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Designing a Mathematics



      Classroom Based on Good


      Teaching





      By Brian Donahue Ed.D., Principal, and Maria Steffero, Ed.D., Mathematics
      Supervisor, Colts Neck High School


















































      Flexible seating and                 meaningful integration of tools and   Through our exploration of the litera-
      nontraditional classroom             technologies. We wanted to create    ture (Berry, 2018; Francisco & Maher,
                                                                                2005; Maher, 2005; NCTM, 2018), the
                                           a space where teachers could make
      spaces are the latest                mathematics learning visible and     common themes presented were that
      trends in education, but do          transferable to the real world. The   the reimagined math classroom must:
                                           relevant literature on reimagining the
      these classrooms promote             math classroom helped guide our        •   create an environment where
                                                                                    authentic experiences are
                                           design of the Mathematics Lab. From      possible;
      good instruction? When we            there we explored ways to finance our
      first considered creating the Colts   vision, and created a plan to support   •   allow for student collaboration in
      Neck High School Mathematics Lab,    ongoing teacher collaboration and        problem solving;
      our goal was to promote personalized   professional development in order to   •   promote personalized instruction;
      instruction, authentic problem solving   sustain a thriving new learning space.  •   make use of relevant technology.
      in standards-based curricula, and


                                            Educational Viewpoints       -72-       Spring 2019
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