Making Math Moments That Matter

In this episode we bring back Shawn Hershey, a math interventionist teacher and department chair from Pennsylvania. Shawn joined us back in episode 223 and we discussed how to strengthen his math team. This time around Shawn is seeking advice on how to create alignment across his school’s K-12 grade bands. He has seen individual pockets of success in his school but knows that if his teachers are w...

Today we speak with Robert Barth, a high school math teacher from the South side of Chicago. Robert shares his experience with teaching with the original flipped classroom model and how he’s morphed it over the years to incorporate Peter Liljedahl’s work on Building Thinking Classrooms and the Make Math Moments “Real” Flipped Classroom approach incorporating teaching through task.  Listen in as Ro...

We welcome Lisa Marentette onto the podcast to discuss how to transition from 9 years in the Kindergarten classroom environment into the grade 2 classroom.  After so many years in the Kindergarten classroom, she wonders what changes she needs to make to the structure of her mathematics program to “fit” the grade 2 classroom environment and how she can ensure that all students leave her class well-...

In this episode we bring back on the podcast for the third time the godfather of the Thinking Classroom Peter Liljedahl. We spoke with Peter way back on episode 21 of the podcast about how he built the components of the thinking classroom, episode 98 on group work and how to choose tasks, and in this episode Peter breaks down the three components of closing your lessons so students walk away feeli...

In our latest episode, we dive into a topic of utmost importance: maintaining a harmonious equilibrium between achieving success and nurturing your well being as an educator. Join us as we explore invaluable insights that equip you with the tools to avoid burnout while making strides in your teaching journey. Discover the art of sustaining the energy required to be an effective math teacher. We un...

This week, California high school mathematics teacher leader Giovanni Patalano returns to continue where we left off last time. While his goal is still clear in that he strives to assist in pushing practice forward in his school and across the district, today we dig into where that work might begin to ensure that there is enough alignment across his team.  Should Gio and his colleagues dig into fi...

Today you’ll hear from Yvette Lehman, an elementary educator from Windsor, Ontario. Yvette is a Primary and Junior Division Teacher Consultant for the Greater Essex County Board of Education and if the name seems familiar then you’re right, we have referenced Yvette’s work numerous times here on the podcast as she’s also a colleague of Kyle’s and a fantastic part of the Make Math Moments curriculu...

This week we spoke with Lauren Sawyer, a middle school math teacher from the Chicago area. Lauren has been implementing Peter Lilijedahl’s work Building Thinking Classrooms and is trying to find the right balance between collaborative work and individual think time.  In this episode we help Lauren limit the illusion of understanding students may get when students are working in groups, determining...

In this “Where are they now” Math Mentoring Moment Episode, we bring back Jeremy Sarzana, a high school math teacher at a Vocational High School in Boston, Massachusetts.  Jeremy shares concerns over how to keep “flow” in his math classes when many of his students are engaging at varying levels.  Stick around to hear Jeremey realize how to plan beyond the lesson of the day to ensure he’s meeting t...

Today we’re releasing a replay episode where we spoke with Nick Rhodes who has been teaching online in one of the largest cyber schools in America. Nick shares his story from transforming from a rock band front man to working in accounting to teaching math to being a founding member of our Make Math Moments Academy to becoming a rockstar online teacher! Nick wonders how to adjust his assessment pr...

In this "Where Are They Now?" episode, we reconnect with Tom Marker, a dedicated 6th grade teacher from Ohio, who continues to inspire us with his dedication to improving his teaching strategies.  We dive into another conversation with Tom where we tackle:  Helping Students Break Away from Calculator Reliance: Tom explores effective strategies to liberate students from overreliance on ca...

Join us in our latest podcast episode as we dive into an important discussion about improving mathematics instruction and ensuring accessibility for all students. In this episode, we reflect on the common tendency to focus solely on students who are struggling or behind in math, neglecting those who are "lost in the middle" or above grade level but lacking appropriate support and differe...

