Room to Grow - a Math Podcast
Episodes
67 episodes
Uncovering Assumptions in Math Instruction
In this episode of Room to Grow, Curtis and Joanie consider assumptions that we make during math instruction and how these have the potential to interfere with students’ understanding of the mathematics. Teachers know more math than th...
Celebrating Learning with Self-Reflection
As we approach the end of the school year, this episode of Room to Grow addresses using self-reflection to celebrate the learning of the year. Our hosts use this definition: “Self-Reflection is the evaluation or judgement of one’s performance a...
Giving Meaningful Feedback
In this episode, we discuss considerations for providing meaningful feedback to our students. We think this is a great follow-up to our last episode on grading! In preparing for our discussion, we learned about the research supporting effective...
What’s in a Grade?
In this episode, we discuss grades in mathematics courses. Although we don’t claim to have a recommendation or even an opinion about what might be the right way to handle grades, we hope to bring up considerations for our listeners to talk abou...
Supporting Curious Students
In this episode, we build on our previous conversation about fostering curiosity in our students by focusing on the role of math teachers in encouraging students to be curious and creative in math class. With full awareness that we are teaching...
Curiosity and Exploration - Passing the Legacy to Our Students
In the first episode of Season 2, Curtis and Joanie discuss one of Curtis' favorite ideas - fostering curiosity and exploration in the math classroom. It's a common idea that math teachers can support students in "exploring the world through ma...
Balancing Conceptual Understanding and Procedural Fluency
In this episode, Joanie and Curtis consider the balance between conceptual understanding and procedural fluency in mathematics teaching and learning. Acknowledging that this idea is like a pendulum that has swung back and forth over several dec...
Addressing Math Anxiety with Robert Ahdoot - Part 2
In this episode, Joanie and Curtis continue their conversation with Robert Ahdoot, founder of Yay! Math. We continue the conversation from Episode 9, digging into how teachers can address students’ math anxiety. We discuss the idea tha...
Addressing Math Anxiety with Robert Ahdoot - Part 1
Joanie and Curtis host their first guest on this episode of Room to Grow. Robert Ahdoot taught high school math and found his strength in connecting with and engaging students, leveraging his enthusiasm and creativity to build strong relationsh...
Reframing Learning Loss
In this episode of Room to Grow, Joanie and Curtis discuss the challenge of pandemic “learning loss” and provide ideas for math teachers to reframe this concept. They speak about the potential negative impacts of deficit language as st...
Creating a Classroom Environment Fertile for Learning
The article referred to in the podcast for building back better can be found here:
How Beliefs Impact Achievement
How does what we believe as teachers impact our students and their learning? What about their beliefs about themselves as learners and doers of mathematics? In this episode of Room to Grow, Curtis and Joanie explore these ideas and mor...
Helping Students Struggle Productively
Productive Struggle is a key component of students’ mathematical learning. But struggle can shift from “productive” to “unproductive” at different rates and for different reasons for different students (and teachers!). Ensuring that students en...
Mathematical Representations
In this episode of Room to Grow, our hosts discuss the importance of mathematical representations for students' deep learning of mathematics. The five representations described in NCTM's Principles to Actions include Physical,...
Mathematical Exploration
In this episode of Room to Grow, Curtis and Joanie dive into ideas around exploration and play in mathematics. Although this may seem frivolous and not a priority for time-constrained math educators, our hosts discuss the positive impl...
Ensuring Every Student is Learning
One of the biggest challenges math teachers face is the variety of mathematical backgrounds students bring with them to math class. Although state standards describe what students should know and be able to do at the end of the grade, mor...