Chapter 5: From Teachers’ Conversations to Students’ Mathematical Communications

In 1990, teacher educator Virginia Richardson wrote a paper that offered responses to the following questions: “What is involved in bringing about significant and worthwhile change in teaching practices?” and “How can or should research aid in this process?” (p. 10). One of her suggestions was to create opportunities for teachers to “interact and have conversations around standards, theory, and classroom activities” (p. 16). This chapter provides a glimpse of what happened when one group of teachers, the authors, had an opportunity to do just that. In the following we discuss our collaboration and the work that resulted from it.