Making Math Moments That Matter

What do you do when a teacher says, “I’m good—I don’t need help”? This real-life math coaching dilemma came straight from a listener. And if you’re a math coach or instructional leader, chances are you’ve been there too. Whether it's past initiative fatigue, fear of judgment, or a perceived mismatch between PD and practice—resistance is rarely about apathy. It’s about experience, belief, and...

Is your math team using the same words—but interpreting them in totally different ways? In schools and districts across the country, math leaders are working hard—but progress still feels fragile. Despite shared goals and common language, initiatives stall, teachers burn out, and PD efforts don’t translate into classrooms. Why? Because shared language doesn’t mean shared understanding. And without...

Have you heard a parent ask, “Why are we making math so complicated?” You're not alone. Many teachers want to move beyond rote procedures—but hit resistance when families raise concerns about “new math.” From social media posts to parent-teacher conferences, the pressure to revert to traditional instruction is real. But the issue isn’t just parent perception. Often, teachers aren’t yet confid...

Are your Tier 3 supports disconnected from Tier 1 math instruction? You’re not alone. Many schools implement math intervention with the best intentions—yet students continue to miss critical Tier 1 instruction, feel left behind, and fail to make meaningful gains. The root issue? Most systems treat Tier 3 like a separate math program instead of a coordinated extension of Tier 1. When intervention i...

Students quitting when the math gets hard? You're not alone. In math classrooms everywhere, teachers want to promote thinking, reasoning, and productive struggle—but are met with disengagement when tasks become challenging. In this episode, the Make Math Moments team explores the deep-rooted beliefs, structures, and messages that make resilience hard—and what we can do to change that. Listene...

Ever feel like you’d love to try a new strategy—but you’re too afraid to fall behind? You’re not alone. Math teachers often want to innovate but feel stuck between pacing pressure, new resources, and competing priorities. In this episode, the Make Math Moments team talks about what’s really holding math teachers back—and what school and district leaders can do to help. Listeners will: Understand w...

You’ve spent thousands on high-quality math curriculum and inspiring PD — yet instructional practices barely shift. Why? In this episode, Jon Orr tackles the elephant in the room: why good PD still fails to create consistent math instruction. It’s not a teacher problem — it’s a system design problem. Backed by research and real district stories, Jon shows why instructional coaching is the missing...

Why is it so hard to get more students talking in math class? In this episode, the team digs into a common challenge: when just a few confident students dominate math class discussions, while others stay silent. Drawing from personal experience and real classroom coaching, we explore how small, intentional shifts—like silent signals and think time—can completely transform math classroom discourse....

Struggling to meet the needs of every math learner in a single classroom? Many teachers feel overwhelmed when students show up with wildly different entry points—especially when they're trying to teach to grade-level standards with integrity. This episode dives into a familiar challenge: how to support diverse learners in Tier 1 math instruction without lowering expectations or relying on int...

In this eye-opening episode, math researcher and educator Dr. Alex Lawson challenges one of the most common approaches to teaching multiplication: introducing it as “groups of.” Drawing on years of classroom-based research, Alex reveals why this method might actually be limiting student understanding—and how rethinking multiplication through the lens of rate, quantity, and context can transform le...

You’ve made big moves in your math program—but something still feels stuck. Why? After a full year of supporting school and district teams, we’re reflecting on the shifts that created real traction—and the patterns that quietly stalled progress. Whether you're leading math at the classroom, school, or system level, this conversation names the challenges we’ve seen most often and celebrates th...

Feeling behind? Tired? Wondering if your math improvement efforts are making a difference? In this episode released on Christmas Day, Jon Orr shares a message just for you—educators, coaches, and leaders doing the slow, often invisible work of math improvement. No training, no strategies—just honest reflection and a reminder that you are not alone. You’ll hear a different lens on what progress loo...

