This workshop supports K–12 educators in shifting math classrooms from passive compliance to active student thinking. Grounded in the research, participants explore how task design, student grouping, classroom setup, and teacher responses to questions can dramatically increase engagement and independence in problem solving. Teachers learn how to create conditions where students grapple productively with mathematics, collaborate meaningfully, and take ownership of their thinking rather than relying on teacher direction. The session emphasizes practical, immediately implementable strategies that promote deeper learning and sustained cognitive effort.

• Students engaging in “studenting” behaviors (following steps, waiting for help) rather than true mathematical thinking
• Overreliance on teacher explanations and validation during problem solving
• Low student engagement and limited perseverance with challenging tasks
• Classroom structures that unintentionally promote passivity (fixed seating, permanent work surfaces, predictable group roles)
• Homework practices that prioritize completion over understanding

1. Designing Thinking Tasks That Promote Engagement
   Participants learn how to create and adapt low-floor, high-ceiling, open-middle, and thin-sliced tasks that invite all students to begin, sustain engagement, and explore multiple solution paths without being told how to solve the problem.
2. Structuring Classrooms to Foster Independence and Collaboration
   Teachers gain strategies for using random grouping, non-permanent workspaces, and  classroom layout to increase participation, reduce social hierarchies, and make student thinking visible and shared.‍
3. Responding to Student Questions in Ways That Keep Thinking Alive
   Educators develop skills for responding to student questions with “keep-thinking” prompts that redirect ownership back to learners, reduce dependency on the teacher, and encourage reflection, self-verification, and perseverance.