Building Thinking Classrooms Conference 2026

Participants will understand how students can work on building basic fact fluency using some of the practices from Building Thinking Classrooms (VNPS, visible random groups, teacher as the facilitator, and defronting the classroom).Participants will see how the integration of developing fact fluency can be a simple addition to any math block.Participants will understand that rich authentic tasks can even include a simple game played with a deck of cards.Participants will understand how vertical surfaces provide opportunities for student discourse and how this discourse is integral to building fact fluency.Participants will have the opportunity to engage in rich mathematical discourse using student work (they will play the role of the students) on VNPS as the mentor text for explicit teaching.