In this practical guide, authors Wessman-Enzinger and Gerstenschlager provide a foundation for celebrating mathematical mistakes and offer several strategies and task structures that encourage creative and flexible mathematical reasoning. Part of the Growing the Mathematician in Every Student collection, this book moves beyond the correct–incorrect paradigm by acknowledging the beauty, power, and ubiquity of mistakes, supporting more meaningful student learning.

This book will help educators:

• Learn three types of mistakes and their roles in mathematical reasoning
• Understand how mathematical errors encourage creativity
• Support students’ invented notation and language as demonstrations of their learning
• Apply strategies and task structures with real-life vignettes
• Reflect on chapter content with prompts

Contents:

Introduction

Part 1: Celebrating Mathematical Mistakes

Chapter 1: Shifting Our Views of Mistakes

Chapter 2: Beautiful and Powerful Mistakes

Chapter 3: Factual, Procedural, and Conceptual Mistakes

Chapter 4: Mistakes by Mathematicians

Part 2: Mathematical Mistakes in Action

Chapter 5: Two Foundational Instructional Strategies for Examining Mistakes

Chapter 6: Changing Minds in Mathematics

Chapter 7: This or That Tasks

Chapter 8: Invented Notation and Language

Chapter 9: Mathematical Games

Chapter 10: Mistakes in Action

Epilogue

References and Resources

Index