With updated mathematics standards, WA Math 2025, now is the time to consider the landscape of mathematics teaching and learning in ways that have students engaged and thinking.  

While much attention is given to the body of a BTC lesson, the closing is where collective thinking becomes individual understanding.  In this session we dig deeply into why it is important to think beyond the body of the lesson to the closing of the lesson.  Specifically, we will look at the new research on the three research-based closing practices: consolidation, meaningful note-taking, and check-your-understanding questions.  These three practices are instrumental in helping students turn the unorganized, unstructured, and informal conception they gained from their group work into organized, structured, and formalized learning for themselves. Participants will experience and analyze both divergent and convergent lessons to see how closing structures shift depending on the task.  The day concludes with a focus on how to intentionally plan for powerful closings that formalize learning and increase student ownership of learning.

The practices discussed will intertwine with, and make extensive referencs to the newly released books, Mathematics Tasks for the Thinking Classrooms (K-5, and 6-12).

This is a deeper dive into Building Thinking Classrooms practices.  It is strongly recommended that you have already participated in an introductory Building Thinking Classrooms. 

Peter Liljedahl is the author and co-author of the books:

• Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics (Grades K-12):  14 Teaching Practices for Enhancing Learning
• Mathematics Tasks for the Thinking Classroom, Grades K-5
• Mathematics Tasks for the Thinking Classroom, Grades 6-12