Listening informs questioning. (Berger, 98 pag.)
How do we know learning has occurred? How do we know how learning has happened? What if we pause and listen to learn?
If both sense and meaning are present, the likelihood of the new information getting encoded into longterm memory is very high. (Sousa, 28 pag.)
How would you add 39 to 67? Would you use the traditional algorithm? Would you need paper? How might we teach flexibility, sense making, and numeracy to build fluency and confidence?
Number talks are about students making sense of their own mathematical ideas. (Humphrey & Parker, 13 pag.)
How might we seize the opportunity to confer with our learners to see if they are making sense of what is being taught?
This is the challenge – and joy – of teaching by listening to students. (Humphrey & Parker, 13 pag.)
If interested in additional examples of number talks, both the how and the why, listen to Jo Boaler and her students from the Stanford Online MOOC How to Learn Math: For Teachers and Parents.
Do we believe our learners – every one of them – are capable of developing proficiency in mathematics?
How might we show what we know more than one way?
How might we continue to send the message I believe in you and mean it?
What if we listen to learn?
I am grateful to Kristin Gray (@MathMinds) and Crystal Morey (@themathdancer) for their leadership and facilitation as a dozen #TrinityLearns faculty participate in an online book club (#mNTmTch) for Making Number Talks Matter: Developing Mathematical Practices and Deepening Understanding Grades 4-10 along with over 600 educators across the globe.
Berger, Warren (2014-03-04). A More Beautiful Question: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas . BLOOMSBURY PUBLISHING. Kindle Edition.
Humphreys, Cathy, and Ruth E. Parker. Making Number Talks Matter: Developing Mathematical Practices and Deepening Understanding, Grades 4-10. Portland, ME: Steinhouse Publishers, 2015. Print.
Sousa, David A. Brain-Friendly Assessments: What They Are and How to Use Them. West Palm Beach, FL: Learning Sciences, 2014. Print.
Experiments in Learning by Doing 
The work that’s being done in 2nd grade is a wonderful example of how our children are modeling and explain their reasoning. Listening to students is key. For each of them to show what they know in many ways, has the potential for learning opportunities from their peers in ways that they’ve never thought of.
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