Strom and Martin engage with the non-linear philosophy of Deleuze and Guattari (Citation1987) to trouble linear thinking about classroom practices, teachers' work, and subjectivities. The authors, with their background in K-12 classroom teaching, and in particular working with students of color and English learners in high-poverty neighborhoods in the USA, speak back to neoliberal conceptions of effective first year pedagogy. They highlight how classroom dynamics, when theorised using a monist ontology, are fluid, multiplistic, and dynamic – in constant change and flux.