Eight Habits of Highly Effective Math Students (and the Teachers Who Teach Them)
Grades K-5
Corwin Mathematics Series
Essential habits to build mathematical confidence and competence for all students!
It has been said that teachers make approximately 1,500 decisions a day. Given the volume of work, it is no wonder that these decisions are frequently made reflex-like and in the moment. By intentionally nurturing effective habits in students, as well as in teachers, we can make these decisions more deliberately and in so doing foster a positive relationship with mathematics that will set students on an unstoppable trajectory of math learning.
Eight Habits of Highly Effective Math Students (and the Teachers Who Teach Them) focuses on developing eight essential habits that support mathematical competence and confidence in students. This resource is designed as a personalized, practice-based professional learning experience, leading you through a wealth of professional learning and application activities to support you in growing a specific math habit in your classroom to strengthen your students’ math learning and build your own efficacy.
The book offers the chance to “choose your own adventure” through three teacher inquiry options focused on a specific math habit:
- Give it a Go! (An Informal Exploration of a Teaching Action and Its Impact on Student Learning)
- Classroom Inquiry (A Classroom-Based Teacher Inquiry Project)
- Focus on Equity (A Teacher Inquiry to Notice and Disrupt Patterns of Inequity)
This book provides an actionable framework for improving math teaching and learning by
- Emphasizing a commitment to equity, because all students are capable of learning high-level mathematics when provided with access to high-quality instruction
- Helping teachers develop mindsets and habits to consciously reflect on their instructional practice to continually strengthen teaching effectiveness and student learning outcomes
- Curating short readings and practice-based professional learning activities that can be engaged in individually or collaboratively
- Highlighting the importance of celebrating growth and the role of teachers in nurturing good habits in their students
- Offering a guide to coaching the habit through a process called Notice, Nurture, Name, and Nudge
Eight Habits of Highly Effective Math Students (and the Teachers Who Teach Them) is grounded in the unwavering belief that all students are math-capable and all teachers can effectively teach mathematics. The book can be used individually by elementary school teachers and education leaders at school and district levels or in collaborative professional learning settings. It is an excellent companion to Holly Burwell and Sue Chapman’s book Power-Up Your Math Community (Corwin, 2024).
Eight Habits of Highly Effective Math Students (and the Teachers Who Teach Them) is a powerful guide to providing high-quality math learning opportunities for all students. Packed with practical tools and actionable strategies, the authors thoughtfully unpack the eight habits in a way that supports students to develop mathematical proficiency and agency. This is a great book to anchor conversations with all stakeholders in education, from classroom teachers to coaches to administrators.
If your goal is to develop competent and confident students in mathematics, Eight Habits of Highly Effective Math Students (and the Teachers Who Teach Them) is the book for you. The authors guide teachers through the inquiry process by providing practical examples and tools that can be used to develop and strengthen students as mathematicians. Focusing and reflecting on one’s own work as a teacher, and making revisions to teaching practices, can have a substantial impact on students’ learning.
The book is written in a way that speaks directly to educators, using language and concepts that resonate with their experiences and needs. At the same time, the content is accessible to administrators who may not be as familiar with what effective math pedagogy looks like or sounds like in the classroom. This broad accessibility ensures that the book can be valuable to both teachers looking for practical strategies and administrators seeking to better understand and support good teaching practices.
The inherent consistency the book advocates for (habits!) makes it something that teachers will find useful across the year, no matter the content they teach.
