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We’re thrilled to be launching Method to the Mathness, a podcast for math educators, by math educators, about the universal truths in math education. In our first episode, hosts Nikki La Londe, Jennifer Lenhardt, and Mary Mitchell dive into some of those universal truths with Math Solutions founder, author, and lifelong educator and learner, Marilyn…

My eight-year-old neighbor Zoe spent the day with me recently so we decided to do a little baking. The recipe we were using called for ½ cup of sugar and three cups of flour. After using the ½ cup measuring cup to add sugar to the batter, I suggested we use the same measuring cup…

Do you want to inspire a culture of mathematics in your classroom and school? Join @Math_Solutions for our first #InspireMathCulture Twitter chat of 2019 Tuesday, January 29th at 8pm ET/ 5pm PT.   Nikki La Londe, Director of Professional Learning, and Nicole Bridge, Professional Learning Consultant, will co-lead a discussion on how our personal math stories affect…

I struggle with how to teach topics that revert to learning procedures, too often without understanding. Take adding decimals. This is typically part of grade 5 math instruction. But every time I’ve given students the reminder to line up the decimal points and then add, I’m reminded of the fraction counterpart: Yours is not to…

A math workshop framework can provide the rigor and relevance necessary for skills that students will need in the future. The math workshop framework often starts with a number sense routine, a short, 5- to 10-minute period of time when students talk about numbers. They may look for patterns, talk about attributes of a number,…

An effective math coach possesses a multitude of skills, but the ability to ask purposeful, targeted questions is one of the most vital to the coaching process. As coaches, we want to allow teachers to reflect on their practice and on the impact they’re having on students, as well as to think about how they…

Are you interested in putting your students at the center of learning with the math workshop model of instruction? Join @Math_Solutions for our December #MathWorkshopChat on Wednesday, December 19th at 8pm ET/ 5pm PT. Brenda Konicke, Director of Professional Learning, and Jennifer Lempp, author of Math Workshop: Five Steps to Implementing Guided Math, Learning Stations, Reflection,…

On a recent walk through my neighborhood I came across a father teaching his young son how to ride a bicycle. The father was holding on to the bike as the boy sat atop the seat, gripping the handlebars tightly. It appeared that the father was much more confident in the boy’s ability to learn…

The task of counting may seem simple, but as Ann Carlyle and Brenda Mercado point out in Teaching Preschool and Kindergarten Math, (Math Solutions, 2012), there is an important distinction between the rote or automatic counting that young children start with, and the eventual formulation of a deeper cognitive connection to the meaning of the…

Educators know what a good mathematics classroom looks like (see the Math Solutions Instructional Practices Inventory) and we want to provide this type of learning environment for every one of our students. Unfortunately, implementation of research-based instructional practices across all mathematics classrooms has proven challenging. This is due, in part, to a phenomenon known as…