Making Math Moments That Matter

That there is Christa Amezcua from Mexico! Christa is a middle school teacher and comes on the show today to talk about what we should do when you’re doubting your teaching approach and strategies.  We chat with Christa about a recent interaction she had with a colleague that left her feeling a bit inadequate and we help her focus her efforts so she can build her confidence so she can continue to...

As we start/continue another school year during this pandemic we might find ourselves asking: What should I focus on most? How can I help my students get ready for the next grade level? Do I have time to teach through activities or should I just teach with direct instruction? What resources can I use so that I cover the curriculum and still teach deep learning?  As we are both practicing educators...

Jon & Kyle share insights on their journey with spiralling their math lessons over the last 8 years. They dive into what spiralling is, why you should consider this structural change in your classes, and how they changed to this model from their mostly traditional approach to math lessons.  You’ll also learn what they changed along the way in their journey as well as how to get started so you...

We’re speaking with David Alewine in this Math Mentoring Moment Episode. David is home-schooling his twin 6 year olds and doing a fantastic job at weaving different curriculums and resources together to reach his kids and help them with what they need most.  David shares his story of how he chose to home-school, the benefits and drawbacks that he faces, and he’s seeking advice from Jon and Kyle ab...

On the podcast today we speak with Lana Steiner about all things assessment! Lana is from the Horizon School Division in Saskatchewan and she’s been working with teachers to deepen their assessment strategies to learn how to capture and rely on observations and conversations in the math classroom.  Stick with us and you learn How teachers can rely on their professional judgement to assess students...

In this episode Kyle and Jon dive deep into a problem based task and unpack it so you can make math moments every day in your classroom.  You’ll Learn:  The teacher moves we need to make before starting a task with our students;  The elements that are necessary to build a great problem based lesson; What a problem based unit looks like over the course of 5 days; and, Where purposeful practice fits...

We chat with Jordan Rappaport - a teacher from Toronto, Ontario. Jordan’s journey stretches from traditional teacher to Make Math Moment Academy member to regional presenter and most recently, a new member of the Make Math Moments Curriculum Writing Team. In this episode Jordan shares his expertise on how to begin the transformation from an “I do, we do, you do” lesson structure to a problem based...

On the podcast today we speak with Isis Spann on why building a strong home-school relationship is important to ensure all students can achieve at high levels!  Isis is an early years educator dedicated to helping families get a “leg up” when it comes to helping their children with math. She shares her thoughts on the best tools for connecting with families; how we can elevate the importance of nu...

We’re back for our third installment of our How To Start The School Year Off right! In this episode Kyle and Jon share their tips and strategies on how to prepare for the coming school year from the first day all the way to the last.  In episode 36 and episode 88 we’ve shared the activities you could do in the first week to build the classroom culture that is needed to fuel the thinking you want y...

Today we speak 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 practices so they line up with his proble...

On the podcast today we speak with Norma Gordon on how you can create a less stressful math classroom through mindfulness. Norma has successfully transformed her classroom and helped numerous teachers embed mindfulness in their routines.  Stick around and you’ll hear Norma walk us through a mindfulness activity and share how to add mindfulness to your mathematics classroom, how to connect mindfuln...

In this episode of the Making Math Moments That Matter Podcast, Jon and Kyle discuss 5 Tips to Guide You to Summer Growth. These tips are great ways to take your mathematics professional development into your own hands while not interfering with all of the important aspects that go with our well deserved summer vacations: family, friends, rest and relaxation. Go ahead and hit that play button and...

Today we speak with Christina Michaels - a teacher for over 24 years from Tucson Arizona. Christina has just taken our online course The Concept Holding Your Students Back: Unlocking the Key Understanding of Proportional Reasoning and is implementing many of the strategies she has learned. The pebble in Christina’s shoe is around the question: “When is the right time to show my students a model th...

Today we bring on our old friend Alex Overwijk from Ottawa Ontario who shares his teaching journey and transformation from a pretty typical high school math teacher to an engaging activity based thinking classroom advocate!  In our discussion we learn the answers to how to engage your students with activity based learning, why finding a teaching partner who is willing to make change with you is so...

Today we have a special treat for your ears! We recently held a live panel discussion at the annual OAME Conference (Ontario Association of Mathematics) on de-streaming the grade 9 math program here in Ontario with some pretty special guests!  We were honoured to host Dr. Christine Suurtamm who is a Professor of Mathematics Education at the University of Ottawa, Hema Khodai, an Instructional Resou...

Today we speak with Caitlyn Sloan, a high school geometry teacher who is currently in the role of leading a math support class for students who require additional support. In this conversation, you’ll hear Caitlyn reflect on her challenge to stay true to her investigative, problem based approach to teaching mathematics given that her students have been pre-taught to mimick the rules, steps, and pr...

Today we speak with Theresa Wills, the author of the new book Teaching Math At A Distance. Theresa is an assistant professor of mathematics of education at George Mason University and a past middle school math teacher.  Stick around to hear how to run math routines online with success, optimal strategies for engaging students online, how we collaborate online in meaningful ways, how we can use the...

Today we speak with Thomasenia Lott Adams from the University of Florida --- Go Gators! Thomasenia is a mathematics teacher educator/researcher with numerous accolations for teaching and the work she does with pre-service teachers.  We speak with Tomasenia today about how we can use students’ cultural capital to empower learning, why promoting student voice is so important in math class, and why i...

Today we speak with Tom Marker, a 14 year veteran sixth grade teacher from Ohio! Tom reached out to us to tackle the big struggle of trying to convince his students to avoid rushing to standard algorithms and instead value strategies that can be more meaningful outside the classroom.  This is another Math Mentoring Moment episode where we talk with a member of the Math Moment Maker Community who i...

Today we speak with Liesl McConchie! Liesl is a former math teacher with nearly 20 years of experience training school leaders and teachers across the globe. She has partnered with over 300 schools to implement the science behind what really improves achievement for all students as well as co-authored two books on brain science and learning.  In our discussion we learn the answers to what is brain...

Today we speak with  Jason Garner, a veteran teacher of 13 years and currently teaching 5th grade. Jason has been diving deep into changing his classroom over the last year. He’s taken the Making Math Moments That Matter Workshop and is currently applying what he’s learned with great success. He chats with us about how to take his learning to the next level.  This is another  Math Mentoring Moment...

Today we speak with George Garza - a high school teacher who strives to make a difference in his students' lives is struggling with engagement, pacing, and reaching his students who are falling behind. In this conversation you’ll hear George reflect on his practice and realize where he needs to focus his efforts. Stay with us to hear his epiphany!  This is another  Math Mentoring Moment episo...

Today we speak to Kat Hendry a teacher from Jon’s hometown of Kingston Ontario!  Kat has shown her passion for MANY areas of mathematics education, however in particular, she’s very keen on the importance of diagnostics and descriptive feedback in math class and has been digging into why we need to focus more attention in this area.  Stick around and you’ll learn: how to start your journey to impl...

Do you find students give up too easily when working on math problems that are unfamiliar?  Do you find yourself stuck pre-teaching concepts to students BEFORE they have a chance to truly engage in the problem solving process just so they can “get through the problem”?  Our constant pre-teaching of concepts is just one of the reasons students struggle with word problems and throw their hands up in...

In this episode we catch up with Nathan Vaillancourt who was on episode 28 of the podcast. This time around Nathan unpacks where he was in his journey the last time we spoke and the progress he’s made since then. He also shares how he’s transitioned to more of a standards based grading practice to help him with instruction and the creation of assessments.  This is another Math Mentoring Moment epi...