been on vacation over the holidays. We return with a piece from Essex Westford School District on a topic that has come up numerous times in ALN meetings and workshops:
How can I use Bridges for Differentiation? Here is the...
Using HLCs to Help Focus Identification of Intervention and Specialized Instruction Resources
We’ve been slow getting the blog started this fall. Our first offering comes from T.J. Jemison, a Special Educator and Math consultant for ALN and other organizations, including Math Solutions. T.J. brings his experience as a math...
Reflections on the All Learners Conference
If you build it, they will come. And come, they did.
We were hoping to attract 100 “math people” to Killington last Friday. In all, 228 people attending the Math for All conference. It was an outstanding turnout to support the...
Systemic Improvement - One District’s Story
One important service that All Learners Network provides is consulting with and supporting districts as they make system changes to benefit all learners. ALN collaborates with districts to create a professional development plan tailored to their...
New Page! New Videos!
Many of you have joined All Learners workshops and conferences, our annual conference was held in December but if you missed it we have uploaded several sessions to our very own YouTube channel. Videos from the conference are found on the new ...
Jamboard Routine for 3 Act Math Tasks
After April vacation, I polled my fifth and sixth grade math lab groups to see how they wanted to close out the year together. I told them that in our last intervention cycle of the year we had two options.
I could design team problem-solving...
“Milk it for the Math”
This year we are happy to support one of our All Learners Facilitators, TJ Jemison, to present at the NCTM virtual annual conference happening April 21-24, and April 28- May 1. Register here. This presentation will be a live event happening at...
Commitment to Equity: Current Climate Demands a Need to Post Again
We are once again bearing witness to violence and racism in our country targeted at people within the Asian community. We are uniting with those who are facing incidents of hate. We once again want to reiterate our commitment to equity.
We stand...
High Leverage Concepts: One District’s Story
This blog post, by Shayna Kalintsky, shares the story about how the High Leverage Assessments have been implemented in the School District. It is one example of how these assessments can be used to determine students' math understanding and...
ALN Book Release: Read Chapter Three — What’s Important? High Leverage Concepts!
ALN is pleased to release the third chapter of its brand-new book on the blog for free! This work is a collaboration of writing by multiple ALN experts focused on the All Learners Network Approach to mathematics.
See the table of contents for...
Pick the Mini-Marshmallows
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...
GBK: Games Before Kindergarten
In the summer of 2021 John mentioned hosting a game night at our new ALN Learning Center. Glenn and Erica heard this and thought even bigger - not just a single game night, but a preschool focus on games as a way to help develop early numeracy...
ALN Book Release: Read Chapter 4 — Identifying Where Students Are
ALN is pleased to release the fourth chapter of its brand-new book on the blog for free! This work is a collaboration of writing by multiple ALN experts focused on the All Learners Network Approach to mathematics.
See the table of contents for...
Math Learning in the time of COVID
As we enter 2022 we hope the new year brings health and reduced stress in schools, for staff and students alike. As we embark on year 3 of a pandemic, we continue to face challenges - staffing issues, absences due to sickness and quarantine, and...
Introducing New High Leverage Concept Progressions
Ashley Marlow and Erica Moy, ALN facilitators, introduced the High Leverage Concept Learning Progressions at the annual conference in December 2020. The HLC Learning Progressions are now up on the website. Ashley has written this blog post about...
Launch is the new Number Sense Routines
TJ Jemison is a facilitator with ALN and a local math consultant. He has worked to collect resources and activities to support the launch portion of your instruction, although you might find these resources could help in thinking...
Happy New Year!
As we welcome the new year we hope you all are doing well, staying safe and taking time to relax and rejuvenate. We have ended what was an unprecedented year that has required educators, students, parents, and the world to be flexible, adapt,...
From “Hey guys!” to “Hey y’all!”
From “Hey guys!” to “Hey y’all!”
September 20, 2021
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...
Chapter Two of ALN’s New Book on Teaching Math Released
ALN is pleased to release the second chapter of its brand-new book on the blog for free! This work is a collaboration of writing by multiple ALN experts focused on the All Learners Network Approach to mathematics.
See the table of contents for...
ALN Commitment to Equity
In the wake of the murder of George Floyd, we wish to state unequivocally: Black lives matter.
We stand with those protesting the brutalization of people of color by police.
We stand with those fighting against the white supremacy culture that...
Conscious Discipline and Math Learning
This week we hear from Paige Benedict about Conscious Discipline – an approach to managing challenging behaviors with integrity and respect. Since we hear quite a bit about the prevalence of these behaviors, we thought this was an important...
Best Practices Support ALL Learners
When you think about your students and consider instruction you might have a particular child in mind. Maybe you are considering a multilingual learner, or a student who is on an IEP, maybe a student who is differently abled, or one that has not...
Finding Math Outside
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...
ALN Math Talk Highlights
A month ago we started our ALN Math Talk webinars where we answer your questions about online lessons, math learning, and the meaning of life. Here’s a highlight of the past four webinars, who the guest panelists were, and what...
Math Trips at Folino’s
This idea emerged after a year of working on the All Learner’s Project and a summer spent working at the Folino’s pizza restaurant in Burlington.
One of the reasons I joined the All Learner’s Network is the High Leverage Concepts. ...
ALN Book Release: Chapter 5—What Students Have to Say
ALN is pleased to release the fifth chapter of its brand-new book on the blog for free! This work is a collaboration of writing by multiple ALN experts focused on the All Learners Network Approach to mathematics.
The cover of...
Back to the Classroom
This fall is unlike any other, classrooms look different, routines have changed and we might be teaching virtually, in person or a combination. We have all become very flexible and we continue to use this skill as the year begins. Despite the...