Autumn 2026 President's Message -Engagement: Creating Opportunities to Think, Connect, and Belong

Across California, our mathematics community shares an important responsibility: creating opportunities for every student to experience mathematics as something they can explore, make sense of, contribute to, and see themselves in. At the heart of those experiences is something we often talk about, but that can take many different forms: engagement.

When we think about engagement, we might picture students talking, collaborating, or eagerly participating in a lesson. These can certainly be signs of engagement, but engagement is much more than what we can see and hear.

Sometimes engagement is a student quietly wrestling with an idea or refusing to give up on a problem. It might be a student asking a question, trying a new strategy, or making a connection that changes their thinking. Engagement can be visible and energetic, but it can also be quiet and deeply focused.

At its heart, engagement means that students have something worth engaging with.

Give Students Something to Think About

Meaningful mathematical tasks can invite students into mathematics. Interesting problems create opportunities for curiosity, different approaches, and meaningful discussion.

As we plan for these experiences, we can consider what students will have an opportunity to figure out, what might spark their curiosity, and what ideas and experiences they might bring. A well-designed task gives students a reason to stay with the mathematics—to explore, question, make connections, and persevere when an answer is not immediately apparent.

Create Space for Mathematical Thinkers

Engagement is deeply connected to classroom culture. Students are more likely to engage when they know their ideas matter and when they are positioned not simply as recipients of mathematics, but as thinkers, problem solvers, and mathematicians.

When students have opportunities to share ideas, listen to one another, ask questions, and revise their thinking, they begin to see that they have something valuable to contribute. They learn that there can be different ways to approach a problem and that their thinking can help move the learning of the entire class forward.

These interactions are about more than participation. They build mathematical understanding while helping students develop confidence, agency, and a stronger mathematical identity.

Let Students Experience the Mathematics

Engagement is also about what students are invited to do with mathematics.

Manipulatives, visual representations, tools, and drawings can give students opportunities to explore ideas before formalizing procedures. Taking numbers apart and putting them back together can develop flexible thinking, while moving objects or representations can make abstract relationships more visible.

The goal is not simply to make mathematics more fun or active. These experiences help students make sense of mathematics and build the conceptual understanding that gives meaning to procedures.

Make Mathematics Meaningful

Students can also engage more deeply when they see connections between mathematics and their lives, communities, cultures, interests, and experiences. Drawing on what students already know and care about creates additional entry points into mathematical learning.

Families are an important part of this work as well. They bring knowledge, experiences, languages, and ways of thinking that can enrich mathematics. When those perspectives are welcomed, students can begin to see mathematics as something that exists beyond the walls of school.

When students see themselves and their communities reflected in mathematics, we communicate something powerful:

Your experiences belong here. Your ideas belong here.

You belong in mathematics.

Creating the Conditions for Engagement

Meaningful engagement requires intentionality. Teachers make countless decisions about tasks, questions, materials, and how to respond to student thinking. But creating the conditions for engagement is not the responsibility of teachers alone.

As a mathematics community, we all have a role. Coaches and leaders can create opportunities for teachers to collaborate, examine student thinking, and deepen their practice. Families can bring valuable knowledge and experiences into the learning. Organizations like CMC can continue creating spaces for educators to learn from one another and strengthen mathematics teaching and learning across our state.

A Word of Appreciation

When I think about engagement, I am continually reminded of the incredible work I see happening in classrooms and schools throughout California. I see teachers thoughtfully selecting tasks, listening carefully to students, asking questions that open up thinking, and creating space for multiple strategies. I see educators working together to create meaningful experiences for students.

I continue to be inspired by the creativity, care, and brilliance teachers bring to this work.

Engagement will not look the same for every student. Sometimes it is visible and energetic. Sometimes it is quiet and deeply focused. Perhaps, then, the question is not simply, “Are students engaged?” but instead, “Are students curious? Are their ideas valued? Are they making sense of mathematics? Can they see themselves as mathematicians?”

When we create these opportunities, we do more than engage students in a lesson. We help them develop confidence, agency, and a sense that mathematics is a place where their ideas, experiences, and ways of thinking belong.

As a mathematics community, I hope we continue creating those opportunities for every learner, and supporting one another in making them possible.

With appreciation,

Hilda Villarreal Wright

California Mathematics Council

State President