Building Thinking Classrooms 2025 Annual Conference

How do the ideas in Grading for Equity by Joe Feldman overlap and complement those of BTC Chapter 14, “How We Grade in a Thinking Classroom”?  Learn how accurate, bias-resistant, and motivational grading practices shift us from a normative, point-gathering paradigm to a data-gathering paradigm and establish a stronger connection between learning and grades.  Examine a 7th-grade teacher’s implementation journey, even while using required curricular resources.  End with a reflection and concrete plan for how Feldman’s ideas can deepen the impact of Liljedahl’s guidance for grading in your own thinking classroom.  This session is for those interested in new grading practices as well as those seeking steps to get started.  

Are you feeling overwhelmed with all the possibilities for assessments after reading the Assessment Practices in BTC? Are you looking for inspiration or a place to start with your assessment practices in your classroom or as a department? Come hear from two teachers on how their department created essential standards to help focus instruction, how we are assessing student work, and creating a more equitable grading system to give better access to higher math classes for all students. A merging of BTC assessment with Standards Based Grading.

Whether you are tech-phobic or a tech lover, come jam out about some math with us! Join us in an exploration of division of fractions where we use Polypad with intentionality to deepen the understanding of a very abstract concept.  We ask you that you please bring a device, if you can.  We will have opportunities to tinker with our representations and use them to solidify and adjust our conjectures.

This session demonstrates how leaders can promote best practice by leading with best practice and models BTC strategies to build a community of professional learners. Drawing from Toolkit 1 and incorporating macro/micro moves, participants will engage in interactive activities that align with the principles of adult learning. Example sessions will include topics such as fostering collaborative cultures, developing policies, and PLC data conversations. By first modeling a shift in their own professional development practices administrators demonstrate their own commitment for BTC practices, this session equips leaders with tools and strategies to inspire educators to shift their pedagogy by first modeling a shift in their own andragogy.

As district math leaders, we recognize that shifting pedagogy is key to teacher and student success. By fostering positive mathematical mindsets, adopting student-centered practices, and deepening content understanding, we embarked on a three-year Building Thinking Classrooms (BTC) journey across 30 schools.
In this session, we will share how teacher leadership has been pivotal in sustaining thinking classrooms. We’ll outline our multi-year professional learning plan, its sustainability through PLC cohorts, and how we built our own capacity to support teachers. Finally, we’ll present data highlighting the impact on teachers and students.