Regional Office of Education #13

Dan Meyer, the Chief Academic Officer for Desmos, states that Peter Liljedahl’s Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics “exudes enthusiasm for students, how they think, and how those thoughts coalesce into powerful thinking classrooms. It’s also deeply practical, describing how everything from the teacher’s questions to the arrangement of the furniture can add to your student’s learning” (from Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics, 2021).

This is the emphasis of Peter Liljedahl’s Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics - implementing rich mathematics and classroom practices to engage students in deep thinking and going beyond rote memorization and repetitive calculations. Math teachers obviously want their students to be fluent in facts, procedures, and concepts. Yet, they also want their students to think outside of the box, using strategies and practices that foster student-centered, student-owned thinking and learning. Liljedahl’s book focuses on 14 classroom practices to enhance student learning that goes beyond the “I do, we do, you do” teaching format.