The definition of struggle. The whole thing hinges on letting the kids find their identity. They need to understand that they can find their identity in the math through the struggle. They need to build their confidence. There are so many amazing activities, I loved the quilt and so many more activities. Watched on replay.

I really appreciated the discussion around revisiting the concept of productive struggle and spreading the activities out throughout the school year. I think too often we as teachers here about all these fantastic ideas during the summer and try to implement them all at once to make sure our class is on board at the beginning. But, understanding that they can be utilized at various times and help reinforce productive struggle and classroom community will allow for a much more cohesive community all year long.

One thing that I do continuously throughout the year is talk about the brain science behind a growth mindset. I use some of Jo Boaler's videos to show this idea and have students continue to use the language throughout the year. We have a discussion all year about challenges and mistakes help our brain to grow. I one time had a students say, "It's okay I got it wrong... my brain is just stretching and growing." This was maybe the happiest moment for me that year and I still remember her face when she said it perfectly!

I really liked that it was stressed to continue community building activities throughout the year to maintain a positive math community. That is something I must remember to do.

I love that this chapter gives us activities to establish a community and promote struggle in any age classroom. I was glad to read how this community can negate the notion that being fast is equivalent to being smart. I agree with you guys that this emphasis is so important. I'm a middle school instructional facilitator now, but in my life as a high school math teacher I had so many students (especially in calculus) who lost confidence when problems simply got more complex and took longer and required more perseverance. This would have been so much easier if students had experienced classrooms along the way that celebrated struggle and not a speedy way to answers. And yes, this is such a healthy life skill and will help them with so much more than math.

I truly appreciate the suggestions to getting a Productive Struggle Community going.

Communities for Productive Math Struggle and creating a classroom definition is awesome for building a true math community.

As a class we create a math mindset pledge! This past year, each week/day mathematicians chose a part of the pledge that they wanted to focus on and grow. Just that one little tweak gave them so much more ownership in the daily. math! I love the community building tasks and the idea of doing them throughout the year!

I absolutely love the idea of building community in the classroom and trying to have this same type of feeling in the other subject areas as well.

"Struggle feels good in the moment" Brittany's comment Loved It!

I really love the activities suggested for getting the kids on board with productive struggle.

Establishing community is important because students need to be aware of the expectations for the learning environment. Their past experiences shape how they interact with future experiences. Sometimes these experiences are not positive and we have to re-frame math for them. - Watched on replay

I missed the last 2 chats due to unforeseen circumstances. I am appreciative that I can view these at a later time and date. I understand more the importance of building a math community within a classroom.

Very good conversation- I also intentionally had to think about the different activities & place them in my plans throughout the year to keep the community growing.

Thank you for this week's conversation. So helpful.

Loved this chapter. Can't wait to continue reading.

This was a great chapter, it really reinforced my existing beliefs about the importance of building a class community where students feel safe to take risks. There are so many great ideas to help keep that process going. I love the idea of the t-chart with what a good group looks like vs a bad group. I also like the picture of struggle and time I struggled activities. I think it helps kids to see that everyone struggles and that it isn't a bad thing. I love the idea of helping kids see that struggle can be fun and enjoyablel What a great discussion topic to have with students!

Really enjoyed all of the activities suggested for building that classroom community. I see myself using the dimensions of me activity and I see a possible extension discussion on some content about nets, surface area, volume, etc.

Our school district does a reset/remind day at the beginning of each quarter, and I think this would be an amazing opportunity for our math teachers to implement the community building activities :)

It’s so helpful that they include sample activities.

I enjoyed this discussion and plan to implement some of these tasks in my classroom.

This was so helpful…I listened twice! I am definitely going to be creating a Math Pledge with my class this year. I also like the idea of scheduling a community activity once a quarter as a review. I plan to start with The Number Quilt at the beginning of the year!

I like finding puzzles and activities that are not straight forward and are a challenge to solve. I remember the links that you have to twist and turn to unlatch them.

I am loving the book!

Building community is ongoing and needs to be revisited throughout the year.

I love that quote!!

I am looking forward to a class definition of struggle and the other supporting ideas.

This was great!

I'm a little late. Wallis from SC. I live this chapter.

The class definition is a great idea. I've done that with reading. But I'd like to be sure that with the definition comes multiple opportunities to practice. Maybe one aspect a day could be the focus.

Here from Memphis, TN!

Hi from Louisiana!

Hi from MIchigan! Love the chapter and its ideas for getting started building community. Love the book!

Loving the book!

Yes, I know what you are talking about.

Watching from New Jersey!

Hi Heather here. Watching at the pool on vacation in Florida

Tracy and Kelly watching from Florida!

Watching from Texas.

Watching from Maine!

I have 7 boards in my room and one outside

Watching from Georgia :)

Here in hot Las Vegas

Watching from Ohio