You’re seeing growth in the data. Students are performing well. But something feels… off. Maybe they’re disengaged. Maybe they’re saying they don’t like math. Or maybe, they’re just going through the motions. In this episode, the team explores a common but often unspoken tension: how do we balance academic achievement with student enjoyment, confidence, and sense of belonging in math? We share a s...

Ever watched a student solve 146 ÷ 12 by drawing 146 dots… one by one? In this episode, the MMM team dives into a common but frustrating classroom challenge: students who cling to inefficient math strategies like counting on fingers, skip counting, or repeated subtraction—long after they’ve outgrown them. These early strategies worked , and students trust them. So how do we help them build confide...

You poured your heart into teaching a key math concept—and a student tells you they’ve never even heard of it. Sound familiar? In this episode, hosts Yvette Lehman and Jon Orr explore one of the most frustrating challenges in math instruction: retention. Why does it feel like students forget everything they’ve learned? And more importantly, what can we actually do about it? Through the lens of a s...

Are your teachers reluctant to move beyond the standard algorithm—even when it clearly isn’t working for their students? In this episode, we explore a real-world example of a school trying to shift toward computational fluency—but getting stuck. The teachers agree that students need more accurate and efficient methods, but many still believe offering multiple strategies only adds confusion. Instea...

Are your multi-language learners struggling to engage in math class? You’re not alone. Many teachers recognize the issue but feel unsure how to help—especially when language becomes a barrier to grade-level math content. In this team episode, Yvette, Jon, and Kyle unpack a real conversation with a school team working to increase math achievement for multi-language learners. The problem was clear f...

Why are so many districts pouring resources into math PD but seeing so little classroom change? It’s not because teachers aren’t trying. It’s not about motivation or willingness. The real reason is this: most systems aren’t built to support true instructional transformation. In this episode, we unpack the disconnect between a district’s vision for math learning and the day-to-day realities of clas...

You're rolling out a math resource across your district—but you’re noticing that some classrooms feel scripted and disconnected from student thinking. What’s going wrong? In this episode, we reflect on a powerful insight from Dr. Crystal Watson’s summit presentation—one that’s still resonating with us weeks later. We dig into the difference between fidelity and integrity in math instruction,...

In this episode, we share our biggest insights from the 7th annual Make Math Moments Virtual Summit. We highlight powerful sessions that explored ethical AI use, responsive planning, student motivation, and math teacher well-being. Yvette reflects on Dr. Nicky Newton’s approach to creating AI prompts packed with best practices, while also grappling with the ethical use of tech in education. Jon un...

Leading math professional learning in a large system is never simple — especially when every school wants something different. How do you support meaningful math growth without burning out or losing focus? In this Mentoring Moment episode, you’ll hear a real coaching conversation with a math learning coordinator who’s navigating a new team, an ambitious vision, and a calendar full of math PD that...

Your math vision prioritizes critical thinking, but can everyone on your team describe what that actually looks like in classrooms? In this episode, you’ll sit in on a real conversation between our team as we unpack a problem of practice. Yvette shares her experience coaching a large district where critical thinking appears in their math vision but isn’t yet clearly defined across their leadership...

Do you say your math program prioritizes critical thinking, but struggle to see it in action across classrooms? Many districts include critical thinking as part of their math vision. It is a powerful goal and one that prepares students to engage with complex ideas and make thoughtful decisions. However, teams often lack a shared and practical definition of what critical thinking looks like during...

Is your school or district chasing improvement—but feeling like nothing sticks? You're not alone. Fragmentation and unclear goals might be the reason you're not seeing real change. In this episode, we go beyond theory and dive into a real-world case study of a school leadership team that thought they were aligned—until a simple conversation around “fluency routines” exposed deeper issues...

Have you ever left a team meeting feeling confident everyone was working toward the same math goal, only to realize later that each person defined success in a different way? This episode explores how that kind of disconnect can quietly stall school improvement in mathematics. A school team set out to strengthen math fluency with clear objectives and measurable outcomes. Yet when each member was a...