Unlock the secrets of transformative math instruction with our insightful guest, Jesse Lewis, a Regional Math Consultant with Curriculum Associates who brings to light the urgency for change in the post-pandemic classroom. In a landscape where catch-up tactics have leaned heavily on memorization and procedural drills, Jesse advocates for a richer, more resilient approach. He urges educators to dive deep into the mathematics education standards and the eight standards for mathematical practice, emphasizing the significance of developing students' problem-solving prowess and perseverance. We tackle not only the content but also the crucial aspect of classroom management, discussing how to cultivate an environment that encourages self-regulation and collaboration, skills that are indispensable for students as they navigate complex mathematical challenges.
Imagine transforming your math lessons with tools like fraction strips and double number lines, methods that breathe life into the numbers and concepts that can often seem abstract. Our conversation with Jesse explores these innovative strategies and resources that promise to revolutionize the way we think about teaching mathematics. This episode is not just an exchange of ideas; it's an invitation to join a vibrant community of listeners and educators committed to redefining math education. Share your journey with us, engage with new pedagogical insights, and be sure to glean Jesse's invaluable tips that could very well be the catalyst your teaching methods have been waiting for.
Visit the Blog: CurriculumAssociates.com/blog
Follow us on Twitter: @CurriculumAssoc
Follow us on Instagram: @MyiReady
Have feedback, questions, or want to be a guest? Email ExtraordinaryEducators@cainc.com to connect with us!
Unlock the secrets of transformative math instruction with our insightful guest, Jesse Lewis, a Regional Math Consultant with Curriculum Associates who brings to light the urgency for change in the post-pandemic classroom. In a landscape where catch-up tactics have leaned heavily on memorization and procedural drills, Jesse advocates for a richer, more resilient approach. He urges educators to dive deep into the mathematics education standards and the eight standards for mathematical practice, emphasizing the significance of developing students' problem-solving prowess and perseverance. We tackle not only the content but also the crucial aspect of classroom management, discussing how to cultivate an environment that encourages self-regulation and collaboration, skills that are indispensable for students as they navigate complex mathematical challenges.
Imagine transforming your math lessons with tools like fraction strips and double number lines, methods that breathe life into the numbers and concepts that can often seem abstract. Our conversation with Jesse explores these innovative strategies and resources that promise to revolutionize the way we think about teaching mathematics. This episode is not just an exchange of ideas; it's an invitation to join a vibrant community of listeners and educators committed to redefining math education. Share your journey with us, engage with new pedagogical insights, and be sure to glean Jesse's invaluable tips that could very well be the catalyst your teaching methods have been waiting for.
Visit the Blog: CurriculumAssociates.com/blog
Follow us on Twitter: @CurriculumAssoc
Follow us on Instagram: @MyiReady
Have feedback, questions, or want to be a guest? Email ExtraordinaryEducators@cainc.com to connect with us!
Curriculum Associates presents the Extraordinary Educators Podcast with hosts Danielle Sullivan and Sari Laberis. Hear tips, best practices and successes to improve your teaching and leadership and drive student growth and learning. We're here for you.
Danielle Sullivan:Hello everyone, welcome to the Extraordinary Educator Podcast. I'm Danielle.
Sari Laberis:And I'm Sari. This week we are joined by the amazing Jesse Lewis. He is a Regional Math Consultant at Curriculum Associates with us and we are so excited for you to hear our conversation with him about all things math instruction.
Danielle Sullivan:Yes, and one important tip at the end and stay tuned for the whole 12 minutes because it's really helpful to just listen to some of his strategies to reframe and refresh your approach to mathematical instruction.
Sari Laberis:Absolutely so. Here is our conversation with Jesse. Welcome, Jesse, it is so great to have you on the podcast.
Jesse Lewis:Thank you for having me.
Danielle Sullivan:So, Jesse, what are you seeing when it comes to mathematics instruction, especially now, in 2024? Post pandemic, post, all the things. So what are some things that you're seeing?
