Case 1: Let’s Talk About it: Using Talk Moves to Build the Skills of Eliciting and Responding to Student Thinking

The practice of eliciting and using evidence of student thinking includes the teaching actions of identifying evidence of student progress toward mathematics goals, eliciting and gathering evidence of student understanding, interpreting student thinking, and making in-the-moment decisions on how to respond to students with questions and prompts that probe, scaffold, and extend students’ understanding (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics [NCTM], 2014). Interpreting and incorporating student thinking into mathematics instruction is of utmost importance for student-centered, engaged learning. This type of instruction involves skilled ways of eliciting and responding to each and every student, creating opportunities for students to learn meaningful mathematics and come to see themselves as competent mathematicians (Anthony et al., 2015). However, interpreting and incorporating thinking means an educator must first elicit and listen to that thinking.