Podcast appearances and mentions of Jo Boaler

Sarah is a graduate of Wheelock College in Boston, Massachusetts, and has over 26 years of experience as an elementary school teacher in San Jose, California. She was a Cotsen Foundation "The Art of Teaching" Fellow and has worked closely with Dr. Jo Boaler on integrating Big Ideas into elementary mathematics. Sarah is featured in Dr. Boaler's book Math-ish and will also appear in her forthcoming book on data education. A passionate educator, Sarah is deeply committed to a teaching philosophy rooted in a growth mindset, collaborative learning, and relationship-building.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter here! In this mid-season debrief episode of the Fueling Creativity in Education podcast, hosts Dr. Cyndi Burnett and Dr. Matthew Worwood reflect on the past three interviews that brought a diverse set of perspectives on fostering creativity within educational spaces. They revisit key moments with Jamie Celia Tosi from the National Inventors Hall of Fame, Jaap Haartsen—the inventor of Bluetooth, Dr. Jo Boaler from Stanford University, and Buffalo public school teacher Jonathan Guerra. The hosts discuss topics ranging from the fusion of creativity skills with domain expertise, the importance of providing students real opportunities to invent and problem-solve, and the practicalities of applying creativity in both large and small classroom moments. They emphasize that creativity training should go hand-in-hand with meaningful experiences, and introduce actionable ideas for educators aiming to incorporate creative learning into everyday teaching. The conversation also delves deep into the role of metacognition, as highlighted by Dr. Boaler, and why teaching students to think about their thinking is crucial—particularly in an age of rapid technological change and the rise of generative AI. Cyndi and Matthew further explore issues of student well-being, such as the impact of sleep and trauma on learning and creativity, and the essential need for psychological safety in the classroom. Through anecdotes and research connections, they underline the importance of mentorship and personalized support, making a strong case for educators to recognize contextual factors that affect a student's readiness to engage creatively. With season ten halfway through, the hosts tease upcoming initiatives and encourage feedback as they continue building a community committed to enriching educational practice through creativity.   Eager to bring more creativity into your school district? Check out our sponsor Curiosity2Create.org and join their Creativity Network for Educators at Curiosity2Connect! Check out our Podcast Website to dive deeper into Creativity in Education! For more information on Creativity in Education, check out: Matt's Website: Worwood Classroom Cyndi's Website: Creativity and Education

In this episode, we are joined by Dr Jo Boaler. If you would like more information about Jo and the work she does, please visit:⁠⁠ https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-jo-boaler-a480295aView the show notes here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://teachertakeawaypodcast.weebly.com/shownotes ⁠

Sign up for our weekly newsletter here! Can math truly be a canvas for creativity in the educational landscape, reshaping mindsets and unlocking diverse potentials? In this episode of the Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast, Dr. Jo Boaler delves into transforming the way we perceive and teach math, advocating for a more creative, equitable, and connected approach. Dr. Boaler, a professor at Stanford, emphasizes the importance of moving beyond traditional methods that focus solely on numerical calculation towards fostering a more holistic understanding of math's visual and interdisciplinary nature. She highlights the significant barriers of current math education systems, which often stifle diversity in STEM fields. By introducing big ideas and encouraging visual and creative problem-solving, Dr. Boaler argues for a learning process where students actively engage, reflect, and grow through struggle. This approach not only boosts math achievement but also reflects positively on other academic areas. The discussion touches on practical classroom strategies, the importance of struggle in learning, and broader implications for educational diversity. About Dr. Jo Boaler: Dr. Jo Boaler is a Professor of Education at Stanford University and previously held the title of Marie Curie Professor of Mathematics Education in England. With a career that began in teaching mathematics in London, Dr. Boaler has become an influential figure in math education, authoring 19 books and numerous articles. Her innovative work has been recognized by the BBC as one of eight educators transforming education and by delivering presentations at the White House on Women and Girls in Education. She actively engages in projects aimed at reshaping math education, notably co-founding the You Cubed platform and contributing as a writer to the California Mathematics Framework. Eager to bring more creativity into your school district? Check out our sponsor Curiosity2Create.org and join their Creativity Network for Educators at Curiosity2Connect! Check out our Podcast Website to dive deeper into Creativity in Education! For more information on Creativity in Education, check out: Matt's Website: Worwood Classroom Cyndi's Website: Creativity and Education

Welcome to today's episode! Math (or maths!) is more than just numbers—it's a part of everyday life, but how we connect with it is different for everyone. For some, it builds confidence, while for others, it can bring anxiety. Professor. Jo Boaler, a Stanford researcher and expert in math education, has a fresh perspective. In her book Math-Ish, she introduces the concept of math as a dynamic, real-world process, embracing diverse learning styles and approaches. Her research shows that when we celebrate these differences, we unlock our true potential in math. Please stick with us as we dive into this revolutionary view of learning! Here is my first conversation with her: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/professor-jo-boaler-developing-mindsets-embracing-failure/id1552506400?i=1000630363973 Connect:

