Introduction

Today, we’re talking about productive struggle—why it’s a game-changer for math classrooms and how to make it happen without letting kids flounder.

Imagine a student looking at you, frustrated, saying, ‘I don’t get it.’ It’s tempting to step in and rescue them, right?

What is Productive Struggle?

Productive struggle happens when students work through challenging tasks with just enough support to persevere.

This is about when a child is learning to ride a bike.
At first, the child wobbles, feels unsteady, and might even fall a few times. If an adult steps in too quickly—grabbing the bike every time they tilt—the child won’t develop the balance and confidence needed to ride on their own. 

Instead, the adult provides just enough support when the child shows they need it. That support might be encouragement, verbal reminders while they’re riding, and guidance on how to adjust. Over time, the child learns through trial and error, building resilience and skill until they can ride independently.

Similarly, in math, students need space to struggle, make mistakes, and figure things out on their own—with the right level of support—to truly develop deep understanding and confidence. If we rush in with quick answers, they miss out on the chance to build perseverance and problem-solving skills.

• Key point: Struggle must be productive, not frustrating or defeating. 
• Examples of what productive struggle looks like in math:
  • Students are solving a word problem or task independently 
  • Students are using manipulatives to figure out and solve a problem 
  • Trial and error with problem-solving
  • Students discussing another students’ strategy they don’t really understand 

Why is Productive Struggle Important?

• What are the experts saying?
  • NCTM’s Principles to Actions quote: “Effective mathematics teaching supports students in struggling productively as they learn mathematics.”
• In the text they say the Key benefits:
  • Develops problem-solving skills like perseverance and critical thinking
  • Helps shift students from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset
  • Builds confidence—students learn that they can overcome challenges

How to Foster Productive Struggle in the Classroom

Step 1: Normalize struggle and celebrate mistakes

• Try using and discussing this message in your classroom his week:  “If it’s hard, that means your brain is growing.”
• Classroom strategies:
  • Share examples of famous mistakes leading to discoveries (post it notes, potato chips, and chocolate chip cookies! What if your students’ mistake lead to an amazing break through!!) 
  • Create a “What We Learned from Mistakes” board– I’ve done this a few different ways, but the idea is to create a place where you SHOWCASE rough draft thinking, or work that isn’t perfect that’s been through revisions and shows how a student went from not knowing to figuring it out. If you create one dm me a picture on IG @hello mona math! 

Step 2: Set expectations for Grapple Time and try it out! 

• This week I want you to try grapple time out, but first set the expectations. Even if you already have students regularly grapple or productively struggle… it’s always good to go back to the expectations for both teacher and student. It is jarring for students to have their teacher all of a sudden not answer their question when they are struggling. Let them know the amount of time you’ll laying off on the help and encouraging students to productively struggle. You might want to make an anchor chart of what they can expect or what it might look like/ sound like during productive struggle. 
• Suggestions for the expectations include:
  • Everyone works the whole time! Do something– use manipulatives, illustrate the problem, try a new strategy 
  • If you finish, try something else! Do another strategy, write a new problem, write in words what you did. 
  • If you get overwhelmed, take a break to breathe and get away from the problem for a minute. Then, get back to it! 
  • Know that your job is to just TRY… not to get it right or figure it all out. We will do that together after Grapple TIme when we share and discuss our ideas. 

Step 3: Use intentional teacher moves

• Resist the urge to give answers when students are productively struggling. This is something you can absolutely try this week. However, make sure you SET it up with your students first and let them know what to expect as we just discussed. 
• Effective prompts you can use:
  • “What do you know so far?”
  • “What strategy have you tried?”
  • “What else could you try?”