Teachers who create a classroom focused on the State of Algebrafication have a deeper understanding of the arithmetic they teach, an ability to identify key learning points for various algebraic ideas, establish a repertoire of developed questioning techniques to help guide student learning, and enhance the way that they listen to and assess student thinking. Teachers transform and extend the mathematics they currently teach to make more connections to algebra by encouraging students to generalize patterns, make conjectures, and provide arguments to justify ideas.

What are Math Talks?

Math Talks are short 5 to 10 minute conversations with students that are designed to develop mathematical sense. Teachers that have used Math Talks have found that all students can participate and are excited to see that all students are capable of learning very sophisticated ideas about math. Teachers that successfully integrate Math Talks into their classroom describe a certain joy when teaching math that they have never seen before. This joy is shared by the teacher performing the Math Talk as well as the joy students have when they are allowed to be creative and share their thinking.

Jill, a middle school math teacher, reflects on how she is using algebra math talks to help her students listen to each other, make connections between representations, and develop positive dispositions towards mathematics.