Jesse Lewis:Well, of course, everybody is still kind of in recovery mode from the pandemic Teacher, students, families are trying to figure out how to get students caught back up, even a few years post pandemic and being back in the schools, and I think what I'm seeing is that a lot of teachers are reverting back to ways of teaching mathematics that research has shown isn't effective for like time purposes.
Jesse Lewis:So they're trying to go back to more rope memorization procedural things that they can kind of put their finger on and say I taught a student how to do this as opposed to helping students develop the understanding that they need to be successful in mathematics long term. They're also very, very, very focused on, like, just their grade level and getting students through their grade level and not thinking about, like, if I teach it this way, what's going to happen to this understanding when they get to the next grade and when they move forward into higher levels of mathematics, where now teachers in later grades have to undo and unteach. You know what? That what I've just taught my students now, and so there's a lot of trying to do catch up and teachers are trying to do the best that they can, but I think they're just not understanding the ramification of their approach to instruction long term.
Sari Laberis:That makes total sense and they go hand in hand right, because teachers only have so much time and they have to catch students up and if there's a shortcut or a trick, you know why not move them along and then also not not knowing the implications, like you said, for future teachers to have to undo that. And so how would you recommend to teachers listening that they sort of reframe their thinking around this?
Jesse Lewis:So the first thing I would recommend is really taking some time which we know teachers don't have and like looking at the way the standard is asking the students to understand the mathematics. I can remember when I was teaching in New Jersey and we first adopted the Common Core and I looked I was teaching fifth grade and I looked and I was like, oh, this unit or this standard is about teaching multi-digit multiplication. I know how to do that. I'm going to teach multi-digit multiplication and my students, of course, were doing as well as I would have liked them to. And when I went back and actually looked at how they were expected to understand it, it was like, oh, this is why they don't know or they're not performing the way that I want them to, because I can teach them the procedure of multiplying multi-digit whole numbers, but when they're being asked certain questions, it's asking them about the understanding that they need, and so I really needed to take some time to unpack and look at what the standard was asking students to do and how it was asking them to show their thinking, and then change my approach to the instruction that way.
Jesse Lewis:So that's always one of the first places to go to look at the standards and then look at the standards for mathematical practice. Those eight standards for mathematical practice really, really help a teacher understand what are the things, the behaviors my mathematicians are expected to do to be able to be successful long term. And memorizing is not one of the standards for mathematical practice, right? So I want students to be able to persevere through problems, and so if I'm a teacher that's looking at word problems and saying, oh, the word problems are too difficult, I just want to teach the numbers, then they're never going to learn how to persevere through solving problems. And so those are two places to go and kind of get started with how I need to change my approach to my math instruction.
Danielle Sullivan:Yes to all of that. That's a really yes, totally. I want you to also speak about the classrooms of today. I hear a lot of educators sharing the students are because of the pandemic. Students are really struggling with their own self regulation, having students centered learning, like a lot of times teachers are doing reverting back to quote unquote, old math practices because it's it's it's classroom management derivative to not just not really great ways for students to learn mathematics. So what are some strategies to approach the students of today who may need more support with self regulation? Doing independent centers work, like all these best practices in education that we know work to really drive creative student thinking and mathematics. So what are some ways that teachers can start to approach not only the classroom management piece but also the students needing a lot of help butting up against their own issues with pushing themselves, because a lot of like really good extending math thinking is to have rigorous math problem solving and if students are giving up easily like, so speak, to that.
Jesse Lewis:Yeah, absolutely, and it's a legitimate concern. But one of the things I always think about is the only way they're going to get better is if they practice it. So if I remove the need for you to kind of self-regulate and learn how to talk with a partner or work with a partner, then you're never going to learn how to do it. So I have to continue to allow you to get that practice. So, while it may feel right to put the desk back in rooms and have everybody work individually, we know that good math instruction is exactly the opposite, and so I have to find ways to incorporate the practice with those different ways of learning and incorporate the structure of the routines that I want, the expectations that I have for students. So I may have to do some more time working on like what does a turn and talk look? Like what's the expectation.
