Are you a primary teacher implementing Building Thinking Classrooms? I have the expert you want to know on the show today!! Maegan Giroux is the co-author of the about-to-release Building Thinking Classroom Tasks book for elementary! 

Even if you haven’t started implementing Building Thinking Classrooms, Maegan is a dream to know! She is passionate about helping students become mathematicians through sense making and thinking. 

You will feel empowered to get your students thinking after you listen to today’s episode with Maegan. 

In this episode we will chat about: 

1. task types and choice 
2. curriculum tasks vs. non-curriculum tasks 
3. scaffolding tasks for learners while maintaining rigor 

About our guest, Maegan Giroux:

Maegan had an unexpected journey to being a kindergarten teacher. As a middle school math teacher, Maegan loves the opportunity to also teach the youngest students because of the unpredictability and joy they bring each day! For the past 18 months Maegan and Peter Liljedhal have been working on a book full of tasks ready to use in your classroom. Set to release any day! 

Building Thinking Classrooms: 

 Get your copy here 

Facebook Group Here 

Have Questions? My DMs on IG are always open@hellomonamath

Work With Me in 2024-25 School Year

Join the Webinar on May 16 at 3:30pm cst where I’ll be sharing my services and a glimpse into working with Chicago Math Group (my math coaching agency). 

Register for the webinar here: Monamath.com/Webinar

In the webinar I’ll cover:a glimpse at the work I’ve done with schools from K to High School

1. a full run down of the services I offer
2. a price list
3. a simple way to get started working together

Don’t miss this opportunity to make your schools’ math goals a reality in 24-25 school year! 

Join today by clicking HERE!

“Make Struggle Productive” Challenge starting March 7th!

Join the fun and support every child struggling in math class with our 4-day challenge!

In this challenge, you’ll:

• Get inspired with innovative strategies
• Receive supportive ideas
• Have your questions answered LIVE on March 10th at 4pm!

Don’t miss this opportunity to make a difference!

Join today by clicking HERE!

Have Questions? My DMs on IG are always open @hellomonamath

The post 110: Building Thinking Classrooms with Maegan Giroux appeared first on Mona Math.

Do you hear people talking about “New Math,” but you’re at a loss for how to convince them it’s not so bad? 

This episode is about getting your school community on board with “New Math.” It’s good for kids, so we’ve all got to give it our best shot. 

In this episode we will chat about: 

• How School culture plays a role in New Math 
• The approach to take when trying something new 
• Questions to ask to shift your math culture 

Interested in Reading More About New Math

You’re either in one of two kind of schools…. One where everyone is on the same page and willing to try new things. People share ideas and others get excited to learn and evolve.

Or you’re in a school where it almost feels like a competition. You bring new ideas to the table and people look at you with a skeptical eyebrow raised and say things like,

“I’ve tried that… I’m not sure it will work.”
“These kids couldn’t handle that.”
“In the past we’ve done things like that, but now we…”

Obviously I’m over simplifying it to say that these exist in isolation, you surely could have a combination of both. However, in the schools I’ve worked in I’ve found mostly one or the other.

It feels like you’re swimming upstream trying to get the staff or just the teachers on your team on board with a new idea in that second school, doesn’t it? It feels overwhelming when you know these practices are good for kids but teachers are fighting back saying they won’t work when you know they do.

My Teaching Experience with New Math

I worked at a school where the principal and teachers were very stuck in their ways. I don’t think it was because they wanted to be, but because staff turn over was very low… it was a really nice, well funded school in a great neighborhood with students who were high achieving… teachers rarely left. That also meant that new ideas and fresh perspectives were rare. So, many of the practices of teachers were outdated or just fads and cute ideas they saw on social media.

I started there as a seasoned teacher and my team just didn’t know how to handle me. This woman with her HONESTY just flying everywhere… let’s just say I learned to stop sharing and pushing… and just close my door and get down to business with my kids. That was until the principal started to observe and then I was exposed. Haha. Anyway, I digress. The feeling I had when my colleagues would push back or even when one observed and then simply asked, “What lesson in the book is this?” Ugh… what? It’s like they were completely missing the point. She didn’t noticed the students’ thinking, their discussions, their excitement and ownership?!

Coaching with New Math

On the contrary I’ve had the pleasure of coaching at a school where the entire staff has this mindset and approach of openness. They are ready and willing every time I arrive to get down to the learning, pushing themselves to try new things, and getting vulnerable when things aren’t working. It is SUCH a breath of fresh air. Best part? Students are learning… rapidly increasing scores and deepening their understandings.

