ABSTRACT
It is mid-February, and Ms. Ridley (T/R),1 a fifth-grade math teacher at Johnson Middle School, introduces addition and subtraction of fractions with like denominators (e.g., + ) for the first time. She tells the students, “Raise your hand and tell me what dumb people might do. Tell me some stuff people do at Johnson that’s dumb.” The students make comments such as “not studying for a test,” “making stupid noises,” “talking in the cafeteria from table to table,” “starting a food fight,” and “chewing gum.” Ms. Ridley then asks, “What do smart people do?” The students suggest the following: “thinking before you speak,” “raising hands for every question,” “paying attention in class,” and “not making the same mistakes again.”
