Participants will leave this session with a concrete understanding of how a well-designed BTC task can create immediate access, curiosity, and deep reasoning for all learners, including those who are disengaged or carry negative math identities. They will experience firsthand how non-procedural, low-floor/high-ceiling tasks break mimicry and generate authentic thinking, and they will see how BTC structures (random groups, vertical surfaces, and thinking-first routines) produce equitable participation and shared ownership of ideas.Participants will also come away with strategies and insights for working with students who have struggled in traditional settings. Through discussion and Q&A, they will gain practical approaches for building collaboration, persistence, confidence, and academic identity, especially for students who are math-phobic or historically marginalized. Finally, they will leave with a ready-to-implement task and a clear framework they can adapt to their own grade levels and content areas, both inside and outside mathematics.
