We often evaluate student thinking and their work from a deficit point of view, particularly in mathematics, where many teachers have been taught that their role is to diagnose and eradicate students' misconceptions. But what if instead of focusing on what students don't know or haven't mastered, we identify their mathematical strengths and build…

We strive to empower our students to lead their own inquiry, discover knowledge, and construct approaches to solving real-life challenges. Often, though, we make the mistake of designing learning experiences that burden students with the unrealistic expectation of expertise that hasn't yet been developed. The solution: proper scaffolding for…