I have seen first hand the power of setting high expectations of grade level content with students and I will never go back. I have seen...

If you’re a 6-12th grade math teacher feeling like the disengagement, laziness, complacency, and apathy is just too much to bear… you’re in the right place. First, you are doing an amazing job. I just know it. Don’t beat yourself up or feel like you have to find a new career path. You can overcome this. Next, let's talk about the importance of motivating disengaged students in math, why so many students are struggling with math, and then discover some tips to boost motivation

Math fact fluency. It’s a heated debate in the math education world. On one hand, many are in favor of timed math fact fluency tests and...

Math has long been the most failed subject in middle school and high school. According to Ron Schachter's work, Solving Our Algebra Problem: Getting All Students through Algebra I to Improve Graduation Rates,* math is the reason cited by over 80% of high school dropouts that they gave up on school. And the pandemic has made math equity issues far more robust in the US and beyond. LAUSD, one of the largest school districts in the country, has “lost 20 years of math progress du

It’s natural to wonder, “is this workshop going to be worth my time and money?” Especially math professional development. You might be...

I’ve taught math at three different high schools. I’ve attended some amazing professional development for math teachers, and I’ve also...

Not only have I myself been a high school math intervention and Algebra 1 teacher at three Title 1 schools, but I’ve observed well over 1,000 secondary math classrooms in my work as a district math coach and my independent client work. I believe the following five qualities are needed every single day in our middle school and high school math classrooms in order to effectively reach each and every student. Quality #1: Collaboration Research: Promoting Student Collaboration

Let me share a bit about my first year of teaching with you. Year 1 was a rude awakening. I was teaching Math Intervention and Algebra 1 in South Central Los Angeles and while I chose to teach in South Central, it was a very different classroom experience than I had experienced in my own white, upper middle class neighborhood. Here’s how I thought it was supposed to go. Direct instruction → Worksheet practice → Homework. Students would sit quietly and take notes then practice

Gradual Release of Responsibility (GRR) gets a bad rap because many teachers take it to mean 20 minutes of “I do” aka direct instruction, then 20 minutes of “we do” aka worksheet practice, then 20 minutes of “you do” aka getting started on homework. As I learned my first year of teaching, that doesn't work for students who struggle. Here are five small adjustments to make your math instruction more effective for your students who struggle. Five "I Do, We Do, You Do" Tips 1. B

Tired of blank stares when you ask students to complete a math activity after you’ve taught the concepts? I was too. My first year teaching went a little like this: direct instruction, worksheet, blank stares, chaos, feeling tired, defeated, and worthless. My second year of teaching I began utilizing randomized formative assessment (a cousin to cold call with some very intentional differences) as a way to check for understanding throughout my lesson and let me tell you... it

So you've just found out you're going to be teaching virtually again. You're in the right place! Whether you loved the distance learning...

I’m going to tell you a quick story from my fifth year in the classroom... I had a 12th grader in my remedial integrated math 1 class (yup.. he was repeating this class for the 4th time). He ditched my class often, but when he came, he got to work and was really trying hard to pass. We’ll call him Fernando for this post. It was time for our systems of equations unit to begin (side note: I’ve got a great blog post about systems of equations activities here ). I love the system

In the teacher groups I’m a part of, I keep seeing comments come up about the high amount of students failing math. Comments like, “80%...

About a decade ago I was a Math Teacher on Special Assignment at a large urban school district. The math subject area coordinator took me...

I personally feel the first week of school is the most important week of teaching. The community you create your first week will impact how students feel in your classroom all year long. This is especially true if you teach students with learning disabilities in math or students who struggle with math. We cannot use math strategies for struggling learners until our classroom community has been intentionally created first. Continue reading to find four reasons why classroom cu

Systems of equations was always one of my favorite units to teach because of the opportunity for real world applications. But it can also...

“Math strategies for struggling learners.” Have you googled that phrase? It can feel hopeless when we as teachers have a deep desire for...

Have you ever been ridiculously excited to try something in your classroom after attending a conference? Back in 2015 I went to the...

Keeping students engaged in the hybrid model definitely has unique challenges. As a math intervention specialist, I've been providing...

I recently facilitated a math workshop for one of clients as a math intervention specialist that maxed out my zoom capacity at 100...