Making Math Moments That Matter
Helping you transform your K-12 math lesson plans by building confidence in effective teaching practices, guiding you to transform your math curriculum, and inspiring classroom strategies to engage all students.
As a teacher are you wondering how to create K-12 math lesson plans where students don't want to stop exploring your math curriculum when the bell rings?
As a mathematics coordinator or leader are you wondering how to support teachers when implementing engaging math lessons that fuel student sense making?
Over the last 19 years, Kyle and Jon, the founders of MakeMathMoments.com have been engaging students, teachers, and district program leaders with effective mathematics pedagogy, accessible resources, and inspiring learning environments in K-12 math classrooms.
Now, in this podcast they coach you - K-12 classroom teachers and district leaders of mathematics through a 6 step plan that cultivates and fosters your mathematics program like a strong, healthy and balanced tree.
If you master the 6 parts of an effective mathematics program, the impact you have on students or teachers will grow and reach far and wide.
Every week, you’ll hear insight from practicing classroom teachers and leaders in math education so you’ll get the feedback, guidance, and fresh ideas you need to stop feeling overwhelmed, gain back your confidence, and inspire the students and fellow teachers you serve to enjoy the beauty of mathematics once again.
Start making math moments today by listening to Episode #139: Making Math Moments From Day 1 to 180
Episodes
475 episodes
3 Barriers to Improving Math Instruction and Student Achievement
Improving student achievement in mathematics is a goal shared by schools, districts, and systems everywhere. Yet despite years of effort, many classrooms still aren’t seeing the shifts in instruction or outcomes that we’re aiming for. If the go...
How to Unpack Standards for Better Lesson Planning in K-12 Mathematics
In math education, there are a lot of terms that get used interchangeably—unpacking standards, planning units, designing lessons. But for many teachers, it’s not always clear how these pieces fit together. Are they all the same thing, or is the...
Initiative Fatigue is Real! Learn How to Avoid it in Math Education
In schools today, it can feel like there’s always something new being introduced. A new initiative, a new priority, a new expectation. And for many teachers, especially in math classrooms, it raises a familiar question: why this, and why now? A...
How to Start Connecting Mathematical Representations in Classrooms
In today’s math classrooms, there’s a growing expectation: students should be able to use and connect multiple mathematical representations. From visual models to symbolic notation, this practice is becoming a key part of high-quality math ...
How to Overcome Push-Back in Math Education
In math classrooms, there’s something that shows up again and again: resistance. It can come from students, from teachers, and sometimes even from the school system itself. And over time, it can start to feel like your job is to constantly ...
How To Protect Instructional Time in Math Class in a World of Disruptions
In math classrooms, what is the most common frustration that keeps showing up? Not enough time. Interrupted lessons. Lost instructional minutes. The constant feeling of trying to cover more math than the time allows. It’s not just about lost ti...
Conceptual vs Procedural Math: What Effective Math Instruction Looks Like When You Stop Picking Sides
In this episode, hosts Jon Orr and Yvette Lehman unpack a tension that’s been debated in math education for decades: conceptual understanding vs. procedural fluency.Yvette shares a powerful realization from her math classroom experience:...
The One-Shift Strategy to Improve Your Math Lesson Planning
We talk about planning all the time in math education. But here’s the question:How much time should you realistically be spending planning your math lessons each day?Because the reality is—you’re not just pla...
What Should Tier 2 Math Intervention Actually Look Like For Maximum Impact?
You’ve got protected time for Tier 2 math intervention……but what are you actually supposed to do during that time?This is one of the most common questions we hear from teachers and leaders. You know Tier 2 ma...
What Does “Strong Tier 1 Math Instruction” Actually Mean?
We talk about Tier 1 instruction all the time in math education.But here’s the question:Do we actually have a shared understanding of what strong Tier 1 math instruction looks like… or are we all picturing so...
End-of-Year Math Strategies: Finishing the School Year Strong Without Cramming
It’s April, and in math class the countdown is on.There is limited time left before standardized math testing or the end of the school year—and many math teachers are feeling the pressure to either rush through remaining math content or ...
Math Testing Season and Anxiety: How Teachers Can Build Confidence Without Adding Pressure
As math testing season approaches, many teachers and leaders feel the tension. We want students to succeed. We know they’re capable. But too often, that message turns into stress, anxiety, and even math avoidance.So how do we walk the li...
Should You Teach Standard Algorithms First? A Better Way to Build Math Fluency
If the standard algorithm is the final goal in math, why not just teach it directly?This question came up during a recent math leadership summit while discussing fluency and strategy development in math classrooms. One teach...
What Is Conceptual Understanding in Math? And Why It Matters for Fluency
What if one of the most common terms in math education — conceptual understanding in math — isn’t actually understood the same way across schools, systems, or even math classrooms?A recent podcast sparked a big question: is ...
Should Students Show Their Work in Math? What Teachers Should Actually Assess
Some math teachers insist students must always show their math thinking. Others argue that if the math answer is correct, that should be enough. When math grading practices don’t align with math learning goals, frustration grows — for math stud...
Tier 2 Math Intervention: How Coaches and Teachers Can Use Small Groups More Effectively
You’re teaching math to 34 students. You slow math pacing to support the middle, but you can feel yourself losing students who are ready to move.A listener emailed us after our episode on rigorous Tier 1 math instruction: th...
How to Prepare for Standardized Tests In Math Class Without Test Prep Mode
Testing is around the corner—and teachers are asking: “Do I stop everything and switch into test prep mode?”Many teachers spend weeks reviewing, drilling, and assigning packets. But students don’t remember what was “taught” ...
Don’t Let March Kill Your Momentum: When Planning for Next Year Hurts This Year
It’s March. The weather is shifting. Spring break is coming. And quietly, many math leaders have already started thinking about next year.Budgets. Staffing. PD planning. Testing season. Fatigue.It becomes eas...
How to Help Students With Word Problems in Math—and Coach Teachers to Do the Same
If your students can calculate but collapse in math word problems, the issue often isn’t the numbers—it’s the structure.Many schools default to keyword hunts, graphic organizers, and “pick the operation” routines. But those tools can acc...
How to Teach Grade-Level Math Without Leaving Students Behind
If you wait until every student has mastered a math concept, you might still be in Unit 1 in December.Many teachers feel they can’t move on until students demonstrate mastery—especially after recent learning gaps. But staying in one math...
“I Want to Strengthen Math Fact Fluency”—But I Don’t Know Where to Start
You know math fluency is more than timed tests… but what does that actually look like in your classroom tomorrow?Many teachers are at the awareness stage: they’ve read, listened, attended PD, and now understand fluency includes flexibili...
“We Want Number Sense and Fluency”—So Why Are You Skipping Data?
Why does data always feel like the thing we don’t have time for in math?Teachers and leaders say they want students who can think critically, reason mathematically, and engage with real-world problems. But when time gets tight, ...
Learning Goals In Math Are Ineffective? — You’re Using Them Incorrectly
If math learning goals are so important, why do they feel like a checkbox?Research tells us that learning goals are critical for effective math instruction—but in classrooms and professional learning, they’ve become compliance: restated ...
Your Math Results Are Stagnant: Why Improvement Keeps Stalling
Every year, schools and districts roll out a new math improvement plan. The language sounds right: teacher voice, coherence, sustainability, research-based practice. But the results don’t change. New curriculum is dropped with little suppor...
It Feels Like Chaos: Making Peace With a Noisy Math Classroom
Ever felt like your math classroom is too noisy, too messy, or too chaotic when students are working on open-ended tasks?You're not alone. Many math teachers—and leaders—grapple with this tension: we want students to engage deeply, but w...