What’s the Difference?

But I don’t think it’s JUST about school culture and mindset. When we want to get teachers on board with new ideas and really dig into improving instructional strategies to be more effective we have to have a common vision.

That’s the difference between the schools I’ve worked at with that “let’s do this” mindset and the ones where new ideas we’re pushed out with ad defensive stance. It’s a vision. 

A community is created when a vision is shared. 

So, here’s what we’re doing now friends… we’re cultivating a culture of our school math programs with a MATH VISION!

These are the questions I want you to consider: 

• “Who will our mathematicians be when they leave here?”
• “What will they leave our math program with/ being able to do?”
• “What does it mean to do math here at our school?”
• “What do we believe mathematicians should be?”
• “What does our community believe about math?”
• “What research supports our vision?” 

If your staff got together and discussed these questions. Looked at some models of math visions and research that supports effective teaching and learning…

What would happen?

I know what would happen. People, all the adults and children and parents and staff in your building would: 

• Have a clear idea of the goal 
• Understand the plan to get to the goal 
• Realize the math values of the organization 
• Share a common purpose as a mathematician (yes EVERYONE!) No more, “I’m not a math person honey go ask Mr. J for some help… I’m just a kindergarten teacher/gym teacher/spanish teacher” Nope, we aren’t doing that anymore because we ALL see how our words and enthusiasm for math matter.
  

Phew I LOVE creating math visions with people…

because it’s a living document. Each semester and school year you can revisit, revise and make sure this vision still represents what it is you want for your students.

If you have a math vision I would LOVE to see it. I have a little file going of exemplars that I’d love to add yours too. Then, I can share it with others that are looking for inspiration as they create their math vision!

I hope you’ll consider how a math vision might be part of your school Professional Learning plan for the upcoming school year. This makes for a great back to school PD sessions. Gathering your whole staff for 60 to 90 minutes to get clear on the math vision is essential.

I’d love to help you brainstorm what they might look like or work with your school to make it happen. That’s just one of the services I offer as part of my Math Coaching and Consulting Agency, Chicago Math Group.

In fact if you are the planner or decision maker or on the committee or have a good relationship with your principal… I’d love to invite you to register for my upcoming webinar on May 16 at 3:30pm CST where I’ll be sharing my services and a glimpse into what working with Chicago Math Group might look like for your school or district. Packages are fully customizable to your schools’ vision and goals. On the webinar I’ll share how I’ve done that with school and share the investment so you can start planning for next year!

If you’ve like to register you can head over to the link in the description or go to monamath.com/webinar

I hope to see you there so we can plan for how to get your math vision fully supported in this upcoming school year! 

Other episodes you might like: 

• Learning Labs (Episode 42) 

• Teacher Leader for Math Culture (episode 34) 

Links Mentioned: 

• Monamath.com/Webinar

Work with me in 2024-25

Join me on May 16 at 3:30 pm CST where I’ll be sharing my services and a glimpse into working with Chicago Math Group (my math coaching agency). Register for the webinar here: Monamath.com/Webinar

Have Questions? My DMs on IG are always open @hellomonamath

Other Ideas and Related Topics:

Embrace Your Critics: A Surprising Strategy for Teacher-Leader Success Here

The post 109: New Math: How to Get Everyone On Board appeared first on Mona Math.

Standardized Test Stress is REAL. Today we’re chatting about 3 ideas you can implement now to reduce standardized test stress.

In this episode we will chat about: 

1. Our goals for standardized tests 
2. 3 ways to empower students 
3. easy to implement ideas to use in the classroom now 

Want to Read More About Standardized Test Stress

Are you approaching testing season? 

Maybe it’s the state test, EOY test, or the final benchmark of the year. 

No matter the test, it’s stressful… right? 

It’s because you care. You want your students to make growth and do their best on the test. 

It feels high pressure, but you want to make sure your students feel calm and prepared… but also take it seriously.


I’ve spent a LOT of time thinking about how I can prepare my students to do their best, but at the same time feel EMPOWERED to show what they know. This won’t be the first or definitely not the last test your students will take. And no matter how they do on this particular test… what they learn about themselves- mindfulness, stress management, doing their best work… that matters more than if they remember what a sphere is or how to find the coordinates of a point.