Dr. Kasi Allen, Breaking the Cycle of Math Trauma   ROUNDING UP: SEASON 3 | EPISODE 9 If you are an educator, you've likely heard people say things like “I'm a math person.” While this may make you cringe, if you dig a bit deeper, many people can identify specific experiences that convinced them that this was true. In fact, some of you might secretly wonder if you are a math person as well. Today we're talking with Dr. Kasi Allen about math trauma: what it is and how educators can take steps to address it. BIOGRAPHY Kasi Allen serves as the vice president of learning and impact at The Ford Family Foundation. She holds a PhD degree in educational policy and a bachelor's degree in mathematics and its history, both from Stanford University. RESOURCES “Jo Boaler Wants Everyone to Love Math” — Stanford Magazine R-RIGHTS Learning to Love Math by Judy Willis TRANSCRIPT Mike Wallus: If you're an educator, I'm almost certain you've heard people say things like, “I am not a math person.” While this may make you cringe, if you dig a bit deeper, many of those folks can identify specific experiences that convinced them that this was true. In fact, some of you might secretly wonder if you're actually a math person. Today we're talking with Dr. Kasi Allen about math trauma: what it is and how educators can take steps to address it.  Well, hello, Kasi. Welcome to the podcast. Kasi Allen: Hi, Mike. Thanks for having me. Great to be here. Mike: I wonder if we could start by talking about what drew you to the topic of math trauma in the first place? Kasi: Really good question. You know, I've been curious about this topic for almost as long as I can remember, especially about how people's different relationships with math seem to affect their lives and how that starts at a very early age. I think it was around fourth grade for me probably, that I became aware of how much I liked math and how much my best friend and my sister had an absolutely opposite relationship with it—even though we were attending the same school, same teachers, and so on. And I really wanted to understand why that was happening. And honestly, I think that's what made me want to become a high school math teacher. I was convinced I could do it in a way that maybe wouldn't hurt people as much. Or it might even make them like it and feel like they could do anything that they wanted to do.  But it wasn't until many years later, as a professor of education, when I was teaching teachers how to teach math, that this topic really resurfaced for me [in] a whole new way among my family, among my friends. And if you're somebody who's taught math, you're the math emergency person. And so, I had collected over the years stories of people's not-so-awesome experiences with math. But it was when I was asked to teach an algebra for elementary teachers course, that was actually the students' idea. And the idea of this course was that we'd help preservice elementary teachers get a better window into how the math they were teaching was planting the seeds for how people might access algebra later.  On the very first day, the first year I taught this class, there were three sections. I passed out the syllabus; in all three sections, the same thing happened. Somebody either started crying in a way that needed consoling by another peer, or they got up and left, or both. And I was just pretty dismayed. I hadn't spoken a word. The syllabi were just sitting on the table. And it really made me want to go after this in a new way. I mean, something—it just made me feel like something different was happening here. This was not the math anxiety that everybody talked about when I was younger. This was definitely different, and it became my passion project: trying to figure how we disrupt that cycle. Mike: Well, I think that's a good segue because I've heard you say that the term “math anxiety” centers this as a problem that's within the person. And that in fact, this isn't about the person. Instead, it's about the experience, something that's happened to people that's causing this type of reaction. Do I have that right, Kasi? Kasi: One hundred percent. And I think this is really important. When I grew up and when I became a teacher, I think that was an era when there was a lot of focus on math anxiety, the prevalence of math anxiety. Sheila Tobias wrote the famous book Overcoming Math Anxiety. This was especially a problem among women. There were dozens of books. And there were a number of problems with that work at the time, and that most of the research people were citing was taking place outside of math education. The work was all really before the field of neuroscience was actually a thing. Lots of deficit thinking that something is wrong with the person who is suffering this anxiety. And most of these books were very self-helpy. And so, not only is there something wrong with you, but you need to fix it yourself. So, it really centers all these negative emotions around math on the person that's experiencing the pain, that something's wrong with them.  Whereas math trauma really shifts the focus to say, “No, no, no. This reaction, this emotional reaction, nobody's born that way.” Right? This came from a place, from an experience. And so, math trauma is saying, “No, there's been some series of events, maybe a set of circumstances, that this individual began to see as harmful or threatening, and that it's having long-lasting adverse effects. And that those long-lasting effects, this kind of triggering that starts to happen, is really beginning to affect that person's functioning, their sense of well-being when they're in the presence, in this case, of mathematics.” And I think the thing about trauma is just that. And I have to say in the early days of my doing this research, I was honestly a little bit hesitant to use that word because I didn't want to devalue some of the horrific experiences that people have experienced in times of war, witnessing the murder of a parent or something. But it's about the brain. It's how the brain is responding to the situation. And what I think we know now, even more than when I started this work, is that there is simply trauma [in] everyday life. There are things that we experience that cause our brains to be triggered. And math is unfortunately this subject in school that we require nearly every year of a young person's life. And there are things about the way it's been taught over time that can be humiliating, ridiculing; that can cause people to have just some really negative experiences that then they carry with them into the next year. And so that's really the shift. The shift is instead of labeling somebody as math anxious—“Oh, you poor thing, you better fix yourself”—it's like, “No, we have some prevalence of math trauma, and we've got to figure out how people's experiences with math are causing this kind of a reaction in their bodies and brains.” Mike: I want to take this a little bit further before we start to talk about causes and solutions. This idea that you mentioned of feeling under threat, it made me think that when we're talking about trauma, we are talking about a physiological response. Something is happening within the brain that's being manifested in the body. And I wonder if you could talk just a little bit about what happens to people experiencing trauma? What does that feel like in their body? Kasi: So, this is really important and our brains have evolved over time. We have this incredible processing capacity, and it's coupled with a very powerful filter called the amygdala. And the amygdala [has been] there from eons ago to protect us. It's the filter that says, “Hey, do not provide access to that powerful processor unless I'm safe, unless my needs are met. Otherwise, I gotta focus on being well over here.” So, we're not going to give access to that higher-order thinking unless we're safe. And this is really important because modern imaging has given us really new insights into how we learn and how our body is reacting when our brain gets fired in this way.  