Necessary Conditions: Teaching Secondary Math with Academic Safety, Quality Tasks, and Effective Facilitation

by Geoff Krall

During his years working as an instructional coach for a national network of schools, Geoff Krall had the chance to witness several inspirational moments when math class comes alive for middle or high school students--when it is challenging but also fun, creative, and interactive. In Necessary Teaching Secondary Math with Academic Safety, Quality Tasks, and Effective Facilitation, Krall documents the essential ingredients that produce these sorts of moments on a regular basis and for all students. They are Academic Safety, Quality Tasks, and Effective Facilitation. My work as a math instructional coach for a network of schools has afforded me the unique opportunity to visit exceptional teachers across the country, documenting their tasks, teaching moves, and academically safe learning environments. You'll experience dispatches from these effective classrooms in which we'll observe how teachers attend to all three elements that make up the ecosystem. -- Geoff Krall from his book, Necessary Conditions

Genres: Education, Teaching, Mathematics

360 pages, Paperback

Published November 8, 2018

Reviews

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection of mathematical practices and resources. Nothing particularly revolutionary, but many example tasks and a good chunk of the appendix are super useful to have around.

*Also, particularly interesting to read during this time of distance learning, as it serves as a good reminder to ask myself how my remote teaching is/is not meeting some of these goals!

[Tracy Conte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect for secondary math teachers wishing to turn their classrooms into problem-solving environments that empower students. Necessary Conditions brings together so many of the AMAZING resources for math teachers that there are on the internet, and explains how to use them in a structured way, through a nifty 3-component model and lesson plan templates. So whenever the author mentions a blogger or website (e.g. Fawn Nguyen’s blog, Open Middle, Notice & Wonder, etc.) then you should spend the rest of your night exploring that resource and getting excited over what your future classroom will look like. Don’t forget to get on Twitter and looks up the # (hashtag) of all these key phrases too (lots of resources on Twitter).

I’d like to see a future edition of this book include Peter Liljedahl’s work on Thinking Classrooms and how vertical non-permanent surfaces and visible random grouping drastically improve “academic safety.” For you at home reading this review, I highly recommend Googling Liljedahl’s research and looking up #VNPS #VRG #ThinkingClassroom on Twitter, and then go out and buy a pack of cards and lots of Wipebook posters to go around your classroom.

Absolutely IN LOVE with Necessary Conditions. What an exciting time to be a math teacher in the US! Thank you, Geoff Krall.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic. Lots of examples from various classrooms about building the three key ideas of this book into your practice. Very open-ended and full of questions to ask yourself to meet your own classroom goals. The Academic Safety section is something that I wish every math teacher would read, especially traditionalists who think "it worked for me, so it's fine" - it goes into presenting math as a field as more creative and rewarding, as well as ensuring the most vulnerable of our students are supported, and feel like it. The quality tasks section is my favourite - it provides a ton of details on what makes a task worth doing and how to structure it so that your students are scaffolded while still having independence and opportunities for their own questions to come out. The Facilitation section talks about what you do in the actual classroom to bring everything together. There's a couple chapters on micro- and macro-planning, assessment, etc., and there is a feeling throughout that you should be aiming your teaching and assessment at what you think actually matters. This might be my new math bible.

[Danielle Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading a math book specifically for secondary teachers. The author does a great job outlining practices that enhance the math classroom. I’d give this book a 4.5, my only complaint is that there needs to be more balance on the information. Much of it was surface level and I’m left wondering about some strategies. The appendix in the back is pure gold!

[Melody · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been looking for a comprehensive vision of what the ideal math classroom could look like. This is it! A high-level view with lots of practical strategies.