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
496 episodes
Peter Liljedahl: Can We Teach Students to Be Resilient?
We want students to be curious, persistent, and resilient problem solvers. But what if those aren't qualities students simply bring into our classrooms? What if we can actually create the conditions for them to emerge? K-12 ...
How to Spiral Your Math Curriculum: A Better Alternative to Cramming and Reteaching
Ever reach the end of the semester only to feel like you're reteaching everything from September? If students learned it once but can't retrieve it months later, the problem may not be the original lesson. It may be how—and when—they encountere...
Rewarding Student Thinking: An Interview with Dr. Pamela Seda
We say we want students to become critical thinkers, problem solvers, and mathematical reasoners. But do the systems in our classrooms and schools actually reward those things—or are we still rewarding speed, compliance, and correct answers?&nb...
How Strong Math Teams Turn Decisions Into Action
Your math team meets regularly. You strategize, make decisions, and talk about improving mathematics. But when everyone leaves the meeting, does the work actually move forward? Too often, teams spend more energy making decisions than putting th...
Why Do Students Struggle With Math Word Problems and What To Do About It
We’ve all heard it: “My students can do the math—they just struggle with word problems.” They can perform the calculation when it’s presented directly, but put that same mathematics inside a context or multi-step problem and suddenly things bec...
Do This To Start Sustainable Math Improvement in Your School or District
If you could wave a magic wand and walk into any math classroom five or ten years from now, what would you hope to see? What would students be doing, saying, and thinking? How would the room feel? Those questions can reveal far more than a list...
How Do You Support 30 Schools at Once as a Math Coordinator? A Math Mentoring Moment
Stepping into a new math leadership role can feel exciting and overwhelming at the same time—especially when your responsibility suddenly expands from supporting one school or district to supporting dozens. Where do you begin when every distric...
STOP Rushing Math Improvement: Lessons From This School District
School and district leaders often feel pressure to create widespread change as quickly as possible. But sustainable math improvement doesn't happen by trying to reach everyone at once—it starts by building the capacity of the people who will ev...
Why Teaching Math Is Hard—and Improving Achievement Is Even Harder
Why do so many mathematics improvement efforts begin with energy and optimism, only to lose momentum months later? Schools invest in professional learning, adopt high-quality instructional materials, launch coaching cycles, and create pacing gu...
Math Homework in 2026-2027: What Should It Really Look Like?
Homework has long been a part of the mathematics classroom, but opinions about its value continue to vary. Should students be completing pages of practice each night, or is there a better way to extend learning beyond the classroom?...
Is Math Intervention Working? Learn to Build A Better Fence
Every school system wants to improve student achievement in mathematics. Yet when students struggle, the immediate response is almost always the same: more intervention, more support programs, more people working at the bottom of the cliff. Whi...
What Should You Grade in Math Class?
Assessment is one of the most powerful tools teachers have—but it's also one of the most misunderstood. Too often, every task, activity, or game is expected to produce a grade, making it difficult to distinguish between supporting learning and ...
The Two-Level Math Training You Haven’t’ Yet Considered To Strengthen An Entire District
Many school systems want better mathematics outcomes, but few struggle because of a lack of effort. More often, the challenge is figuring out how to create meaningful change at scale—without overwhelming teachers, coaches, and leaders along the...
How to Build Deep Fraction Understanding K-12
Few math concepts seem to create as much anxiety as fractions. For students, parents, and even educators, fractions often carry a reputation for being difficult, confusing, and disconnected from everything else students learn in mathematics.
Atomic Habits For Math Educators & Coordinators: Why Summer Is Your Secret Weapon
Summer is often seen as a time to step away from school, recharge, and reset. But it can also be an opportunity to strengthen your mathematical thinking, explore new ideas, and build habits that support your growth as an educator—without turnin...
How One School Designs Math PLC Time That Actually Shifts Instruction
Many schools want to improve math instruction, but few have a clear process for deciding what to focus on, how to measure progress, and how to align professional learning around a shared vision. Without that clarity, improvement efforts can qui...
Stop Waiting for Math Test Scores: A Better Way to Measure Improvement
Many school systems measure success in math education by one thing: math test scores. But what if waiting for scores to improve is actually slowing down meaningful change?K-12 Math Leaders: Download our free Math Coherence Compass to hel...
How to Design Math Improvement That Survives Staff Turnover
Every school system wants sustainable improvement in math instruction. But in education, there’s one reality we can’t ignore: people are constantly stepping on and off the system. Teachers change roles, leaders move positions, and new staff ent...
How to Design High Quality Low Floor High Ceiling Math Tasks
Not all math tasks are created equal. Some lead to deep thinking, rich discussion, and meaningful learning—while others fall flat. So what actually makes a math task effective?K-12 Math Leaders: Download our free Math Coherence Compass t...
A Better Approach to Small Group Tier 2 Math Intervention
Small group instruction is a common part of math classrooms—but when it comes time to actually sit down with a group of students, many teachers are left wondering what they should be doing. Should you reteach the lesson? Provide more practice? ...
Improved Math Achievement: Here’s What It Actually Takes!
Improving math instruction and student achievement is something every school and system wants. But despite that desire, real, lasting change often feels out of reach. Not because educators don’t care—but because the work required to get there i...
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 ...