And so, when somebody is experiencing math trauma, you know it. They sweat. Their face turns red. They cry. Their body and brain are telling them, “Get out. Get away from this thing. It will hurt you.” And I just feel like that is so important for us to remember because the amygdala also becomes increasingly sensitive to repeat negativity. So, it's one thing that you have a bad day in math, or you maybe have a teacher that makes you feel not great about yourself. But day after day, week after week, year after year, that messaging can start to make the amygdala hypersensitive to these sorts of situations. Is that what you were getting at with your question? Mike: It is. And I think you really hit on something. There's this idea of repeat negativity causing increased sensitivity, I think has real ramifications for classroom culture or the importance of the way that I show up as an educator. It's making me think a lot about culture and norms related to math in schools. I'm starting to wonder about the type of traumatizing traditions that we've had in math education that might contribute to this type of experience. What does that make you think? Kasi: Oh, for sure. Unfortunately, I think the list is a little long of the things that we may have been doing completely inadvertently. Everybody wants their students to have a great experience, and I actually think our practices have evolved. But culturally, I think there are some things about math that contribute to these “traumatizing traditions,” is what I've called them.  Before we go there, I do want to say just one other thing about this trauma piece, and that is that we've learned about some things about trauma in childhood. And a lot of the trauma in childhood is about not a single life-altering event. But childhood trauma is often about these things that happened repeatedly where a child was being ridiculed, being treated cruelly. And it's about that repetition that is really seeding that trauma so deeply and that sense that they can't stop it, that they don't have control to stop the thing that is causing them pain or suffering. So, I just wanted to make sure that I tagged that because I think there is something about what we've learned about the different forms of childhood trauma that's especially salient in this situation.  And so, I'll tie it to your question, which is, think about some of the things we've done in math historically. We don't do them in every place, but the ability grouping that has happened over time, it seems to go in and out of fashion. When a kid is told they're in the lower class, “Oh, this is something you're not good [at]—the slower math.” We often use speed to measure understanding, and so smarter is not faster. And there's some great quotes, Einstein among them. So that's a thing. When you gotta do it right now, it has to be one-hundred-percent right. It has to be superfast. We've often prioritized individual work over collaboration. So, you're all alone in this. In fact, if you're working with others, somehow that's cheating as opposed to collaborating.  We teach kids tricks rather than teaching them how to think. And I think we deprive kids of the opportunity to have an idea. It's really hard to get excited about something where all you're doing is reproducing—reproducing something that somebody else thought of as quickly as possible and [it] needs to be one-hundred-percent [accurate]. You don't get to bring your own spin to it. And so, we focus on answers rather than people's reasoning behind the answers. That can be something that happens as well. And I think one of the things that's always gotten me is that there's only one way. Not only is there only one right answer, but there's only one way to get there, which also contributes to this idea of having to absorb somebody else's thinking rather than actualizing your own.  And I absolutely know that most teachers are working to not do as much of these things in their math classrooms. And I want to be sure in having this conversation that—you know, I'm a lover of education and teachers, I taught teachers for many years. This is not about the teachers so much as the sort of culture of math and math education that we were all brought up in. And we've got to figure out how to make math something more so that kids can see themselves in it. And that it's not something that happens in a vacuum and is this performance course rather than a class where you get to solve cool problems that no one knows the exact answer to, or there's the exact right way, or that you get to get your own questions answered. Things you wonder about. That it's a chance to explore.  So, I mean, ultimately, I think we just know that there's a lot of negativity that happens around math, and we accept it. And that is perhaps the most traumatizing tradition of all because that kind of repeat negativity we know affects the amygdala. It affects people's ability to access math in the long run. So, we gotta have neutral or better. Mike: So, in the field of psychology, there's this notion of generational trauma, and it's passed from generation to generation. And you're making me wonder if we're facing something similar when it comes to the field of math education. I'm wondering what you think educators might be able to do to reclaim math for themselves, especially if they're a person who potentially does have a traumatic mathematics experience and maybe some of the ways that they might create a different type of experience for their students. Kasi: Yeah, let's talk about each of those. I'm going to talk about one, the multigenerational piece, and then let's talk about how we can help ourselves and our students. One is, I think it's really very possible that that's what we're looking at in terms of math trauma. Culturally, I think we've known for a while that this is happening, with respect to math, that—you know, I've had parents come to back-to-school night and tell me that they're just not a math family. And even jokingly say, “Oh, we're all bad at math, don't be too hard on us,” and all the other things. And so, kids inherit that. And it's very common for kids to have the same attitude towards math that their parents do and also that their teachers do.  And that's where I think in my mind, I really want to help every elementary teacher fall in love with math because if we look at the data, I think of any undergraduate major, it's those who major in education who report the highest rates of math anxiety and math trauma. And so, when you think about folks who feel that way about math, then being in charge of teaching it to kids in the early years, that's a lot to carry. And so, we want to give those teachers and anyone who has had this experience with math an opportunity to reclaim, regroup. And in my experience, what I've found is actually simply shifting the location of the problem is a really strong first step. When people understand that they actually aren't broken, that the feelings that they have about math don't reflect some sort of flaw in them as a human, but that it's a result of something they've experienced, a lot is unlocked. And most folks that I have worked with over my time working on this issue, they know. They know exactly the moment. They know the set of experiences that led to the reactions that they feel in their body. They can name it, and with actually fairly startling detail. So, in my teaching—and I think this is something anybody can do—is they would write a “mathography.” What is the story of your life through a math lens? What has been the story of your relationship with math over the course of your life and what windows does that give you into the places where you might need to heal? We've never had more tools to go back and sort of relearn areas of math that we thought we couldn't learn. And so often the trauma points are as math becomes more abstract. So many people have something that happened around fractions or multidigit multiplication and division. When we started—we get letters involved in math. I had somebody say, “Math was great as long as it was numbers. Then we got letters involved, and it was terrible.” And so, if people can locate, “This is where I had the problem. It's not me. I can go back and relearn some things.” I feel like that's a lot of the healing, and that, in fact, if I'm a teacher or if I'm a parent, I love my kids, whether they're my children or my students, and I'm going to work on me so that they have a better experience than I had. And I've found so many teachers embrace that idea and go to work. So, some of the things that can happen in classrooms that I think fall from this is that, first of all, the recognition that emotional safety, you can't have cognition and problem solving without it. If you have kids in your classroom who have had these negative experiences in math, you're going to need to help them unpack those and level set in order to move on. And “mathography” is also a good tool for that. Some people use breathing.  