Examining One Mathematics Teacher’s Decisions Regarding Mathematics and Language

Teachers have to make many in-the-moment decisions when teaching. We investigated one teacher’s decisions in response to the difference between the intended meaning of a mathematical problem and her student’s understanding. The student—an English language learner—had a different interpretation of the mathematical scenario related to one particular clause in the problem that was, ironically, intended to be explanatory but ended up obscuring intended meaning and therefore impacted the student’s solution. In order to reflect on the teacher’s decisions, we include a vignette that illustrates the teacher’s tensions when making her instructional decisions. The vignette is followed by the teacher’s rationale for her decisions and an analysis of the episode. We invite readers to participate in her decision-making process and explore impacts of each decision.