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
409 episodes
Why Systemic Change in Math Fails Without the Right Bridges in Place
What does it look like to build Bridges in real time?In this episode, we highlight the story of a district leader who knows she can’t do the work of math improvement alone. She identified her Bridges—instructional mentors and department ...
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Episode 408
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21:23
Why Math Improvement Efforts Stall Without Clear Bridges
District math objectives can’t live on a slide deck. For change to happen, they need Bridges—the leaders who translate vision into action at the school and classroom level.In this episode, we explore who the Bridges are (principals, assi...
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Episode 407
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30:05
How Time Debt Is Derailing Your Math Leadership Goals
Are you letting daily emergencies steal time from what really matters in your role as a math leader?From a soaked teenager's phone to the all-too-common chaos of K–12 math leadership, this episode draws a sharp parallel between personal ...
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Episode 406
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15:15
How To Teach Multi-Digit Multiplication
In this episode, we explore why multi-digit multiplication continues to be the thorn in so many teachers’ sides. We talk about why sometimes we need to step back in order to step forward—focusing on place value, composing and decomposing nu...
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Episode 405
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33:42
Making Math Progress Visible: The B+ Approach to School Math Improvement
Are your district's math improvement plans stuck in “waiting for perfect”? What if aiming for B+ work could unlock real progress—right now?Too often in education, big ideas stall while we chase flawless execution. As a K–12 ...
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Episode 404
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17:23
Rich Tasks vs. Gradual Release: Do We Have to Choose?
One of the most frequent questions we hear from district and school math leaders is:“How do I convince math educators to shift from always using the Gradual Release model to lessons that begin with rich math tasks?”...
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Episode 403
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28:25
Why District Math Plans Fall Flat Without School-Level Action
Too often, district math improvement planning happens “up there,” with big visions and system-wide goals that don’t trickle down into meaningful change at the school level. In this episode, we make the case for flipping that script.
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Episode 402
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28:03
It’s Not Either-Or: Building a Math Classroom That Has It All
A teacher asked us a fair question: “If direct instruction and practice are working, why change?While presenting at a recent conference, we were approached by a teacher with a very honest question:“I’ve been ...
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Episode 401
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24:02
From Lofty to Laser-Focused: Unpacking One District’s Math Improvement Plan
In this episode, we share how one district is entering the new school year with a sharper focus in their Math District Improvement Plan. In the past, they worked from three ambitious objectives—each rooted in big ideas for strengthening mat...
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Episode 400
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31:41
Building a Math Culture with Board Games: Standards for Mathematical Practice in Action
Looking to build a positive math culture at the start of the school year? In this episode, we dive into why board games are more than just fun—they’re strategic tools for reinforcing mathematical thinking and the process expectations that d...
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Episode 399
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32:16
Building Coherence Between Math Coaches, Principals, and Teachers
This episode is a debrief of the article Coaching for Coherence: How Instructional Coaches Lead Change in the Evaluation Era by Woulfin & Rigby (2017). We explore how math coaches can lead meaningful instructional improvement when their...
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Episode 398
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18:32
Teaching Math with the Brain in Mind: Insights from Liesl McConchie
Are your students' math struggles rooted in what they know—or how they feel about math?If your math learners seem disengaged, anxious, or convinced they're just “not math people,” you’re not alone—and it’s not a curriculum issue. Decades...
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Episode 397
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50:22
7 Math Coaching Questions That Transform Teacher Conversations
If you’ve ever walked out of a math coaching session wondering whether you made an impact, you’re not alone. Many instructional coaches step into the role because they were strong in the classroom—but math coaching teachers requires a diffe...
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Episode 396
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12:44
Visual Patterns That Lead to Algebra: Designing Math Tasks That Surface Student Thinking
Are we underestimating what young math learners can do with algebra — just because they’re young?If you've ever watched a student skip the reasoning and jump straight into "finding the answer," you're not alone. In this epis...
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Episode 395
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25:39
How to Define The Right Milestones That Drive Math Improvement
In this episode, Jon Orr and Yvette Lehman unpack the difference between long-term objectives and short-term key results. Through a real coaching conversation, they explore how to define milestones that reflect real progress—even when the w...
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Episode 394
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26:00
What If the Report Card Doesn’t Match the Math You’re Seeing?
It’s early in the school year. You’re reviewing student math work and noticing some red flags—math concepts that should be solid just aren’t there. But when you check their file, you see As and Bs from last year. So what now?
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Episode 393
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34:36
Turn Your Next Book Talk into a Book Do: The Shift That Changes Everything
Book talks have become a popular way to spark professional learning, but in many cases, they don’t go far enough to create real change—especially in math. In this episode, we explore how to take math book talks to the next level by transfor...
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Episode 392
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22:27
How To Help Students Choose the Right Math Operation
It’s a familiar challenge— when it comes to deciding which math operation to use, students get stuck. In this episode, we explore one of the often overlooked reasons: a lack of understanding around mathematical structure and behaviour....
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Episode 391
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23:55
How Impactful Is Math Coaching?
Is your math coaching program truly transforming classroom practice—or just treading water?Many districts wrestle with whether coaching is worth the investment or how to maximize its impact. If you've ever wondered why some ...
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Episode 390
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28:13
When Math Curriculum Alignment Feels Like a Threat to Your Autonomy
Is it possible for teachers to have both autonomy in their math classroom and alignment with district goals? In this episode, we challenge the idea that autonomy and alignment are opposing forces. Instead, we explore how they can work toget...
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Episode 389
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26:09
How to Lead Math PD Without False Authority
In this episode, we reflect on a challenge many math leaders face: the risk of presenting ourselves with false authority. Whether we’re facilitating professional learning, supporting instructional coaches, or engaging in school- or district...
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Episode 388
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25:14
The Math Screener Struggle Is Real | Why & How To Use Math Screeners With Impact
Math Screeners… Diagnostics… Assessments… It’s easy to get lost in the language of math data. In this episode, we unpack the similarities and differences between math screeners and diagnostics, share where we stand on the topic, and offer i...
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Episode 387
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35:19
Leading Without Authority: How Coaches Can Activate Math Leadership in Schools
We know school administrators play a crucial role in driving long-term math improvement—but what happens when you're a coach or teacher leader trying to create change without formal authority?In this episode, we dive into th...
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Episode 386
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21:19
Boost Math Participation & Discourse with These Simple Math Routines
Fresh from the 2025 NCTE-NCTM conference in Chicago, our team reflects on one powerful math instructional routine that stood out—an approach that sparked ideas for both classroom practice and professional learning design. In this episode, w...
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Episode 385
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17:46
From Passive to Powerful: Transforming the Principal's Role in Math Leadership
We know principals are busy—constantly managing urgent issues and putting out fires. But we also know this: school-level change is the most powerful lever we have for improving student learning in math. So the real question is: are we setti...
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Episode 384
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23:53