Her school’s International Baccalaureate philosophy and program allow students multiple opportunities to provide evidence of learning through varied assessments and assignments. Kathleen teaches sixth and seventh grade math students in Cleveland, Ohio, where she has been on a mission to encourage students to revise their work, develop a growth mindset, and embrace the value of learning from mistakes. Rough drafts and revision in middle school

Students also come to see themselves as significant contributors to the learning of the group, and recognize there are a wide range of ways of approaching math problems. Mathematics classrooms can become spaces where every student understands that teachers see each of them as capable of learning and doing mathematics.

Math teachers who incorporate rough draft mathematics practices will find they are amplifying the brilliance in the thinking of historically marginalized students. Their dignity is honored because students’ emerging thoughts are viewed as having strengths that can be built upon through revising. Rough draft mathematics can rehumanize the mathematics classroom by making it a place where students can fully be themselves. When students share their draft ideas, the teacher encourages students to see what they can learn from each other’s thinking and to build upon the assets of their own initial thinking when revising their work. We want to share some of the why and the how of rough draft process here.

explicitly invites opportunities for students to revise their thinking.

enacts mathematics tasks that encourage students to communicate to learn about concepts and.

creates a classroom culture that welcomes students’ ideas when they are beginning to form and in early stages.

In her book Rough Draft Math, Amanda shares a process for engaging students in learning that: