Trust

Even though I tell my students that mathematicians love to count things, I also make sure to let them know the other side of the story. Sometimes there's literally just way too much counting. Sometimes counting is the last thing a mathematician should do.  

This year I have been emphasizing trust during math time. In fact, it might be my new favorite math word. Trust is the thing that can keep kids from counting when it would be inefficient to do so. Trust helps them recognize five-ness and ten-ness.  Trust helps them subitize. Trust makes them more efficient. Trust takes away some of the guess work. Trust helps them see that math makes sense. Trust shows them that numbers can be very predictable. Trust is a necessary piece of the puzzle.

I can thank Christina Tondevold from Build Math Minds for helping me understand the importance of explicitly teaching my mathematicians to trust.