Making sure that when you encounter kids that are exhibiting math anxiety, that you help them localize the problem outside of them. No one is born with math anxiety. It's the math of school that creates it. And if we ignore it, it's just going to get worse. So, some people feel like they can kind of smooth it over. I think we need to give kids the tools to unpack it and move beyond it. But it's so widespread, and I've encountered teachers who were afraid to go there. It's like the Pandora's box. My advice to them is that if you'll open the box and heal what's inside, the teaching becomes much easier. Whereas if you don't, you're fighting that uphill battle all the time.  You know, students will feel more safe in classrooms where mistakes are opportunities to learn; where they're not a bad thing and where they see each other as resources, where they are not alone, and where they can collaborate and really take responsibility for each other's learning. So, some of the most powerful classrooms I've seen where there were a lot of kids who had very negative experiences with math, a teacher had succeeded in creating this learning environment, this community of learners where all the kids seem to recognize that somebody would have a good day, someone else would have a not good day, but it would be their turn for a good day a few days from now. [chuckles] So, we're all just going to take care of each other as we go.  I think some things that teachers can keep a particular eye on is being sure that kids are given authentic work to do in math. It's really easy to start giving kids what we've called busywork, but work that really isn't engaging their brain. And it turns out that that boredom cycle triggers the negativity cycle, which can actually get your amygdala operating in a way that is not as far from trauma as we might all like to think. And so, while it isn't the same kind of math trauma that we're talking about here, it does affect the amygdala. And so that's something we should be aware of. And so, this is something—I think kids should learn about their brains in school. I don't know if it's the math teacher's job. But if they haven't learned about their brains yet, when you get them, I would recommend teaching kids about their brains, teaching them strategies for when they feel that kind of shutdown, that headache, like “I can't think.” Because most of the time, they actually can't. And they need to have some kind of reset.  Another tip, just in terms of disrupting that trauma cycle in the classroom, is that by the time kids get to be third, fourth grade and up, they know who is good at math, or they've labeled each other. You know, “Who's good at math? Who's struggled?” Even if they are not tracked and sorted, they've assessed each other. Sometimes they've put those labels on themselves. And so, if a teacher has the skills to assign competence to those students that may be being labeled as low status mathematically in their classroom—and it takes a teacher that knows their students well. But if you happen to see that a student that maybe has low status with computation, but wow, they are really good at developing the visuals for a math problem, or they're really great at illustrating a story or drawing others out in a collaborative group, but finding an area of competence that's authentic.  Sorry to go on and on. I could sit here and talk to you about this all day, but those are some of the things I would recommend. Mike: Well, I think there's a few things that jump out, and I wanted to take them in little bits. I'm going to try to summarize, and then I want to come back and pick these up a little bit. So, one of the pieces that you named really struck a chord with me, which is recognizing as an educator that I have a story about mathematics that is playing out maybe just under the level of consciousness that bubbles up here and there. When you mentioned the traumatic experiences, my head went back to third grade with multiplication tables, and I can see myself sitting in the seat. And when you mentioned fractions, again, I could see myself facing the board in third grade looking down at a workbook where we were supposed to be adding fractions with denominators that were not common. And I had this moment of just dread in my stomach because I remember just thinking, “I don't know what is happening at all.” And I'll say biographically, I think I spent the first seven or eight years of my teaching career carrying those things with me in the way that I approach students. I knew that they weren't good for me, but I didn't really have a compelling sense of what could be different until I actually took some mathematics education courses and really started to understand mathematics and how children's ideas develop. And it did allow me to decenter the problem for myself and say, “Actually, I can make a lot of meaning out of mathematics.” What I experienced was not mathematics. It was memorizing a bunch of stuff and practicing a bunch of procedures. This idea that decentering where the problem is from the educator or in classrooms from the student, really, really feels powerful. I think it's a huge gift that we can give to our students and also to ourselves. The other piece that I'm really thinking about is this idea of positioning students and finding competency. That really stands out as something that I could attend to as a classroom teacher. I suspect that people who are listening can think about their own class of students. You as an educator probably know who the other kids think of as good at math, and I suspect you also know who they think isn't good at math. Knowing that kids know those stories as well, I could do something about that. I could look at the students who have low status and think about ways that I could raise them up. That feels really tangible. I could take and start thinking about that when I ask students to share their ideas, and I could do that tomorrow. It doesn't take a master's-level course in mathematics to do that. Does that make sense, Kasi? Kasi: I love all of that so much. One hundred percent. You know, when I was observing teachers—and this tended to happen more with elementary teachers just because of their own histories with math as you were saying here—but the difference between saying, “OK, everybody, we get to do math now. Clear your desks!” and “OK, everybody, I know it's hard, but it's time for math. We're strong. We're going to do it.” But there is this underlying kind of, “I don't really like this either, but we gotta do it.” as opposed to “We're going to discover something new today!” And so really just kind of listening to some of those implicit messages in the words that we choose, that's something we can change in a moment as well. Mike: Well, I think you and I could probably go on and on and continue this conversation for a long time. If I'm someone who's listening, are there resources you would recommend for someone who wants to continue learning about these ideas? Kasi: Yeah, absolutely. For me, the OG of this line of thinking is Jo Boaler, who most math teachers will know. She's the first person I ever heard use the word “math-traumatized.” And before I embarked and dove deeper into my math trauma research, I went down to Stanford and met with her, and she was wonderful and encouraging of, like, “Oh, no, no, no. Go, go, go, go. This is great.”  There's a woman named Ebony McGee, who's the founder of R-RIGHTS. [She was] a professor at Vanderbilt. She's doing some work with math identity that I think touches on this subject in a valuable way. I mean, I think this whole area of developing positive math identity is tightly connected to the math trauma work. And honestly, anyone who is doing work around child trauma and neuroscience and how we are seeing the development of the brain is going to provide some interesting resources.  I have to say, my all-time favorite is a book that I believe [...] is out of print, so it might be a thrift books purchase. But Dr. Judy Willis wrote a book called Learning to Love Math. Looks like you might be familiar with it. And I really think she did a lovely job in that book in a way that is absolutely targeting teachers to help us see how these very small actions that we take in the classroom could make a really big difference in terms of how our students see and experience the subject that we care about so much. Mike: I think that's a great place to stop. Thank you so much for joining us, Kasi. It's really been a pleasure talking with you. Kasi: Oh, my goodness, Mike, thank you so much. It's really been an honor to be here. Thanks for having me. Mike: This podcast is brought to you by The Math Learning Center and the Maier Math Foundation, dedicated to inspiring and enabling all individuals to discover and develop their mathematical confidence and ability. © 2025 The Math Learning Center | www.mathlearningcenter.org

