Thinking Changes Everything.

Research and practice focused on Building Thinking Classrooms®, mathematics and numeracy, teacher learning, and the conditions that support meaningful instructional change.

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Learning and collaboration can take many forms—from facilitated sessions and classroom-based work to coaching, collaborative inquiry, longer-term partnerships, and research.

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  • Research, classroom practice, implementation, and professional learning connected to the Building Thinking Classrooms® framework, including questions of task design, participation, assessment, productive struggle, and how the practices translate across contexts.

  • Support for numeracy across grade bands and contexts, including mathematical identity and affect, learner experience, cross-curricular numeracy, and district-level work such as the developing visions for numerate learner frameworks.

  • Workshops, coaching, co-teaching, and lesson-observation cycles, shaped around various contexts. Collaborative inquiry and sustained professional learning at the heart of every design — from single introductory sessions to sustained, multi-year district partnerships.

  • Ongoing research into mathematics identity, teacher learning, and professional learning communities, connecting university research with K-12 classrooms, including collaborations with doctoral students and districts pursuing their own inquiry questions.

Meet Judy

I’m Judy Larsen, a mathematics educator, researcher, teacher educator, and professional-learning facilitator. My work moves between university teaching, research, classrooms, and professional learning spaces, with a particular interest in how thinking, participation, identity, and relationships shape mathematics learning.

Alongside my academic work, I collaborate with schools, districts, and educator communities through workshops, coaching, co-teaching, classroom-based inquiry, and longer-term professional learning.

More About Judy
Children playing disc golf outdoors, with colorful discs on the ground, cones and hula hoops for training, and chalk markings on the concrete sidewalk.
Group of students in a classroom around a whiteboard with mathematical equations.

Experience First

Learning by doing, not being told.
In all of my work, I prioritize experience first. Participants begin by experiencing practices and strategies as learners before unpacking them as teachers. This also goes for lesson design for learners themselves, where experiencing the concept is at the heart of accessing deeper understanding.

A space to try, stumble, and grow.
Real change asks people to take risks in front of others. At the heart of this, every session I lead prioritizes creating spaces that feel safe enough for that—inclusive, low-stakes, and genuinely welcoming. Participants leave with the confidence to use what they've learned, not just a list of new strategies.

A woman with glasses and long hair in the foreground of a classroom setting, with several people and whiteboards with writing in the background, and ceiling tiles decorated with outdoor scenery and string lights overhead.

What Shapes My Work

Children playing hopscotch on a concrete sidewalk with chalk, cones, and hoops nearby.

Bridging Research & Practice in Mathematics Education

Work draws on research in teacher learning, mathematical identity, numeracy, and classroom participation, while staying grounded in the realities of teaching. Complex ideas are made accessible, practical, and useful without oversimplifying them.

A classroom with young students gathered around a teacher at a whiteboard, which displays handwritten notes and diagrams. The classroom has colorful alphabet banners along the top, and various educational posters on the walls.

Longstanding Building Thinking Classrooms® Experience

Experience with the Building Thinking Classrooms® framework spans its early development through research, university teaching, workshops, coaching, co-teaching, classroom observation, and sustained district partnerships.

Four women and one man standing in front of a whiteboard, engaged in a discussion or teaching. The whiteboard has some written notes and formulas.

Responsive & Sustainable Professional Learning

Rather than delivering a fixed program, professional learning is shaped around the educators, goals, and systems involved, with opportunities for workshops, collaborative inquiry, coaching, classroom-based work, and follow-up over time.

From Educators & Collaborators

“The workshop was interactive and engaging the entire time. We explored ways to have students work on math without feeling like they were working on math. Participation was high and people left feeling a sense of accomplishment.”

— Richmond, BC PD Participant, August 2025

“Judy Larsen’s openness, calm approach, and support really helped make the Building Thinking Classrooms work in our school feel accessible and meaningful. The way she engaged in classrooms and debriefed with teachers has already sparked some great conversations.”

— Manitoba School District Coach, November 2025

“Judy is a fantastic facilitator who created active, hands-on learning experiences that I’m excited to apply in my math classroom! ”

— Fraser Academy Participant, February 2026