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With refreshing candor, Ruth Heaton, an elementary mathematics educator with ten years of experience, describes and traces her efforts to change her teaching practice in response to current national reforms in mathematics education. Part of what makes this account so compelling is that Heaton explores her changing practice from the vantages of both teacher and researcher. In the face of increased standards and state mandates, Heaton does learn new ways to teach and the results of her experience are of great value to educators everywhere who face increasing challenges to their craft. This autobiographical and academically rigorous book makes a much-needed contribution to the literature on teaching and offers an insider’s view of the nature and process of changing one’s practice.

“With honesty and courage, Ruth Heaton lets us in on her journey to invent a new practice, sharing with us her confusions, struggles, successes, and discoveries. Through this book, educators of practicing and future teachers will gain essential insights into what teachers must learn in order to teach mathematics effectively.”
—Deborah Schifter, Education Development Center, Inc. 

“An exceptionally talented teacher and teacher educator, Ruth Heaton decided that the way to understand the meaning of mathematics education reform was to re-learn, for herself, how to teach elementary mathematics. In chapters that alternate the teacher's-eye view with that of the researcher, Heaton traces the ups and downs of her learning. She concludes with important messages for both teachers and teacher educators.”
—Barbara Scott Nelson, Education Development Center, Inc.