200: I Still Believe This After 200 Episodes! & A Free Gift 🎁

If you’ve ever wondered how to build mathematical thinking during test prep without turning your classroom into a packet factory, you are not alone.

March brings pressure.

State testing is close.
Word problems multiply.
Data meetings loom.

At the same time, your students are restless. You’re tired. And the easiest path would be to double down on practice pages and keyword strategies.

But after 200 episodes of Math Chat, hundreds of classroom visits, and countless conversations with teachers, I still believe this:

Thinking is what prepares students for tests.
Not drilling.
Not memorizing.
Thinking.

The March Tension Is Real

Testing season creates a quiet panic.

We start asking:

• Should I give them more practice?
• Tighten up instruction?
• Should I go back to step-by-step strategies just to be safe?

Because trying to build mathematical thinking during test prep can feel risky.

It feels slower, messier, and uncertain.

And yet… when we default to procedures without understanding, we see the same thing every year.

Students freeze when the numbers look different.
They struggle when the wording changes.
They panic when the problem isn’t familiar.

That’s not a skill deficit.

That’s a thinking deficit.

What 200 Episodes Have Reinforced for Me

Over and over again, the same truth surfaces:

Test prep does not create thinkers.
Thinkers perform better on tests.

When students are given space to:

• Wrestle with meaningful problems
• Model their reasoning
• Explain their thinking
• Disagree respectfully
• Justify their answers

They build transfer, flexibility, and confidence.

And those are the exact skills state tests measure, even if we pretend they’re measuring speed.

Learning how to build mathematical thinking during test prep is not about abandoning standards. It’s about aligning instruction with what students actually need to succeed.

Why Procedural Practice Falls Short

Packets feel productive.

They’re quiet, controlled, and measurable.

But here’s the honest question:

Are students thinking… or are they scanning?

When instruction centers on keywords and formulas without context, students learn to hunt for numbers instead of making sense of situations.

That approach might work on familiar problems.

It collapses the moment complexity increases.

If we truly want to build mathematical thinking during test prep, we have to shift from “What operation do I use?” to “What is happening in this situation?”

That is a very different classroom conversation.

So I Decided to Do Something Different

To celebrate 200 episodes of Math Chat, I created a free set of March Word Problems designed specifically to support deeper reasoning during testing season.

These are not one-step problems.
They are not plug-and-chug questions.

They are rich, state-test-style tasks that require students to:

• Represent their thinking
• Choose strategies
• Explain reasoning
• Make connections

You can use them in small groups.
You can use them in a workshop model.
You can use them to launch discussion.

They are ready for tomorrow.

Because building mathematical thinking during test prep does not require an overhaul.

It requires better problems.

But Here’s the Part That Matters Most

The problems are important.

The structure is transformational.

Handing students rich problems without a thinking framework can feel chaotic. But placing those same problems inside a predictable structure (one where students know how to approach, model, discuss, and reflect) changes everything.

That’s the work I talk about in my book.
That’s what we explore in teacher training.

Not more worksheets.
Not more tricks.

A repeatable system that develops thinkers and reduces your stress during testing season.

Because learning how to build mathematical thinking during test prep is not about adding more.

It’s about teaching differently.

Start Small

If you’re feeling the March tension, don’t overhaul your entire math block.

Start with one problem.

Let students struggle productively, talk, and reason.

Watch what happens when the goal shifts from speed to sense-making.

Two hundred episodes later, this is what I know for sure:

We are not here to create students who follow steps.
We are here to create students who think.

And when we focus on thinking… even during test prep… results follow.

Here’s to the next 200. 💛

🎧 Next Steps

If this episode resonated with you, take the next step today.

🎁 Grab the FREE March Math Word problems
🎧 Listen to the full episode to learn how to build thinkers through math problem solving.
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⭐ Leave a review to help more math educators find it

Most importantly, remember this: math classrooms don’t change through more worksheets… they change when students are given space to think.