In this episode, Seerat interviews Jo Boaler. Dr. Boaler does research at Stanford about different learning environments in mathematics classrooms, co-founded YouCubed and Struggly, and is the author of 19 books, including Mindset Mathematics, a K-8 curriculum, What's Math Got To Do with It?, and her latest release, Math-Ish: Finding Creativity, Diversity, and Meaning in Mathematics. They discuss her work in the field of mathematics education and the aspects that make up a true "genius."

Let's talk. Send me a text message! Are you ready to foster a growth mindset in your math classroom?

Jo Boaler is a British author and Professor of Mathematics Education at Stanford University. Jo is involved in promoting reform mathematics and equitable mathematics classrooms, and thereby fulfils a role of communicating to broader society outside of academics. Beside her new book Math-ish, she is also the author of the books Limitless Mind, The Elephant in the Classroom and other books on learning and education.  Jo talks to Guy about visual approaches to teaching maths, covering the role of a growth mindset in learning maths, which can be developed from early on. They also touch on the importance of talent and genes versus the mindset we approach things with and on some barriers in teaching. Full transcript available here: https://aqfd.docsend.com/view/g7uc3eypdnvhz7fr Contents: (00:00) Introduction of Jo Boaler (01:52) Teaching Mathematics: A Visual Approach (10:16) The Illusion of Knowledge (20:33) Developing a Growth Mindset (26:02) Lessons Outside of Mathematics (30:51) Genes vs. Mentality (38:40) Differences Between the UK and the US (43:45) Gender Barriers (48:10) Further Resources 

EPISODE #65: This past week, we gathered around our iPhones like it was the 1920's to listen to Trump and Elon speak on Spaces. The media of course, had a meltdown over it. We then get into the insane policies of the EU that threatens to jail everyone for speech. CNN's Kaitlan Collins goes on Stephen Colbert's show, only to find the audience laughing at them. And finally, our pal (the one who claims that math is racist), Jo Boaler, is back with her new book Math-ish. We also have some sad news at the end of the show :( Featuring Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, Sanjana Friedman, Riley Nork We have partnered with Polymarket! Get your 2024 Presidential Election Predictions: https://polymarket.com/elections  - Disclaimer: Not Financial Advice, For Entertainment Purposes Only. Sign Up To Pirate Wires For Free! https://piratewires.co/free_newsletter Topics Discussed: Pirate Wires Twitter: https://twitter.com/PirateWires Mike Twitter: https://twitter.com/micsolana Brandon Twitter: https://twitter.com/brandongorrell Sanjana Twitter: https://twitter.com/metaversehell Riley Twitter: https://x.com/rylzdigital TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 - Welcome Back To The Pod! 1:00 - Pirate Idol! Submit your videos! 3:00 - Elon & Trump Take Over Twitter With Spaces Conversation 23:45 - Polymarkets Predict If Trump & Elon Will Be Censored In The EU 20:15 - EU Censorship 55:00 - Entire Audience Laughs At Stephen Colbert & Kaitlan Collins 1:02:35 - Jo Boaler - The ‘Math Is Racist' Lady - Release a Math Book 1:09:30  - Sanjana's Last Show :disappointed: 1:11:00 - Submit Your Videos To Pirate Idol! See You Next Week #podcast #technology #politics #culture

Professor Jo Boaler, from Stanford University and youcubed, discusses the power of the "ish" approach in education. Embracing the concept of "ish" can help children develop a positive mindset towards learning and problem-solving in mathematics. Jo Boaler shares insights on how this approach can benefit students and educators alike. Show NotesConnect With: Jo Boaler: Website // LinkedIn // Twitter2Hr Learning: Website // LinkedInI Hear Everything: IHearEverything.com // LinkedIn

Professor Jo Boaler, from Stanford University and youcubed, discusses strategies to help children improve in mathematics. She emphasizes the importance of creating a positive math learning environment to enhance students' math skills and confidence. Jo Boaler shares insights on fostering a growth mindset and debunking myths about math education. Show NotesConnect With: Jo Boaler: Website // LinkedIn // Twitter2Hr Learning: Website // LinkedInI Hear Everything: IHearEverything.com // LinkedIn

Kelly welcomes Jo Boaler back to the podcast. Jo is the Nomellini & Olivier Professor of Education at Stanford University. She is the author of nineteen books and numerous research articles. Her latest book is called “Math-Ish: Finding Creativity, Diversity, and Meaning in Mathematics.”  “Mathematics can be a secret weapon.”  “People with a growth mindset view mistakes as […]

Dr. Jo Boaler is here to discuss her new book "Math-ish," where she introduces findings that advocate for viewing mathematics through a real-world lens, termed “math-ish.” This approach reshapes our perceptions of math, data, and personal capabilities. Recognizing the significance of diversity in individuals and varied learning strategies allows everyone to thrive. Whether numbers instill a sense of competence or cause anxiety varies widely among individuals. Dr. Jo Boaler, a Stanford researcher and esteemed professor of mathematics education, contends that embracing these individual differences is crucial for tapping into our fullest potential in mathematics.Lean into this conversation and you'll come out the other side with an innovative approach focusing on estimation and deeper conceptual understanding, which has proven more effective and preferred by students over traditional methods. You'll also learn about breaking away from rigid, rule-based learning to allow students to utilize their own problem-solving skills….and much more. You'll Learn: How personal experiences with mathematics shaped their teaching approaches, emphasizing the need to move away from traditional methods to more engaging and constructive learning experiences. The concept of "mathish" — an innovative approach focusing on estimation and deeper conceptual understanding, which has proven more effective and preferred by students over traditional methods. This approach not only improves calculation accuracy but also enhances performance in standardized testing.Breaking away from rigid, rule-based learning to allow students to utilize their own problem-solving skills. This approach aims to overcome the negative perception of math as a controlled and uncreative subject, fostering a more open and explorative learning environment.The importance of nurturing critical thinking and personalized learning experiences. Despite some resistance from students used to more directive teaching styles, you'll learn the benefits of encouraging students to engage deeply with mathematical concepts.Resources: Math-ish by Dr. Jo Boaler [Book]Mathish.org [Website]Youcubed Facebook GroupDistrict Math Leaders: How are you ensuring that you support those educators who need a nudge to spark a focus on growing their pedagogical-content knowledge? What about opportunities for those who are eager and willing to elevate their practice, but do not have the support? Book a call with our District Improvement Program Team to learn how we can not only help you craft, refine and implement your district math learning goals, but also provide all of the professional learning supports your educators need to grow at the speed of their learning. Book a Love the show? Text us your big takeaway!Create engagement while fuelling students sense making by using Make Math Moments ready-made lessons and units. Access our vast catalogue of lessons for elementary through high school math classes.Check the catalogue here --> https://makemathmoments.com/tasks/ Get a Customized Math Improvement Plan For Your District.Are you district leader for mathematics? Take the 12 minute assessment and you'll get a free, customized improvement plan to shape and grow the 6 parts of any strong mathematics program.Take the assessment

In this mini-series, Tim Logan and Ewan McIntosh talk about some of the most interesting bits (to us) of intriguing guests on the show so far, followed by a bitesized excerpt. This second episode in the series features one of the most mlistened episodes from last year with the amazing Professor Jo Boaler. Check out the full episode here: https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/jhbCnZxznKb And do check out Jo's latest book, released last month, Math-ish: Finding Creativity, Diversity, and Meaning in Mathematics - https://www.harpercollins.com/products/math-ish-jo-boaler?variant=41226038083618

