Classroom culture is established through both conversations and practices. Traditionally in mathematics class, the focus is primarily on the latter; that is, students are shown what "doing mathematics" looks like, and then asked that they try it themselves. This article discusses three mathematical conversations that help bring covert--and often ineffectual--meanings into the light and build understanding as a community. This conversational process, sometimes called "interrogating meaning," allows students to make explicit their assumptions about how, when, and for what purpose a mathematical notation, representation, or term is used (Rosebery et al. 2005). In other words, these conversations can help students recognize the strengths and weaknesses of their own interpretations and give them agency in changing them. Further, these conversations allow teachers a window into students' thinking.