Engaging students in math, U-M’s TeachingWorks lab will be offered in Detroit this month

July 11, 2023
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Observers watch as TeachingWorks Deborah Lowenberg Ball interacts with a fifth-grade student in the 2017 EML. Image credit: Brian Powers
Observers watch as TeachingWorks Deborah Lowenberg Ball interacts with a fifth-grade student in the 2017 EML. Image credit: Brian Powers

For the first time in its 16-year history, the Elementary Mathematics Laboratory, a program tailored for teachers, education leaders and researchers, will be held at The School at Marygrove in Detroit.

The week-long classes, July 24-28, will be hosted by TeachingWorks, a center at the University of Michigan’s Marsal Family School of Education dedicated to harnessing the power of teaching to create a more just society.

The lab will explore the complexity of teaching math and challenge what it means to use skillful teaching to disrupt patterns of injustice. The goal is to identify and analyze the best practices to engage students in mathematics in ways that value their thinking, broaden their ideas and advance equity in classrooms.

Each day, participants will observe young children working on mathematics in a live, two-hour class. They will discuss what is happening in the class with other educators and the lab class teachers, and participate in an afternoon workshop of their choice.

A student in the 2022 EML presents his work on the board as TeachingWorks Director Deborah Lowenberg Ball and Research & Design Specialist Darrius Robinson work with other students in small groups. Image credit: Brian Powers
A student in the 2022 EML presents his work on the board as TeachingWorks Director Deborah Lowenberg Ball and Research & Design Specialist Darrius Robinson work with other students in small groups. Image credit: Brian Powers

In daily pre- and post-class discussions, participants will discuss instructional decisions, examine the math content and activities and critically interrogate issues of equity embedded throughout the work.

TeachingWorks director Deborah Loewenberg Ball and research and design specialist Darrius Robinson will teach the five-day mathematics class to early-grade elementary students from The School at Marygrove and the surrounding area.

“I am excited that the EML will take place in Detroit for the first time this summer,” Ball said. “The School at Marygrove provides a rich environment for us to showcase the brilliance of young children as they learn complex mathematics.

“Our work together will support teachers, teacher educators, researchers and others invested in education—from Detroit and around the country—as they develop specific ways to advance justice through mathematics teaching and learning.”

Since its inception, more than 2,000 education leaders, researchers and practitioners have participated in the EML to closely study teaching practice. In addition, several thousand have been able to examine, discuss and learn from the recordings and materials of teaching and learning from the program’s past years.

Participants in the 2019 EML circulate the laboratory classroom and examine student work before the debrief session with the class instructors begins. Image credit: Brian Powers
Participants in the 2019 EML circulate the laboratory classroom and examine student work before the debrief session with the class instructors begins. Image credit: Brian Powers

“The Marygrove Learning Community is home to innovative and powerful programming that serves Detroit youth and educators,” said Marsal Family School of Education Dean Elizabeth Moje. “I am proud that the TeachingWorks team at the Marsal Family School of Education will offer the Elementary Mathematics Laboratory on the vibrant Marygrove campus this summer. The strength of the Detroit P-20 Partnership and the Marygrove Learning Community is evident in such opportunities.”

Participation in the EML, either virtually or on-site at the School at Marygrove is open to all. TeachingWorks has also partnered with the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators to offer free remote participation in the EML paired with in-person facilitation of a professional learning workshop at sites across Michigan.

Remote participation will be available at the following locations: Ingham ISD and Wayne RESA. Michigan elementary teachers in either of these locations can register for free to participate in the EML. The registration deadline is Friday, July 14, 2023.