Math Chat

Send us a text 💭 What “Let’s Just See What They Can Do” Really Means This phrase isn’t about tossing students into a problem they can’t handle. It’s about honoring the strategies, intuitions, and lived math experiences they already bring. You’ll hear how the Grapple step in Word Problem Workshop allows students to make sense of the story without the teacher rescuing, modeling, or pre-teaching every step. In this episode, you’ll hear a vivid classroom moment where a teacher doubted her student...

Send us a text Coaching often becomes hectic fast. Schedules shift, classrooms get noisy, and teachers feel stretched thin. While the instinct is to fix everything, coaching isn’t actually about fixing at all — it’s about refocusing on student thinking. In this episode, Mona introduces the anchor moves she relies on when coaching feels chaotic. These moves bring clarity, calm, and purpose back into the work. When coaching feels wild, return to the routine: Observe → Name → Nudge → Celeb...

Send us a text Hey teacher friends, Mona here! Today we’re diving into one of my favorite ways to grow as a team and strengthen math instruction across a school: Learning Walks. If you’ve never tried one before, don’t worry. By the end of this episode, you’ll know exactly what Learning Walks are, why they work, and how to use them to build collaboration, confidence, and shared vision among teachers. And if you're a math coach, instructional leader, or team lead who’s been craving a more meani...

Send us a text Many classrooms use the CUBES strategy for solving word problems. It's familiar, structured, and gives students a clear process. However, in this episode, we explore how traditional CUBES may unintentionally encourage students to “hunt for clues” instead of understanding the meaning of the story. Let’s talk about how to shift from keywords to reasoning using the Word Problem Workshop approach. In this episode, you’ll hear how we reimagine CUBES to shift students from identifyin...

Send us a text What does it really look like when students thrive in math? In this inspiring episode, Kendra unpacks what it means to build thriving math communities — classrooms where every child feels seen, confident, and ready to learn. She shares practical ideas and joyful starting points that any teacher can use to bring connection and purpose to math learning. When students thrive in math, it’s not quiet — it’s alive. You’ll hear how thriving classrooms buzz with conversation, curiosity...