Making Math Moments That Matter

How can math teachers harness AI to lighten their workload, differentiate with confidence, and boost student thinking—without losing the human touch?

The AI wave isn't coming—it's already here. In this energizing episode, Dr. Nicki Newton returns to share how AI is transforming the way elementary math educators plan, differentiate, and reflect. Whether you're an AI skeptic or already tinkering with ChatGPT, this conve...

What does it look like to build Bridges in real time?

In this episode, we highlight the story of a district leader who knows she can’t do the work of math improvement alone. She identified her Bridges—instructional mentors and department chairs—and committed to building their capacity in two intertwined ways:

1. Deeply internalizing the district’s math objective around discourse 
2. Equipping Bridges as instructional leaders 

We bre...

District math objectives can’t live on a slide deck. For change to happen, they need Bridges—the leaders who translate vision into action at the school and classroom level.

In this episode, we explore who the Bridges are (principals, assistant principals, instructional coaches, coordinators, and teacher-leaders) and why their role is essential to making district math objectives real. We dig into their responsibilities—guiding school...

Are you letting daily emergencies steal time from what really matters in your role as a math leader?

From a soaked teenager's phone to the all-too-common chaos of K–12 math leadership, this episode draws a sharp parallel between personal emergency funds and the way we manage our time. For many district leads, coaches, and administrators, every day feels like putting out fires — reacting instead of leading. But without intention...

In this episode, we explore why multi-digit multiplication continues to be the thorn in so many teachers’ sides. We talk about why sometimes we need to step back in order to step forward—focusing on place value, composing and decomposing numbers, and building connections between strategies.

We highlight the differences between invented strategies and the standard algorithm, and share classroom-tested approaches that support both flu...

Are your district's math improvement plans stuck in “waiting for perfect”? What if aiming for B+ work could unlock real progress—right now?

Too often in education, big ideas stall while we chase flawless execution. As a K–12 math coordinator, coach, or administrator, you're likely juggling district mandates, teacher support, and the pressure of results. The temptation to wait until every plan is "A+" perfect can ...

One of the most frequent questions we hear from district and school math leaders is:

“How do I convince math educators to shift from always using the Gradual Release model to lessons that begin with rich math tasks?”

This episode is inspired by a recent conversation with a district leader guiding a math task force. While some colleagues leaned on the Gradual Release of Responsibility model—“I do, we do, you do”—she wanted to prioriti...

Too often, district math improvement planning happens “up there,” with big visions and system-wide goals that don’t trickle down into meaningful change at the school level. In this episode, we make the case for flipping that script.

We unpack why implementing the roadmap to district improvement at the school level—early and intentionally—is key to achieving system-wide math goals. If schools are ultimately responsible for meeting th...

A teacher asked us a fair question: “If direct instruction and practice are working, why change?

While presenting at a recent conference, we were approached by a teacher with a very honest question:

“I’ve been using direct instruction and structured practice with great success. My students are doing well. What reason do I have to change?”

In this episode, we unpack how we responded and why it’s not about replacing what’s working—but e...

In this episode, we share how one district is entering the new school year with a sharper focus in their Math District Improvement Plan. In the past, they worked from three ambitious objectives—each rooted in big ideas for strengthening math instruction. But progress unfolded more slowly than anticipated.

This year, the team decided to narrow their efforts to one math-specific objective. They designed short-term, measurable key resu...

Looking to build a positive math culture at the start of the school year? In this episode, we dive into why board games are more than just fun—they’re strategic tools for reinforcing mathematical thinking and the process expectations that drive meaningful learning.

This summer, Yvette Lehman’s family has been on a board game marathon, and we’re sharing our favourite picks so far. We’ll discuss how these games build fluency, encourag...

This episode is a debrief of the article Coaching for Coherence: How Instructional Coaches Lead Change in the Evaluation Era by Woulfin & Rigby (2017). We explore how math coaches can lead meaningful instructional improvement when their role is clearly defined and aligned with both evaluation systems and the goals of ambitious instruction.

You’ll hear our reflections on three core functions of math coaches—developing shared unde...

Are your students' math struggles rooted in what they know—or how they feel about math?

If your math learners seem disengaged, anxious, or convinced they're just “not math people,” you’re not alone—and it’s not a curriculum issue. Decades of research show that emotions drive attention, memory, and learning. That means even the best-planned lesson can fall flat if students come in carrying fear, shame, or confusion about ma...

If you’ve ever walked out of a math coaching session wondering whether you made an impact, you’re not alone. Many instructional coaches step into the role because they were strong in the classroom—but math coaching teachers requires a different skillset. You’re no longer the expert in front of the room; you’re the thinking partner beside it. And that shift can be tough. This episode explores how to stop feeling pressure to have all...

Are we underestimating what young math learners can do with algebra — just because they’re young?

If you've ever watched a student skip the reasoning and jump straight into "finding the answer," you're not alone. In this episode, Yvette Lehman shares a raw, real experience that started with a misstep and turned into a breakthrough. Through a single change in how she worded a math prompt, she unlocked deeper think...

In this episode, Jon Orr and Yvette Lehman unpack the difference between long-term objectives and short-term key results. Through a real coaching conversation, they explore how to define milestones that reflect real progress—even when the win is simply establishing a structure or doing what you said you’d do. Not all results have impact right away—and that’s okay.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• The difference between long-term...

It’s early in the school year. You’re reviewing student math work and noticing some red flags—math concepts that should be solid just aren’t there. But when you check their file, you see As and Bs from last year. So what now?

In this episode, we unpack the tension many educators face: How do you trust your math professional judgment while navigating a system that sends mixed messages? How do you raise concerns for math progress with...

Book talks have become a popular way to spark professional learning, but in many cases, they don’t go far enough to create real change—especially in math. In this episode, we explore how to take math book talks to the next level by transforming them from simple discussions into actionable learning opportunities.

We’ll break down the difference between a book talk and a book do, share what we’ve seen work in districts across North Am...

It’s a familiar challenge— when it comes to deciding which math operation to use, students get stuck. In this episode, we explore one of the often overlooked reasons: a lack of understanding around mathematical structure and behaviour.

We dive into what’s really needed for students to confidently choose the appropriate operator, with a focus on structure—not only strategies or models. Using division and subtraction as examples, we h...