To understand what a math gatebreaker is we must first understand what math gatekeeping is. When I first became a math teacher, I didn’t kno

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...

The other week I had an experience that has helped change my mind and see the value of PBL math resources in some situations. I've been supporting Colorado Department of Education Facility Schools since 2020. If you're unfamiliar with a "Facility School" it's a school - sometimes located within a hospital - where students receive mental health services along with education. They might be on a mental health hold for 72 hours at this facility or they might be ordered there for

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

I think most of us remember learning about the Pygmalion Effect in our teacher education classes. Here’s a refresher in case you need it… Rosenthal and Jacobson originally described the Pygmalion Effect as the following: “When we expect certain behaviors of others, we are likely to act in ways that make the expected behavior more likely to occur.” (Rosenthal and Babad, 1985) In terms of teaching students who are multiple grade levels behind, I take this to mean: When we pass

Let’s talk about how to structure your math intervention period. Most schools give teachers free rein over structuring this class, which sounds amazing, but is actually more challenging in practice than it sounds. In this post I’ll be tackling two challenges with structuring math intervention: What do I teach in math intervention? How do I fill the time period for the intervention class? You might also find this previous blog post helpful about different types of interventio

You might be hesitant about an independent math consultant who claims to help teachers working with students who struggle. You might be...

DISCLAIMER: I have not been offered nor have I received any compensation for this post or the recommendations I share. None of the links...

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

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

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

I’ve been a high school math intervention teacher at 3 different schools. I’ve been told to teach below grade level, at grade level, and...

Since I left the classroom in 2018 to found CollaboratEd Consulting, I’ve been hired by over 45 schools and provided high quality math...

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%...

My first year of teaching went a little like this… Direct instruction, worksheet, homework. Students off task during worksheet time. No one did homework. Students continued failing district benchmark exams. I felt frustrated and over worked. My second year of teaching was a little different. My principal made all of us switch to rubric grading. It was almost standards based grading, but we could still use it with our unit assessments and then convert grades into percentages f

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...