Peter Liljedhahl has written maybe the most important and practical book that just can't be ignored by teachers of math. As a sixth grade teacher, I have searched for a book that could help me "put it all together" to complete a move away from the repetitive "I do, we do, you do" method of math instruction that is STILL so prevalent in our schools. Even teachers who may have in the past resisted changing their practices because they just weren't sure how will be able to do it with the help of the practices outlined in his book.
I'm pretty skeptical about a lot of teaching books, because they often leave me disappointed. They are often full of theory and never get practical or explain how the ideas actually worked with real students. Many are "here are some important big ideas now go figure out how that translates into the real practical world of your classroom--good luck!"
What I most appreciate about Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics is that Peter's research comes from having been in the classrooms of many teachers over many years. It's easy to doubt ideas that come from folks who are "coaches" and don't live the day-to-day reality of an actual classroom. Peter supports his teaching practices and elaborates on what aspects were shown to be most effective in real classrooms. If you're a classroom teacher, you'll know what I mean. He even relates what he thought would happen and is honest about results that either confirmed or changed what he originally thought.
Each chapter is so well-organized (and organized similarly) so that everything is easy to follow. I found myself highlighting key points and then the end of each chapter would have a super helpful summary of the macro-move for the practice and a series of micro-moves. So effective. I have heard of and incorporated several of these practices in the past but nowhere else have I seen a book that pulls so many effective practices together in one place and even organizes them such that the early practices can be incorporated first and then the rest added when ready. I am so grateful I have read this over the summer, as it will greatly influence my practices from day 1 of my upcoming school year.
Peter asks this question at the end of each chapter: "What are some of the things in this chapter that immediately feel correct?" I love that because in almost every instance I thought, "All of it!"
Another tremendous contribution of this book includes a discussion of rubrics and grading, two areas that are often not discussed as much amongst my colleagues and I because we can rarely find consensus and typically revert back to what we've always done. Peter's ideas on rubrics have changed the way I will use them (most rubrics have WAY too much ambiguity to be used effectively by teachers or students or are so cumbersome they are overwhelming). His explanation of an alternative way to construct rubrics make SO much sense and will be helpful. And the grading chapter is an excellent beginning to rethinking how we can give grades (since most of us have to) in a way that will value what is important. I think that will still be the most challenging thing for me--Peter offers one good method of getting data, but it still seems like it could be time-intensive to me. I am more than willing to give it a try, however, because it is much better than the alternative.
As a classroom teacher for almost 30 years, I can truly say without a doubt this book is the BEST in making a complete case for improving math instruction and moving toward a THINKING classroom, and SHOWS YOU HOW. How many times have you thought in your heart, "this practice is probably not the best but I'm so overwhelmed with the day-to-day demands on me as a teacher I can't figure it out so I'll just stick with what I'm doing." I know this has happened to me. This book will help move you into action to change some of those practices!
I am so excited to implement what I have learned this upcoming school year. I want all of my students to view themselves as "thinkers" and enjoy math as much as I do.
If you teach math in any capacity, you owe it to yourself to grab a copy of this book. You'll be so glad you did.
Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics, Grades K-12: 14 Teaching Practices for Enhancing Learning
4.8 | 1,700 ratings
Price: 20.19
Last update: 09-09-2024
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Top reviews from the United States
BigSur
Game Changer: Math Teachers Owe it to Themselves to Read This Book
Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2021Claire E Schwarzentraub
Great pedagogy
Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2024Leroy Yue
Highly recommended for other subjects too
Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2023Stephanie Levy
Lots of great suggestions
Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2024Amazon Customer
Great ideas!
Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2023Heidi J. Cohan
Building a Thinking Classroom Transforms your math block!
Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2024Sadie
Excellent book for math teachers
Reviewed in the United States on January 11, 2024Amazon Customer
This book literally changed my entire teaching practice
Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2023