In this captivating episode of Remarkable People, Guy Kawasaki sits down with Jo Boaler, a trailblazing professor of education at Stanford University. Together, they dive into the transformative power of embracing a multidimensional approach to mathematics education. Boaler shares her groundbreaking research on reframing our relationship with math, emphasizing the importance of creativity, diversity, and meaning in the subject. Discover the seven principles that can revolutionize the way we learn and teach mathematics, empowering students to develop a deep understanding and appreciation for the subject. Join us as we explore how a shift in mindset and approach can unlock the potential of math education for all.---Guy Kawasaki is on a mission to make you remarkable. His Remarkable People podcast features interviews with remarkable people such as Jane Goodall, Marc Benioff, Woz, Kristi Yamaguchi, and Bob Cialdini. Every episode will make you more remarkable. With his decades of experience in Silicon Valley as a Venture Capitalist and advisor to the top entrepreneurs in the world, Guy's questions come from a place of curiosity and passion for technology, start-ups, entrepreneurship, and marketing. If you love society and culture, documentaries, and business podcasts, take a second to follow Remarkable People. Listeners of the Remarkable People podcast will learn from some of the most successful people in the world with practical tips and inspiring stories that will help you be more remarkable. Episodes of Remarkable People organized by topic: https://bit.ly/rptopology Listen to Remarkable People here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/guy-kawasakis-remarkable-people/id1483081827 Like this show? Please leave us a review -- even one sentence helps! Consider including your Twitter handle so we can thank you personally! Thank you for your support; it helps the show!

In this episode of Room to Grow, our hosts discuss ways to support student sense-making in teaching and learning mathematics. Building out on the ideas shared in Episode 3 of Room to Grow, Curtis and Joanie dive more deeply into what it means for students to “make sense of mathematics.” They discuss what it looks and sounds like when students are making sense, as opposed to just repeating back learned ideas, and consider which classroom structures and teacher moves might best support students' sense-making. They acknowledge that sense-making is not more or less important than learning mathematical skills and fluency, but that it is a part of deep learning and of a student's ability to generalize their understanding.  As Peter Liljedahl says in Building Thinking Classrooms, “The goal of building thinking classrooms is not to find engaging tasks for students to think about. The goal of thinking classrooms is to build engaged students that are willing to think about any task.” We encourage you to explore the resources below, referenced in this episode:The Standards for Mathematical Practice, now referenced in most states' math standards and originally published by the Council of Chief State School Officers and the Governor's Association;Jo Boaler's Math-ish book and website;Peter Liljedahl's book and website Building Thinking Classrooms, and Robert Kaplinsky's blog post about why you should read it. Did you enjoy this episode of Room to Grow? Please leave a review and share the episode with others. Share your feedback, comments, and suggestions for future episode topics by emailing roomtogrowmath@gmail.com. Be sure to connect with your hosts on Twitter and Instagram: @JoanieFun and @cbmathguy. 

Math-ish: Finding Creativity, Diversity, and Meaning in Mathematics By Jo Boaler https://amzn.to/3QyFjeP From Stanford professor, author of Limitless Mind, youcubed.org founder, and leading expert in the field of mathematics education Jo Boaler comes a groundbreaking guide to finding joy and understanding by adopting a diverse approach to learning math. “Every once in a while, someone revolutionizes an approach to a difficult subject and changes it forever. That is what Jo Boaler has done for math. Fresh, smart, and inclusive, Jo Boaler's strategy eschews the one-size-fits-a-few approach and instead allows math to be seen and solved by everyone. A huge achievement. Math-ish is the only math book I've ever enjoyed reading in my entire life. Honestly.” -Bonnie Garmus, author of Lessons in Chemistry Mathematics is a fundamental part of life, yet every one of us has a unique relationship with learning and understanding the subject. Working with numbers may inspire confidence in our abilities or provoke anxiety and trepidation. Stanford researcher, mathematics education professor, and the leading expert on math learning Dr. Jo Boaler argues that our differences are the key to unlocking our greatest mathematics potential. In Math-ish, Boaler shares new neuroscientific research on how embracing the concept of “math-ish”—a theory of mathematics as it exists in the real world—changes the way we think about mathematics, data, and ourselves. When we can see the value of diversity among people and multi-faceted approaches to learning math, we are free to truly flourish. Utilizing the latest research on math education, Jo guides us through seven principles that can radically reframe our relationship with the subject: • The power of mindset on learning • Utilizing a visual approach to math • The impact of physical movement and communication on understanding • Understanding the value of an "ish" perspective - in mathematics and beyond • The importance of connected and flexible knowledge • New data on diverse teaching modes that work with different learning styles, not against them • The value of diversity in learning mathematics—and beyond When mathematics is approached more broadly, inclusively, and with a greater sense of wonder and play—when we value the different ways people see, approach, and understand it—we empower ourselves and gain a beneficial understanding of its value in our lives. About the author Dr Jo Boaler is the Nomellini-Olivier Professor of Education at Stanford University and co-founder of youcubed and Struggly. Formerly the Marie Curie Professor of Mathematics Education for England, a mathematics teacher in London comprehensive schools and a researcher at King's College, London. She is the author of eighteen books, the most recent being: Math-ish:Finding Creativity, Diversity and Meaning in Mathematics, published by Harper Collins. She was listed as one of 8 educators changing the face of education by the BBC

Dr. Jo Boaler is a leading math education expert and one of the writers of the California Mathematics Framework, a set of guidelines focused on improving equity in California's math classrooms. We first talk about her upcoming book, Math-ish, and the beauty of pursuing more "ish" in our lives. Then, we discuss a recent anonymous complaint that was filed with Stanford University, accusing Dr. Boaler of misrepresenting research to serve her own agenda. Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please please pretty please support the show on patreon! You get ad free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content