Jesse Lewis:I may have to do some more time working on this is how we use manipulatives and this is what they use for and this is how we model with them and this is where we put them away.
Jesse Lewis:Just like with any other classroom management routine, I may have to work in some of that practice with routines, whether it's at the beginning of the year or throughout the year to remind students and show students how I expect them to work in mathematics. And I think the other thing is I have to go into it with a mindset that my students have some knowledge that I can build on, because I'm teaching below where a student's understanding is, and if I go and think I have to explain everything, then sometimes that's when students just get off because they're like I already know how to do this or I already understand this, as opposed to allowing them to show their understanding or asking them more questions about what they're thinking and telling them to show you how they solve the problem. So putting more of the onus in the ownership of learning on the students has actually shown to help with a lot of those behavioral challenges as well.
Sari Laberis:That's super helpful. Thank you so much for sharing. And to go back to your first point, I think to you know, just being really explicit with students, like right now we're having a hard time during turn and talks I'm noticing that we're, you know, the volume is so loud we can't hear our partner and sharing with them like what is the group? The same way you would do with data, you know, during a data chat. And I love what you said about you know, just carving out the time to explicitly teach the routine and I think, kind of similar to what we were talking about before. Although it might seem like more time up front, the payoff in the end is going to help immensely save time, you know, throughout the rest of the year. So thank you for sharing those Before we close out, because we're almost at time, is there any other tips or parting advice as teachers head into 2024 thinking about their math instruction?
Jesse Lewis:Yes, absolutely. Do the math yourself. All the new strategies that you're unfamiliar with, the new different concepts, different ways of looking at it. Take some time and explore it on your own. Pull out the manipulatives and try to build problems and model problems in different ways. The more comfortable you become with the different strategies and models, the easier it will be for you to teach it to your students. And have a quick, I guess, story testimony I was working with a teacher on Long Island.
Jesse Lewis:She was a fourth grade teacher and she was just not happy about having to teach multiplication using a place value strategies. She was like why can't I just teach a standard algorithm? This is how I know it, this is the easiest way to do it. And I was just like, well, the standards tell you you can't, but you know, I give all these other reasons why it's, you know, more beneficial for students to learn it that way.
Jesse Lewis:And so that session was over and I came back maybe a couple months later and I saw her coming and I was like, oh man, I wonder how she's doing. And I asked her. She says I'm doing all right, we're doing division. And I'm like, oh my gosh, if you hate it, teach it multiplication using place value strategies. I know you hate division and so I asked her how's it going?
Jesse Lewis:She said it's going so well and I was like really what happened? And she said I took the time over the weekend to learn how to do it myself and I was so much better when we got into the classroom and instruction and I was like, yes. So if there's one thing if you're out there and you're struggling with a particular strategy or fractions and using fraction strips or using double number lines or any other new strategy that you know wasn't used when you were learning mathematics like open up the kids math book, hold them out, try to do it and learn how to do it yourself, and that will help you to better understand why it's being approached that way and help your students understand how to use those strategies as well.
Danielle Sullivan:Do the math. I love it. Well. Unfortunately, that is all the time we have for today. Jesse, thank you so much for your strategies and we can link some of these in the show notes some places to get more resources around mathematics strategies, but we just appreciate you being on the podcast.
Sari Laberis:We're inspired by following us on social media and please tag us in your posts on Twitter, at curriculumasocial, and on Instagram at my iReady. If you have feedback about the podcast, a topic of interest or want to be a guest, email Extraordinaryeducatorsatcainccom. Subscribe where you listen to podcasts and if you'd like to help more educators like you, join the conversation. Please leave a review.
Danielle Sullivan:And remember, be you be true, be extraordinary. The Extraordinary Educators podcast is produced by Curriculum Associates. Editing by Whiteboard Geeks, social media by Atzity Hannon, guest booking by Sarri Laveris, production by Hailey Browning. The podcast is copyright, material and intellectual property of Curriculum Associates.