After years of assigning the kind of homework she had done as a student and observing students’ disengagement with it, a teacher overhauled how she assigns math practice.

These low-floor, high-ceiling problems support differentiation, challenging all students by encouraging flexible thinking and allowing for multiple solution paths.

These student-constructed problems foster collaboration, communication, and a sense of ownership over learning.

Four simple strategies—beginning with an image, previewing vocabulary, omitting the numbers, and offering number sets—can have a big impact on learning.