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When one sixth-grade mathematics teacher reviewed her classroom teaching during summer professional development sessions, she realized that some of her most important goals for peer interaction and learning through participation were not being met. Because this teacher, Ann, felt strongly that students learn best from their peers and through classroom participation, she wanted to promote learning among her students. UW Madison education professors Mitchell Nathan and Eric Knuth worked with Ann for two years, analyzing whole-group discourse. During the second year she removed herself from the central teaching role more often, leaving more room for students to think, ask questions, and publicly express their own ideas. From this shift in practice, she saw significant growth in student-to-student mathematical talk. She was aware of the greater amount of class time these interactions took. Still, she saw that students were learning that mathematics included forming and expressing one's ideas, not simply asking the teacher or doing calculations.

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