In this episode of the Just Schools Podcast, host Jon Eckert interviews Krystle Moos, an award-winning science teacher known for her innovative and engaging teaching methods. The discussion revolves around Krystle's approach to creating a dynamic learning environment that fosters curiosity, belonging, and genuine learning experiences for her students. Krystle emphasizes the importance of addressing distractions and creating a sense of belonging in the classroom, regardless of the evolving landscape of technology. She shares her strategy of making science hands-on and exploratory, moving away from traditional labs towards phenomenon-based learning to spark wonder and curiosity in her students. To learn more, order Jon's book, Just Teaching: Feedback, Engagement, and Well-Being for Each Student.   The Just Schools Podcast is brought to you by the Baylor Center for School Leadership. Each week, we'll talk to catalytic educators who are doing amazing work.   Be encouraged. Connect with us: Baylor MA in School Leadership Baylor Doctorate in Education Jon Eckert: @eckertjon Center for School Leadership at Baylor University: @baylorcsl Mentioned: Limitless Mind: Learn, Lead, and Live Without Barriers by Jo Boaler     Transcription: Jon Eckert: Welcome back to the Just Schools Podcast. We're really excited today because in our podcast studio/my office, we have the award-winning amazing science teacher, Krystle Moos. A huge blessing to be able to work with her through our master's program. She's also a local educator that's impacted many, many kids' lives over the last several years. So, Krystle, thank you for being here first of all. Krystle Moos: Oh, it's honestly an honor and a joy to share education and our experiences with everybody we can. Jon Eckert: Yeah. Oh, and I should mention you're also... My kids got to pick one teacher that they dedicated the book just teaching to, and so one of my daughters picked Ms. Moos as her most just teacher. So teacher that leads to justice and flourishing, not just a teacher, but the most impactful teacher that she had. So she had selected Ms. Moos. And now my other daughter is getting the benefit from Ms. Moos as well. So I think this is the first educator that I've been able to interview that's taught my own children. So you can feel free to share any shortcomings as a parent that I have that you see through my children. But really, what I want to talk to you today about is you've been teaching for a while, and you've won these awards and these accolades for being a great teacher, which are well deserved. But I'm curious, what do you see that's different about kids today than when you first started teaching? Krystle Moos: Yeah, I don't think there's much that's different, honestly. They have different distractions. And so I started my first five years at Waco ISD. It was a title one school, and their distractions were very different than when I moved to Midway ISD. It's more of a suburban school. They didn't have as many phones back then. Not everybody had a phone. We weren't assigning digital assignments when I first went to Midway, but they still had other distractions. I had distractions when I was a student. It was writing notes and finding cute ways to fold them and sneak them along, and we still... I would leave and go to the library to write a paper. And so, I think they're the same. They're still distracted. They still have the same fundamental belonging in the classroom. And when we look at students and we look at what they're facing, and I do think they're facing more, everything's just way more visible in their life and way more connected, which can be really distracting. But then I think about sitting in my course, three math class, and writing notes to my friends and folding them, and I definitely was not engaged. I think that sense of belonging in any classes where that teacher really made me feel like things were meaningful, they really cared about what I was doing, and what I was learning, and where I was going really were the most impactful classrooms that helped me center. And so, whether it was 17 years ago when I started or today before I get to the content, you have to get to the belonging and why we're doing things, and then the distractions fade away. Jon Eckert: Well, I like that you went back to the part that makes us human, which we all have this desire to belong. We want to be seen and known by other people, and that's an innate need. I think that's true. I think the distraction is also true, depending on how engaged we are in the classroom. We're looking for distraction. I think the challenge that I see is I don't think kids are different. I would agree, and I hope that's an encouragement to educators today that the kids aren't different. I do think the ability to distract them has increased significantly because we didn't walk around in our pocket with this device that engineers are paying billions of dollars to turn us as kids into the product. Their attention is that we didn't have that. You had the paper and pencil and the pen and the origami folding, which you could distract yourself, but nobody's being paid to distract you. Krystle Moos: Yeah. And I think that is something that we battle in my classroom. I make you grab your phone and show me it on days where I notice that things are going to be a little bit harder and I need them all in. I'll say, "Grab your phone. If you're not reaching in your bag, you're doing something wrong. Get your phone in your bag." When I walked in here today, I took my watch off. And so I think it's training people on when it's appropriate to use devices and when we need to put it away and really focus on what we're learning on each other, so that way the experience is more meaningful. Jon Eckert: Well, and I think in your classroom... Again, as a middle school science teacher, I never rose to the level of high school teacher, but I was a middle school science teacher. What I loved about middle school science is it's hands-on. You're doing things. You're experimenting. You're demonstrating. You're seeing how this works, and you did it this way this time, and now you do it this other way, this other time, and what's different, and you're recording it, and you're observing. And so it's designed to capture your attention. It requires your attention. So talk about some of the ways you make science come alive through the ways you make it hands-on in your class. Krystle Moos: So I went to school, where I loved all my teachers. I was a very compliant student, and I just did what I was told to do, and I was horrible at lab. I was the student that would finish a lab, have all the numbers, and then go sit and bother the teacher until they told me exactly what step to do to get the result. When I started teaching, I took all labs and took the instructions away. I would do all the labs first. And I really made it more about exploring and modeling and less about manipulation of equipment. And so, I felt like a lot of labs were cookie-cutter labs. You just followed the instructions, and then it kind of connected to the content, but not at all. For me, it wasn't until I started teaching that I understood all the big connections. As I rewrite labs, I take away the instructions. I make them target labs, or we'll spend multiple days or minutes, even just minutes, looking at a phenomenon, something as simple as ice melting on a block of plastic versus a block of metal. And then we draw, and we discuss, and we show transfer of energy. And so a lot more of the class is discussing revising models. And then I can drive the conversation of what's happening based on student misconceptions, and it makes it less paper pencil working through practice problems and more relatable, so I can say things like, "Do you remember in class when we did this thing? What did you learn, and how can you apply it to this problem?" Jon Eckert: Why do you think more teachers don't do this? Again, science lends itself to this, but a lot of science teachers, it's all procedures. It's all trying to track what you did when you did it. Be very careful in your observations, but it's not this exploration of the bigger concepts. Why do you think teachers don't do that more in whatever discipline they're in? Krystle Moos: Yeah, I think we do what we were taught. And so I think for a lot of people, it's just really easy to take what's out there and do it, and it worked. And so why change it? And for me, it didn't work for me. And I hated that I spent hours in college in lab, not understanding why I was doing it. And I wanted my students to have a different experience. And I wanted them to see the science around them coming to life so that when they walk outside and it's snowing, they're thinking about the transfer of energy and what's actually happening with the individual water molecules. And I just know I have to change what happened to me so that my students could see all the things that I'm seeing now. We were just driving down the road. I drove from Denver to New York. And I looked out the window and saw a huge solar