Do You Get Emails From Me?

Last week I sent out 10 tips for test prep… that’s different than other test prep ideas you might see out there. My test prep tips include motivation, ownership, and mindfulness. After all, that’s what I think matters most for our students to be able to show what they actually know and can do.

Standardized Test Stress Tips You Can Use Today

These tips work for any testing context: Standardized, Benchmark, Progress Monitoring, Diagnostic, Unit Test… there’s a lot of damn tests our students have to take. So, preparing them to be confident and motivated to show what they know is key.. Because making tests high pressure and high stakes just feels wrong doesn’t it?

Tip #1: Reflect on what this test even is.

I know that sounds crazy… but in the weeks before this big test everyone is preparing for and talking about, get real with your students. What do they know about the test? Dig into the gritty details with them!

Start this conversation off like this: 

“We’re going to take the _____ test soon. Have you heard of it? What do you know about it?”

Let them get it ALL out. You might even right down what they say onto the board or a piece of chart paper.

Then, clear up some misconceptions or wholes in their knowledge of the test. Because, knowledge is power. The more our students know about….

• Why they take this test
• Who sees the results
• What types of questions there are on the test
• If the test is responsive or not 
• Who grades the test 
• The testing environment- timed? Untimed? Multiple parts? 
• When/if their parents will see the scores 
• If the scores will effect their grades, promotion, etc. 

Knowing these types of things about the test empower our students with the k knowledge. They can go into the test confident because they have all the facts.

So, have this conversation with them. Equip your students with all the information they need. Hold nothing back, answer all their questions.

Tip #2: Get Some Candy!

Maybe your school has a no candy rule or a “healthy school” rule. I think that shouldn’t apply on these LONG testing days. My students had to take a state test for 4 days that lasted 3 to 4 hours each day. It was A LOT of testing, a lot of sitting, a lot of thinking. They needed a burst.

So, get some candy.

Starbursts for a burst of energy for their beautiful brains 

Smarties for your lil smarties 

Dum Dum suckers because this test sucks haha 

You get the idea!

I like to drop a piece of candy on their desk throughout the test as I’m walking around. Every 20 minutes or so a candy can be just what the student needs to keep going! 

Tip #3: Scrap Paper Competition

Do you struggle to get your students to ACTUALLY USE THE SCRAP PAPER? This one’s for you…

Tell students that during the test they must use scrap paper to solve. Remind them that ALL year we’ve been doing math on paper and working on showing our reasoning so others’ can learn from it. Today is NO different. Give them the white blank paper to solve on for the test. 

ONE SHEET at a time.

Let them know that once they fill their paper with math thinking they can raise their hand.

Then, you dramatically grab another sheet of paper and kinda wiggle it around as you take it to their desk. This is just a tiny distract to let everyone know you’re passing out another scrap paper and someone is moving into the lead of the competition.

The goal is to be the person with the MOST scrap paper at the end of the testing session.

I’ve had kids use 10 to 12 pieces of paper during a test. It’s a fun way to motivate students to actually use the paper.

You don’t have to have a prize at the end, just pride! Shout them out, Give them a round of applause, & Congratulate them for doing their best work on the test! Maybe a little leader board on the whiteboard? Or a challenge to beat that in the following day’s test. 

If you have a scrap paper challenge during testing take a picture & tag me on Instagram I’d LOVE to see how many sheets your students can rack up!

My Favorite Tips to ease Standardized Test Stress

Okay, those are some of my favorite testing tips. I hope you find them helpful and that you’ll be able to use them with your students. 

If you want an entire pack of test prep motivation… I’ve got you covered. It’s in my TPT shop for $6 and it’s FULL of so many tips and tricks and ready to use materials. I’ll put the link in the show notes or you can grab it at Monamath.com/testprep

Remember, this test prep season is just another time for our students to show PART of their brilliance. There’s no way any one test could measure all the goodness each child in our classroom has inside of them. They are creative, a good friend, helpful, kind, loving, an amazing dancer, a skilled magnet tile tower builder, a critical thinker, a good chef, and so much more. Don’t let this test cloud the reality… our students are more than their test score. WE know that. So, keeping that in perspective let’s prepare them to be motivated and take ownership over this test!

Links Mentioned: 

• MonaMath.com/TestPrep

Have Questions? My DMs on IG are always open @hellomonamath

“Make Struggle Productive” Challenge starting March 7th!

