Making Math Moments That Matter

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...

This is Michelle Rinehart from HowWeTeachMath.com. Michelle is an innovative educational leader who pushes us to take action to empower female students to take risks, encourages us to add math talks to our daily routines, and how you can shift your practice in manageable ways.  You’ll Learn:  How to empower female math students to become risk takers.  Why math talks are necessary for high school s...

Today we speak with Sheldon Eakins from The Leading Equity Center blog and podcast. Sheldon L. Eakins, Ph. D. is an accomplished K-12 educator and administrator. He has taught at the elementary, middle, and high school levels during his career in the states of Florida, Louisiana and in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands.  We speak with Sheldon today about how to be a culturally responsive educator, how...

In this mentoring moment episode we speak with Adam Love; a first year teacher from Myrtle Beach South Carolina. Adam shares what his first few weeks have looked like in his classroom. Like many teachers he wonders how to generate curiosity and engagement around abstract math concepts in senior classes.  This is another  Math Mentoring Moment episode where we talk with a member of the Math Moment...

Erica Heinzman joins us to discuss important aspects of pre service programs for math educators. She highlights the importance of humanizing mathematics and how those big ideas help define how a teacher structures their classroom.  Stick around while Erica helps you see the parallels of teaching pre service teachers and teaching our own students.  You’ll Learn:  How we can transform secondary math...

Hey there, In this episode we’re sharing two assessment strategies that are widely used every single day in math classes everywhere that we should stop using. These two strategies hinder our goal of building a math classroom that allows all students to think and access to mathematics! Stick with us and you’ll learn: two assessment practices you need to stop using and what you can do instead You’ll...

We’re speaking with Danitte Kozai today about how to prevent that student who shows up to your online class for attendance and then disengages and walks away from the computer.  We’ll brainstorm with Danitte on how to engage students while teaching online through the use of low floor high ceiling tasks.  This is another  Math Mentoring Moment episode where we talk with a member of the Math Moment...

Christina Lincoln-Moore an innovative Constructivist educational leader who is tenacious and profoundly dedicated to mindful project-based learning to engender formidable mathematics identities.  She is currently an Assistant Principal as well as a featured speaker focused on the humanization of mathematics for traditionally marginalized students.  Her professional presentations include the Nation...

In this episode we hear from the members of the Math Moment Maker Community. Numerous educators share daily routines that we teachers use to keep us healthy, loving our jobs, or frankly just keep us sane in this crazy time. You’ll hear about morning routines to kick start their day; routines to use in the classroom to spark discussion and thinking; and routines that end those tiring days!  You’ll...

Today we speak with Adrianne Burns - a middle school math coach and interventionist from Wisconsin. During our chat with Adrianne, we discuss a challenge that is on her might right now and we’re sure is on yours too! What issue are we talking about? Well, that HUGE issue of student absenteeism and what we can do to help students who’ve missed that problem-based lesson that sparked curiosity and fu...

Today we speak with Ann Elise Record. Ann Elise is a seasoned educator with a career spanning over two decades of elementary classroom experience. These days she’s a K-5 math coach who works with districts on developing strategies to increase students’ fact fluency as well as how to use manipulatives in the classroom.  Stick around as we’ll discuss effective strategies to help children build their...

In another “Where are they now?” episode series we bring back on 3rd grade teacher Bill Zbozny Del Percio from Pittsburgh. Bill’s back to talk about the changes he made in how he managed student learning with trying problem based tasks. He also chats with us about how he can embed the math process standards/expectations into his daily routines.   This is another  Math Mentoring Moment episode wher...

Jon and Kyle were on the Unprofessional Development Podcast with Tudisco and Mealy discussing how to make math moments that matter. This episode is a rebroadcast of that show.  You’ll Learn:  How to Make Math Moments That Matter;  What teachers can do to engage their students;  What techniques can teachers use to fuel sense making in their students.  Resources:  The Unprofessional Development Podc...

Today we speak with Nat Banting, from Saskatoon Saskatchewan!  Nat is a high school math teacher turned pre-service instructor who’s created amazing free resources like Fractiontalks.com and MenuMath. Nat was also the winner of 2019 Rosenthal Prize for Innovation and Inspiration in Math Teaching awarded by the National Museum of Mathematics (@MoMath1) in New York.  In our rich discussion you’ll le...

Today we speak with Shawn Seeley from the Tahoma School District. Shawn is seeking advice  on transitioning from his 4th grade class into teaching middle school math at a new school all while teaching 100% remotely. Whew, that’s a lot of changes to start his school year.  This is another  Math Mentoring Moment episode where we talk with a member of the Math Moment Maker Community who is working th...

In this Math Mentoring Moment episode we speak with Marnie Geltman; a 6th grade math/science teacher from Queens, New York. Marnie shares how transitioning from an active and hands-on face to face classroom to a completely online model is killing engagement.  Together we brainstorm how to deal with "Dead Air" fear on Zoom, how to get your students to take risks, and how to engage student...