And on the 13th day, there were worksheets.

So my students and I have had 12 beautiful and incredible days of deep deep mathematical thinking together. Our first and second graders have engaged in so many incredible tasks and pedagogical routines. We have explored so much! Here’s just a sampling of some of our thinking from these first 12 days:

Number Talks

Quick Images

Choral Counting

Splat

Three Act Tasks

How Many

Notice/Wonder

Which one doesn’t belong?

But, just like so many of us out there, today we begin our window of individual math and reading assessments. This means that I need to find time to meet with each and every one of my 35 students over the next two weeks for a 15-minute mathematics interview. Let me be clear, the data is priceless, and it’s well worth the time. But, that means I need to find something for my six and seven-year-old students to do that they can do on their own.

So, today that meant copying some worksheets. I felt embarrassed. And I felt like I was giving up.

But then something really interesting happened. My kids really enjoyed the worksheets. They were grateful for them, and I think they enjoyed the brain break. We have done so much big work over the past 12 days together, and I think we all just needed just some time to do some math problems. I know this isn’t the typical conversation that happens here in the #MTBoS, but I promised my reflections would be real.

And, honestly, it felt OK. It felt like the time for all of us to just do some work.

I do believe in the future that these first and second-grade students will be more capable of doing some of that deep mathematical thinking independently. But, for today those copies were enough. And we all benefited from the break.