Elementary Math Chat

Season One is done! I'm so grateful to each and every one of you for joining me each week to hear my favorite teaching tips and ideas around elementary math. I hope I've helped make your teacher life much easier, and I'm excited to reflect on what this season has meant to me in this Season One finale. In this episode, I answer a few questions that were submitted in a Q & A survey. I also share my...

The countdown is on...summer vacation is right around the corner! With all the special events that fall at the end of the year, the final week of school can be challenging to plan for. Every day has a different schedule, and the amount of instructional time also varies. If you need help planning activities to keep your students engaged until the end, this episode is for you! This week, I share 5 o...

Summer is right around the corner, and so are those last-minute requests from parents wanting to know how to prevent the summer slide. This episode is chock-full of ideas to keep kids engaged with math over the summer, which means you'll have plenty of tips to share with your families! This week, Melanie Doppler from Math Coach Connection joins me to discuss simple ways to help families connect ma...

This week, I share my favorite teaching tips and ideas for the second half of my area and perimeter unit. Those lessons covered solving for missing dimensions, problem-solving with area, and a review lesson to help students prepare for the test. You'll hear ideas to help you teach these concepts in a visual and relatable manner, how to incorporate review skills in your small group activities, and...

Area and perimeter was one of my favorite units to teach. I enjoyed helping students make real-world connections to what they were learning, and they enjoyed imagining that they were planting a garden or painting a bedroom wall. However, this unit came with its fair share of struggles. In my experience, area and perimeter taught in isolation were simple concepts for most students. They began to co...

Why was the quadrilateral late to school? Why did the right triangle go to the beach? The answers to these fun riddles are included in this week's episode with even more geometry tips!  This week, I share my favorite teaching tips and activities for the last three lessons in my geometry unit on classifying quadrilaterals, line symmetry, and shape patterns. I share two days of whole group lesson id...

Geometry is one of those topics that people either love or hate. I'll admit, as a student, Geometry wasn't my favorite. I could work with numbers all day long. But lines, angles, and theorems? It wasn't my thing.  However, as a teacher, I enjoyed teaching Geometry. It was a nice break from all the fractions and computation we were so used to. But, I was fully aware that my students might have the...

Multiplication facts are the building blocks of upper elementary math skills. Yet many students struggle to memorize these facts and rely on counting strategies and multiplication charts instead.  In this episode, Danna Rodebush from Teacher Tech Studio and the host of the Upper Elementary Simplified podcast joins me to discuss what fact fluency means, why it is so important, and how teachers can...

Test prep is no joke! You and your students have worked extremely hard to prepare for state testing. When you finish that final test, I'm sure a sense of accomplishment and relief sets in…and it should! The hard part is over! So, take a victory lap and celebrate with a day of fun. So, what can you plan for the day after testing to give everyone a much-needed break? This day can be tricky to plan f...

You did it! You made it to the final day of test prep. What better way to celebrate than with a Glow Day? This celebration will be the highlight of your week and send your students into state testing feeling confident and ready to rock the test! In this week's episode, I share everything you'll need to know to plan a Glow Day for your final day of test prep. I explain how I blended review activiti...

When it comes to test prep, the week before testing is crucial. There is so much you want to review but so little time left to do so. How do you decide what to cover in your whole group lessons? Should you pull small groups, and if so, what lessons should you review? What type of activities should students work on? I'll answer all of those questions and more. In this week's episode, I share how I...

Ready or not, test prep season is here! If you're feeling a little anxious or unsure about the best way to prepare for state testing, I've got you covered! I'm dedicating the entire month of March to helping you prepare your students for state testing. This week kicks off a 4-part series that will each cover a different phase of preparing for state testing. I'll share what I did in the early stage...

This time of year can be a challenge when it comes to handling classroom behavior. Rules that were once set in stone seem to be tested on a regular basis. Routines that were once seamless seem to be strained. You may feel like you've lost control of your entire class. Well, teacher friend, it's time to take back that control, and you don't have to be a drill sergeant to do so. In this episode, I d...

If you are seeing a spike in student behavior issues this time of year, you are not alone. This long stretch without a break combined with too many indoor recesses can do a number on student behavior. In this episode, I take you through the steps I took when handling student behavior issues and how I relied on my support system for guidance. I share what to include in your conversation with studen...

Multiplying fractions is no problem, top times top and bottom times bottom…it's that simple, right? Well, not always.  In this episode, I share teaching tips, strategies, and activities to help build conceptual understanding of multiplying fractions. You'll hear tips for adding engagement to these lessons along with common mistakes you can expect to see. Topics include: -Multiples of unit fraction...

Manipulatives are an essential part of elementary instruction. For years my go-to manipulatives were base 10 blocks, fraction tiles, and pattern blocks. That all changed when I attended a Greg Tang conference and learned about the magic of unifix cubes.  Previously, I thought these were better for primary grades, but he opened my eyes to all the ways upper elementary teachers can use them. Once I...

With Valentine's Day right around the corner, it's time to spread the love and plan a few heart-themed activities! In this week's episode, I share two of my favorite Valentine's Day-themed activities that you and your students will love!  The first is a restaurant simulation where students experience what it's like to order at a restaurant, pay for their meal, and receive change. In addition, they...

There are so many things to consider when planning for your observation. Will you use the lesson from the workbook or create something from scratch? What kind of activities will you plan? Will you use manipulatives? Will your students work in groups?  It's no wonder that planning for your observation can feel overwhelming! In this week's episode, I share 6 things to make sure you do when it comes...

No matter how long you've been a teacher, it's normal to get nervous before an observation. They are a big deal, and you want them to go well!  So, how can you motivate your students to behave? How can you make sure your lesson is engaging and effective? What will you do if you have any issues with technology? I discuss all of this and more to help you kick the nerves and feel more confident when...

Do you struggle with what to do with your early finishers? In a perfect world, all of your students would finish everything at the exact same time, and you wouldn't have to worry about this. But the reality is, you're going to have students who finish early, and you don't want to give them busy work to keep them occupied. They'll probably fly right through that as well! In this week's episode, I s...

With winter break being right around the corner, it's time to plan for your classroom holiday party! What activities and games will you play? What gift can you give your students that is cost-effective and something they will enjoy?  In this week's holiday-themed episode, I share two easy ideas for student gifts that are practical and perfect for the math teacher. I also share ideas for games and...

If you are looking for simple ways to build community and boost engagement in your classroom, I have one word for you: Kagan. I learned about Kagan engagement strategies pretty early on in my career, and I used them regularly in my lessons. In this week's episode, I share 5 of my favorite Kagan cooperative learning strategies that engage students, promote teamwork and collaboration, and build peer...

The beginning of your lesson is your chance to grab your students' attention and keep it. Instead of doing the same every day, engage your students in unique ways that will keep them on their toes! In this week's episode, I share 9 warm up activities that will engage your students and hook their attention from the beginning. I also give tips for implementing these activities, specific examples to...

Raise your hand if you love a good review game! Review games not only help your students prepare for tests, but they also build teamwork skills and teach students how to win and lose respectfully. In this week's episode, I share 7 of my favorite review games to play in the classroom when reviewing for a test. I explain how each game works, what I like most about each game, and I give suggestions t...

At this point in the year, your small group instruction is up and running, but you may be feeling the need for a change, or you're curious if there's a better and more efficient way to run small groups.  The truth is, there is no one best way to pull small groups. What works for one teacher may not work for another, and what works for your class one year may not work the next year. Because of this...