PLENUM 3

Revise to Learn: Rough Draft Thinking in Mathematics Class

In this presentation, I will share teaching strategies that support students with feeling safe to explore their ideas and learn in community in a mathematics classroom. We can invite students to share their thinking about mathematics when their thinking is unfinished, incomplete, or still in-progress – their “rough draft thinking.” Then we can support students with seeing the strengths in students’ rough draft thinking. Learning can be treated as a process of revising and gradually improving ideas over time. When we create a math classroom where students learn through revising drafts, they experience a space where their ideas are welcome, their strengths are recognized, and students feel safer to share their thinking when they are unsure. In this presentation, I will share practices that teachers use to incorporate revising into the math classroom.

BIOGRAPHY: 

Amanda Jansen is a professor of mathematics education in the School of Education at the University of Delaware in Newark, Delaware, U.S.A. Earlier in her career, she taught mathematics to middle grades students in Mesa, Arizona, U.S.A. She earned her PhD in educational psychology from Michigan State University in the U.S.A. Mandy conducts research in mathematics classrooms to understand how teachers create motivating and engaging learning experiences for students. She is the author of Rough Draft Math, published in 2020 by Stenhouse Publishers. Additionally, her co-authored book (with James Middleton), Motivation Matters and Interest Counts was published by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics in 2011.