Today we speak with Cara Carbone, a high school teacher from Bellingham Washington. Cara is here to share a pebble in her shoe around engaging her high achieving students with rich tasks. She implements some low floor/high ceiling tasks but struggles to do this consistently due to time constraints and the large number of preps she has during the year.  Stick around and you’ll hear how we help Cara...

In this episode, we had the pleasure of speaking with Amy Buchheit, an instructional coach from the Chicago area. In our chat, Amy discusses her current mathematics leader pebble related to creating measurable professional development (PD) goals in mathematics that can truly shift teacher practice and in turn, increase student achievement. One of the speed bumps educators face in implementing the...

Without a clear, concise and well-communicated mathematics vision and a sustainable professional development plan rooted in relevant, attainable, research-based and measurable goals, your teachers will continue to work on disconnected pieces of effective mathematics instruction that can only lead to pockets of success instead of systemic change in mathematics teaching practice and student achievem...

Join us for an insightful conversation with Bill McCallum, co-founder of Illustrative Mathematics and a distinguished professor in mathematics education. In this episode, we delve into important topics that will transform your perspective on mathematics instruction.  Discover what makes a problem engaging for students and how to identify struggling learners through classroom observations. Explore...

In our recent podcast episode, we had the pleasure of hosting Jonathan Lind again. Jonathan is an experienced high school math teacher currently teaching at an American school in Qatar. Jonathan shared invaluable insights and practical strategies on how he transformed his assessment practices in his math class, leading to remarkable outcomes for his students. During our conversation, Jonathan delv...

In this episode, we hop on a call with Andrea; a middle school mathematics educator and Texas native now living and teaching in Germany.  Andrea joins us with a pebble she is dealing with regarding the connectedness of the content (or lack thereof) she is feeling with certain topics at the end of the unit. She even goes as far as to describe this issue with some topics as having all of the sprinkl...

In this episode we chat with Jake Hickson, the System Math Lead for the Provincial and Demonstration Schools Branch of the Ministry of Education here in Ontario, Canada. Jake and his colleagues service students who are deaf/hard of hearing, blind/low-vision as well as students who have one or more identified learning disabilities. We chat with Jake about the challenges he faces as a district mathe...

In this Math Mentoring Moment episode we speak with a year 1 (first grade) teacher Sierra Classen in her second year of teaching from Melbourne, Australia. Listen in as we work through this common struggle we have all faced – either currently or in the past – related to students hyper focusing on answer getting over process. This is another Math Mentoring Moment Episode where we speak with a membe...

Steve is a Mathematics Specialist and Vice Principal of Academics in his school from the Seattle, Washington area. Join us as we learn about Steve and the work he and his colleagues have been engaging in to improve the overall teaching and learning process of mathematics in their building.   While Steve shares that his team is “all-in” and “pulling the same wagon” we are pulling over here at Make...

This week we speak with Giovanni Patalano, a high school mathematics teacher leader from California. Giovanni is striving to continue pushing mathematics teaching practice in his school and across the district, but feels like they’ve hit a rut in the road.   How can Giovanni assist his own school team of mathematics teachers continue making progress while also trying to help an overworked and unde...

Teaching mathematics in school is complex and often misunderstood. This paper titled Why Are Learning And Teaching Mathematics So Difficult by Alan H. Schoenfeld does a great job shedding some light on why this is the case. He argues that teaching and learning math is complex because of these three (3) big ideas: Thinking Mathematically – What does it mean to do mathematics? The Learning Environme...

We dug into some survey data around why teachers are limiting their PD experiences or completing opting out and the results are kind of shocking.  Stick around and you’ll hear why teachers are opting out of math PD and what we can do to help these fellow educators.  You’ll Learn:  Why are teachers feeling overwhelmed this year? Why some district PD programs are great for their educators and why so...

This week we speak with Rose Piso, an elementary interventionist teacher from Seneca Valley. Rose is dedicated to helping her students feel confident, accomplished, and proud. Rose also knows that there are topics and strands that we teachers should spend more time developing conceptually with our students rather than simply showing students an algorithm and moving on.  How can Rose help the teach...