Promise 1
Every day, students will get a chance to
THINK ON THEIR OWN

First Thinking is a way to have students think on their own.

Every day.

 

First Thinking builds and grows mathematical decision-makers. If I want kids to engage in rich mathematical discourse, each student needs to have a chance to bring something to the conversation. The only way to ensure that all kids have a voice in the mathematical discourse of the classroom is to make sure that they all have a chance to find out what they think when no one tells them what to think - a chance to bring their own funds of knowledge to the problem.

 

We get a chance to honor all students’ ways of knowing with First Thinking. What I have come to understand is that we should assume that kids know stuff. They can think about mathematics without any math from me. My teachers hear me say, “Kids will think what they think no matter what we hope they’ll think, so we might as well find out what they think first.”