Teaching Math at a Distance, Grades K-12
A Practical Guide to Rich Remote Instruction
Corwin Mathematics Series
Mathematics
In an age when distance learning has become part of the “new normal,” educators know that rich remote math teaching involves more than direct instruction, online videos, and endless practice problems on virtual worksheets.
Using both personal experience and those of teachers in real K-12 online classrooms, distance learning mathematics veteran Theresa Wills translates all we know about research-based, equitable, rigorous face-to-face mathematics instruction into an online venue.
This powerful guide equips math teachers to:
Build students’ agency, identity, and strong math communities
- Promote mathematical thinking, collaboration, and discourse
- Incorporate rich mathematics tasks and assign meaningful homework and practice
- Facilitate engaging online math instruction using virtual manipulatives and other concrete learning tools
- Recognize and address equity and inclusion challenges associated with distance learning
- Assess mathematics learning from a distance
Free resources
Planning for Virtual Manipulatives
This excerpt from Teaching Math at a Distance explains how to use virtual manipulatives to showcase mathematical concepts to students.
Student-Led Math Show-and-Tell
Student-Led Math Show-and-Tell from Teaching Math at a Distance helps students showcase a real-world application of a mathematical concept.
Mine, Yours, Ours
The 'Mine, Yours, and Ours' exercise from Teaching Math at a Distance can be used as a strategy to promote student thinking in mathematics.
“Theresa Wills offers so many practical ideas for distance learning along with clever tips from her many years of experience. The cornerstone of Theresa’s work is creating space for student voice and student choice, and this book is a gold mine of ideas and strategies. Theresa’s work has profoundly influenced my teaching practices in so many ways that make learning more enjoyable for teachers and students.”
“If you feel hopeless and helpless about teaching mathematics online, stop now and read this book. Theresa Wills shares the benefits that come from online teaching and coaches you through the challenging parts. Learn to transfer what is best about your classroom environment into the online world and get to know your students and their learning even more than ever.”
“As much of the country has been thrust into online learning with little preparation or professional development, Teaching Math at a Distance is just what our educators need. Dr. Theresa Wills’s wealth of experience and anecdotes provide an easy-to-read road map for distance learning. Even though I have been teaching for 18 years, I have discovered so many techniques in this book that I am excited to try within my new virtual classes.”
“This book is a must-have! It provides wonderful ideas of how to teach math in a virtual setting and is practical and applicable to a wide range of grades. Many of the ideas can be utilized in face-to-face settings as well to help engage each and every student through the use of technology.”
“As a mathematics educator doing distance learning, I am continually searching for the best practices and tools for teaching and learning in this setting . . . and there are always too many tabs open. It’s time to close the tabs and open Dr. Theresa Wills’s book. Full of practical strategies and written with a ‘can-do’ attitude about engaging students remotely in rich mathematics instruction, this is a must-read for any math teacher who seeks to promote student agency, to make thinking visible, and to continue to reach all learners even at a distance.”
“What a remarkable resource! It provides guidance on everything from how to be more effective and efficient at setting norms and managing the logistics of using microphones and video, to much more complex concerns around student access, agency, and equity! It’s beautiful to see through Theresa Wills’s work that all of the characteristics of quality math instruction can live in the virtual math classroom.”
“Theresa Wills provides clear, concrete, research-based practices that will help any teacher engage students in distance learning settings! This book provides easy-to-use practices and frameworks that keep the focus on mathematical sense-making and rich problem solving. Whether you are new with distance learning or an experienced veteran, Teaching Math at a Distance will expand your math distance teaching vocabulary in productive ways!”
