Summer Reading Reflections

I’m the kind of teacher who takes summer to recharge by reading about math. Weird, I know, but summer is when I finally feel free to learn and read about learning. Without the buzz of school days and the never-ending to-do list, I can slow down, reflect, and dive into books that stretch my thinking and inspire my practice.

This summer, I read Math-ish by Jo Boaler and Developing Mathematical Reasoning: Avoiding the Trap of Algorithms by Pamela Weber Harris. Together, these two books felt like the perfect match. They complemented each other in such a meaningful way.

Jo Boaler’s Math-ish reminded me why I teach math the way I teach now. Her writing encourages me to think bigger. She makes math teaching look fluid, connected, and deeply human. She writes about including data as a critical part of math education and how doing so helps students become empowered thinkers and decision-makers. What really struck me, though, was her invitation to be a “warrior” as being someone who pushes for change and challenges the status quo in order to make math more equitable, inclusive, and alive. That word warrior has stayed with me. It feels aligned with my personal goal: to help math flourish for as many students and teachers as I can.

While Boaler inspires the vision, Pam Harris gives me the how. Developing Mathematical Reasoning is packed with classroom-tested strategies, real student examples, and practical tools that I can bring straight into my classroom. She reminds me that the goal is not to churn out students who follow procedures but cultivate mathematical reasoners; students who think flexibly, make connections, and truly understand.

Whether I’m teaching in my own classroom or visiting others through my World2Math work, my goal is the same: to build classrooms where students reason, explore, and grow confident in their mathematical voices. These two books helped me take another step forward in that journey.