Making Math Moments That Matter

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...

Maybe you’ve recently come across the idea of a Dan Meyer-style 3 Act Math Task and you’re intrigued to give one a shot with hopes to engage your students and help better understand the mathematics you’re teaching. Or, maybe you’ve used 3 Act Math Tasks and use them as a regular routine in your mathematics program.  While there are many mathematics teachers out there who love a great 3 Act Math Ta...

In this Math Mentoring Moment episode we speak with a high school teacher who is in her second year of teaching. Teaching statistics and algebra 2, this educator became accustomed to teaching students who have come to class already motivated to learn mathematics. Now, she’s struggling to reach students working below grade level in a Remedial Math course.  Stick around and you’ll hear us dig deep o...

How can we build thinking classrooms to create memorable math moments? In this special episode we share our opening session of the 2022 Make Math Moments Virtual Summit. Join Kyle, Jon, and Peter Liljedahl as they unpack how elements of a Thinking Classroom are entwined in the Make Math Moments 3-Part Framework.  You’ll Learn:  How to structure your lessons so they are engaging and encourage stude...

Do you feel that students are “different” compared to past years? Has it been a struggle to gain student attention and strengthen their work ethic? Are some of the behaviours you’re experiencing amplified?  In this episode Kyle and Jon discuss their interpretation of the differences teachers are experiencing in their students and how you can use those differences to create a stronger mathematics p...

In this episode we casually chat with middle school math teacher and department chair Shawn Hershey. Shawn recently took our Make Math Moments District Assessment and received his customized report and improvement plan and he’s here to chat with us about optimizing the math program at his school.   This is another Math Mentoring Moment episode where we chat with a teacher like you who is working t...

In this episode we dig into some of the results from over 100 district leaders across over 100 institutions around the world who have already jumped on the opportunity to take our 12-minute Mathematics Program Assessment Tool to learn not only where their system wide mathematics programs are flourishing, but also where those programs are met with speed bumps along the way.  While some of the resul...

In this compilation episode of the podcast in honour of Black History Month, Kyle & Jon highlight conversations from six educators of colour that have had a significant impact on their pedagogical practices as they continue their journey to craft a more culturally responsive classroom experience for all students.  You’ll hear Beatrice Moore Luchin speak about creating a culturally relevant and...

In this episode Jon and Kyle share an episode of their newest podcast Invested Teacher so you can help your students think about money. They bring on their co-host Matt Biggley to help you help your kids think about, earn, and use money that will put them on a pathway to build their own wealth.  Let’s unpack common mindsets about earning and spending money, practical systems to help your kids unde...

We speak with Lenny VerMaas from Lincoln Nebraska. Lenny joined us on episode 159 to chat all about not ditching your lesson model; reverse it.  Lenny has spent 28 years as a middle and high school classroom teacher followed by an additional 16 years working to support math teachers and he’s here to work out some pebbles in his shoe around helping parents get on board with making math moments in o...

TL is a 3rd / 4th grade educator from Grove City Pennsylvania. We welcome TL joined us back on Episode 198: Assessing Multiplication Facts. Back then we chatted all about math fact strategies and how we can use assessments to promote growth.  TL joins us now to fill us in on her continued growth around developing math fact strategies and she also shares her carefully designed math blocks where she...

In this episode, we speak with Guillaume Paré, a high school math teacher from Quebec City, Quebec. Guillaume has transformed his assessment and evaluation practices over the years to move away from overemphasizing grades and focusing more of the attention on growth.  Guillaume is struggling with how to determine what should impact and influence both the feedback and grade for a specific standard...

In this episode we’ll share why we believe that an effective mathematics program must be cultivated and fostered like a strong, healthy and balanced tree.  Most school districts that are underperforming in math are most likely impoverished in at least one of the 6 areas we’ll discuss in this episode.  Stick around to learn how you can build your healthy tree so it stretches far, wide, and produces...

In this episode we speak with Megan Garner, a 4th grade math teacher from Liberty Hill Texas. Megan is just in her 5th year of teaching and is aiming her sights on helping her students develop flexible strategies around division and other basic number sense skills but she’s finding it frustrating when students want to always resort to the standard algorithm.  Together we help Megan see how startin...

This episode is our first episode of the year 2023. What better topic to dig into than goal setting now that you may have set your New Year's Resolution for this new calendar year - be it personal or professional. We’ll dig into some of the reasons why your resolutions of years past may have failed and what you can do to increase the probability that the goal you set for yourself this year wi...

In this episode, we speak with Kyle Greenholt, a 15-year teaching veteran from Pennsylvania about the common struggle educators face when designing and facilitating math intervention classes to help students who have had ongoing struggles with mathematics.  Kyle is in a tug of war with two competing ideas in his mind and heart. He knows and wants to teach his students using problem-based lesson ut...

In this episode, Jon & Kyle discuss what role (if any) that homework should play in math class across the K-12 grade bands. Stick around as we dig into some common “rules of thumb” such as the “10 minutes of homework per day per grade” rule, what different groups and organizations are suggesting, and of course, what the research tells us.  As always, we’ll be giving you some of our perspective...

In this episode we speak with Laura Compean about the common struggle educators face when designing and facilitating a math support class to help students who have traditionally struggled with mathematics. How can we build a welcoming classroom culture that might help to heal bruised relationships with mathematics while ensuring that students are engaging in the learning necessary for them to be s...

In this episode, you’ll hear a slightly different episode style as the tables are turned as Ali Melia interviews  Kyle Pearce as a means to gather more research data for her Master of Teaching work at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE). Ali digs into questions for MathletePearce around how teachers in Ontario can effectively foster a growth mindset while assessing students in ma...

In this episode Jon & Kyle compare the consolidation and connection phase of your math lesson to the Oblivious Viewer Loop phenomenon in common mystery TV shows.  Stick around and you’ll learn how focusing on the intentionality of your learning goal can help shape how your consolidate your lesson so that we can avoid students “missing the point” of our lesson and instead make the connection to...

In the second part of our two part series highlighting Math PD Pitfalls To Avoid, Jon & Kyle dig deeper into the weeds we often find ourselves in when trying to plan and deliver effective mathematics professional learning.  In the final part of this series, we’ll unpack why professional development one-offs won’t cut it and how we can overcome a PD Paradox that can hinder our opportunity to gr...