Many teachers try to engage their students in meaningful mathematical discussions in which one or more students share their thinking about a problem while the other students are expected to listen and learn from the sharing. Indeed, such discussions can help students learn from one another and promote high levels of mathematical proficiency. However, orchestrating such discussions can be challenging for many reasons, including trying to encourage the listening students to also fully engage in the mathematics. The purpose of this article is to share four strategies that we have found to be effective in promoting full engagement. In doing so, we hope to link our research with your classroom practice (Arbaugh et al. 2010).
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