Join the fun and support every child struggling in math class with our 4-day challenge!

In this challenge, you’ll:

• Get inspired with innovative strategies
• Receive supportive ideas
• Have your questions answered LIVE on March 10th at 4pm!

Don’t miss this opportunity to make a difference!

Join today by clicking HERE!

The post 108: Testing Season: How to Not Stress About Standardized Tests appeared first on Mona Math.

There is no point in having a math discussion if students aren’t listening to each other.
It is pointless, a waste of time.

You’re probably like dang mona that’s harsh. And it is. But I don’t want you wasting your time if you can’t get students to engage.

However, I will say that math discussions are the BEST way to ensure students are able to communicate their thinking and deeply engage in complex math…. we just have to get students to engage! Don’t worry, I’ve got you. I’m going to share three ways to get students to engage in math discussions!

Do discussions even work?

Hattie 0.82 John Hattie developed a way of synthesizing various influences in different meta-analyses according to their effect size (Cohen’s d). In his study “Visible Learning” he ranked 138 influences that are related to learning outcomes from very positive effects to very negative effects. Hattie found that the average effect size of all the interventions he studied was 0.40. Therefore he decided to judge the success of influences relative to this ‘hinge point’, in order to find an answer to the question “What works best in education?”

Discussions ranked at 0.82, which is significantly more than the “hinge point” 0.40. That tells us that math discussions (or discussions in general) do have an effect on student learning.

When do discussions work best?

When 100% of students are participating.

What does participation look like in a discussion?
Participate by speaking, listening, and thinking.

This should be your expectation– for every child in your class to participate everyday. Each student should participate by speaking, listening, and thinking. Obviously some of these are harder to assess than others. That’s why it is important to TEACH students how to participate in these ways.

Teaching students to engage by listening: 

Active listening is a common phrase I hear in classrooms. This usually means whole body listening– still body, eye contact, and hands free. Why does this work? Because when students are looking at the person without distractions of movement they are better able to listen. It also teaches students to participate with their body language, but showing the person speaking that they are engaged.

As adults, we know that we attend better when we aren’t listening and looking at our phones, but we are making eye contact and nodding our head. This helps us stay in the conversation as an adult, and the same is true for our students. However, that’s not something they automatically know how to do… but we have to teach them.

A note about teaching students how to listen and participate… we have to do this every year Kindergarten to high school. No matter the grade students will need to continue to work on this skill. They will likely need reminders each day. So, I know it is temping to think, “They’re in 4th grade now they should know how to listen to each other and participate in a discussions.” But the truth is… they are still learning. They still need support at building these skills. And if we’re honest, as adults we still need support with listening & communicating skills.. Right?

Teaching students to engage by thinking: 

Obviously you can’t think for students. However, you can give them thinking tasks.
“While she’s talking I want you to think about _______.”
“During the share I want you to figure out what she did and why she did it.” 

These thinking tasks help students focus on WHAT to listen for and think about. This helps them narrow their focus and keep their brains on the thing most important.


You can also help them show their thinking in class with silent signals. This allows students to show when they agree, disagree, or have a connection.

Use these signals:
*agree/ me too 

*disagree 

Teaching students to engage by speaking: 

1. Use sentence stems– one at a time. I want to hear you use “I notice” today.
   This allows students to actually use them and get practice using them without having to decide which sentence stem is right and then use it. There usually isn’t time for that. So, create a habit by having students focus on using one or two each week. Then they will gradually build their repertoire of sentence stems to use.
   
2. Use opt-out. Students should be able to say, “I need more time.” or “Can you come back to me” 

So there are 3 ways to get students to FULLY engage in math discussions… it’s this simple!

1. Actively listen 
2. Think
3. Speak
   

Because a math discussion is about more than students just sharing their ideas out into the air in the classroom, and MUST be about students listening, thinking and speaking to one another. 

Other episodes about Math Discussions:

Episode 92: Interview with Paola, Use Purposeful Techniques for Math Discussions

Episode 81: Simplify Math Discussions with a Routine

Three Steps to Planning for Math Discussions

Math Discussion Related Books You’ll Love:

5 Practices for Orchestrating Math Discussions

Activating Math Talk 11 Purposeful Techniques for your Elementary Math Classroom

The post 107: Math Discussions: 3 Ways to Get Students to Engage appeared first on Mona Math.