Coaching the 5 Practices : Supporting Mathematics Teachers in Orchestrating Productive Discussions

Ambitious teaching requires ambitious coaching

Over a decade ago, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) and Corwin co-published the modern classic, 5 Practices for Orchestrating Productive Mathematics Discussions, aimed at guiding teachers to improve the quality of mathematics discussions in their classrooms and create an equitable learning environment for students. The bestselling series, The 5 Practices in Practice series, followed to further explore the five practices within grade bands, empowering teachers to overcome challenges in orchestrating mathematics discussions. And now, esteemed mathematics expert Peg Smith and her author team, take the 5 practices to the next level with Coaching the 5 Practices.

Written for coaches, instructional leaders, professional developers, and teacher educators, Coaching the 5 Practices: Supporting Mathematics Teachers in Orchestrating Productive Discussions will be the lynchpin to supporting teachers who are committed to engaging students in productive discussions in mathematics classrooms. The book introduces a coaching model that creates opportunities for teacher learning through one-on-one interactions with a coach. This model focuses on the specific challenges teachers face and opportunities they can lean into as they are learning to support productive mathematics discussions around the 5 practices of anticipating, monitoring, selecting, sequencing, and connecting (as well as Practice 0 of setting goals and selecting tasks).

Through three phases of a coaching cycle—before a lesson, during a lesson, and after a lesson, this coaching model

• Focuses on ambitious teaching in mathematics, aiming to ensure that every student succeeds in high-quality academic work
• Follows iterative cycles of various touchpoints between the coach and a teacher
• Emphasizes what a coach needs to do to support teacher learning throughout the cycle

With narrative examples and vignettes, lesson plans, pre-lesson and post-lesson conference plans, and other artifacts collected from real coaching sessions and classrooms, Coaching the 5 Practices is a valuable resource for education professionals who work with teachers to improve the quality of mathematics instruction. Through the efforts of Coaching the 5 Practices, teachers will continue to refine their craft and become increasingly more skilled at implementing the 5 practices in ways that support the learning of each and every student.