panel, a whole field, really, of solar panels. And I got this incredible idea that when I do a topic, I could actually have the students do those little... You know the car where this has a little solar panel, and when light strikes it, it bobbles its head? Well, I could have them explore with different color light on the end of flashlights to figure out a new relationship, a new lab that might make a little bit more sense to the students than the way I had been doing it by just discussing it. Jon Eckert: So what I love about what you've described already is you talked about this human piece that we want to belong. And then I think you also are tapping into this idea of wonder. How do we create a sense of awe and wonder about how things work? Not just, "Oh, that's amazing and that's beautiful," but what makes that work? And when kids start doing that, I think that's how five-year-olds are. They have this curiosity that somehow school rings out of them. And I do think you're right that sometimes we just replicate what we experience as students. But I also think there's a fear of turning over control to students, where it's a lot easier to bore kids into compliance or make sure they follow these steps. And you can see, "Oh, they're not following the steps. They're not complying," where someone might walk into your classroom and be like, "What is going on here?" There's so much happening, there's so much energy. And that creates a sense of loss of control. And if I did that in my classroom, it would just get out of hand. And they fear that loss of control. Do you think that's true, or am I overstating what some teachers might be feeling? Krystle Moos: I think it's a little bit of that, and I think it's having those procedures in place. I go everywhere and in populations of adults, obviously, if you can hear me clap once, and it works every single time. But it's also that awkwardness and that a willingness to try something new. Science is about experimentation. I think education is about experimentation. So today, you said wonder. One of the things that I ask my students to do when they model or when they observe a phenomenon, the first thing I ask them is to write down two things they notice and then two things they wonder. And when we start to do that, we start to get them to think. And today, I even messed up in class. I said, "What do you guys notice?" And instead of giving them time to talk to each other first, I asked that question to the whole class complete in utter silence. And so in the next class period I was like, "I got to do this better," so I gave them some time to talk together, "and I need three answers. I need three people to respond when you're done." I had eight people that just... I had to let them answer all eight of them. And so it's looking at what works and what doesn't work. It also is getting together with other educators. And so, so much of what I do has been revised by talking to teachers across the nation, not just in chemistry, also in biology, and really driving those conversations about, "What do you do? My students struggle with this. Do you have a lab or an activity or a way to teach it? Tell me how you teach it." And being okay, saying, "My students are struggling. What I'm doing is not working. I need some new ideas so that I can get my students to the point of wonder." Jon Eckert: Well, I think isn't that ultimately the goal for each of us is that whatever our subject is to get them to wonder. Because if we really want to tap into intrinsic motivation, we can intrinsically motivate them. That's, by definition, impossible. But if you can create the conditions like you did in the second class period where you set it up where it wasn't about you, it was about what they wanted to share, that creates conditions where they might be intrinsically motivated by the concept that they're studying. Because again, intrinsic motivation isn't "I want to be good at science so that I can get into college and then become a doctor." That's all delayed extrinsic motivation. It's, "Do I really have this awe and wonder about what I'm doing?" And I think that's more likely to happen in a class where they feel like they belong. I will say too, my daughters have both said they love Ms. Moos because of your kind of nerdy love for so many things. And I think that's great because I think you've done a great job modeling that you're not trying to be cool, as whatever an 18-year-old thinks is cool. It's, "No, I think this is amazing," and that passion comes across to them. It's like, "Wow, I've never known anybody quite like that." And then that makes it okay for them to be excited about things that really get them going. Have you seen that pay dividends? Do you ever struggle with that? I mean, I was clearly not a cool person by the standards of middle school kids, but I felt like I tried to make it okay to be quirky and be a little different and weird. Have you seen that pay dividends for you? Krystle Moos: I think I'm just quirky and weird. I'm okay. Just I am who I am, and I don't want my students to think that they have to be anything different than what they are. And having that belonging means that they get to see my weird. They get to see me on my best days when I'm just so excited, and they get to see me on some days that are a little bit harder. And so I really... I guess I didn't think I was that quirky, but I like it. I tell them, "I run science UIL. We're the nerd herd, and we are going to embrace it and love it." And the thing is that science and math and those are the places that I live and breathe. And man, if you want to come with me, great. If not, just appreciate the fact that I'm really excited about something, and I'm happy to hear about what you're excited about too. Jon Eckert: And I think that's part of the belonging you create in your classroom. And I may still remember you were talking to us about the eclipse that's coming. Krystle Moos: Path of totality. Jon Eckert: We've been talking about the path of totality in our house ever since, and- Krystle Moos: I'm not even a space person. Just you know, I've never taken a day of a space science class, but I am so excited. I didn't know when we had the annual eclipse. I don't know if you saw the pictures. But when the annual eclipse shines through the trees, the shadow is actually representative of what's happening in the sky because you're not supposed to look at it directly. Jon Eckert: Interesting. Krystle Moos: And so I didn't know that. And that stuff, what I didn't know, I didn't know. And what I've learned, I'm just so excited to share. It's path of totality on April 8th. I'm so excited. Jon Eckert: Space science, I never took anything in space science. I never taught it. And again, if you haven't taught something, it's hard to really know it. So I'm with you, but it is fascinating. And I just love that the energy you bring to that, but it's not just for the subject because sometimes people say, "Oh, elementary teachers teach the kids, and high school teachers teach the subject." It's like, no, you still teach kids, but you teach them to be passionate about what they're interested in. And you bring a passion to the science that I think is it effervesces in a way that it draws people in. So one of the things you talked about before we jumped on is the way you give feedback based on this. So again, it's really way easier to give meaningful feedback when you have kids who are deeply engaged. But how do you give feedback in a way that helps kids grow and stretch in ways that are hard and uncomfortable but pays big dividends in the end? Krystle Moos: Yeah, I think anytime something's tied to a grade, you have a chance of not seeing what students really know and don't know. When we start deducting points for showing what you don't know, I just feel like it's asking students to copy from someone else because it has a stake in it, even if it's just a practice grade, especially when we get to evaluation grades. I don't want to be surprised on a test if a student didn't know something that I thought that they knew because they completed all their assignments. So I like to frequently stop, give the questions, give two or three questions to the students, and say, "Take it like a test. Take it like a quiz. Go in a corner. Don't get help from anybody. Just get as far as you can." And so we do this once or twice a week. In AP chemistry, we do it all the time. I'm like, "Okay, you're going to do a CF..." We call it a CFU, a check for understanding. And what I do is they are low-stakes, very low-stakes, or no-stakes grades. And so, I'll get someone that turns it in completely blank, and they tried. They read the question. They'll have circled things, but they don't even know where to get started. I know that when I hand it back the next day, I'm going to pull that kid for a small group and work with them. It takes six weeks to drive out from students. That's okay to not know. It's not okay to not ask for help. And I'm still slowly getting the kids to kind of get rid of that. I would rather have you turn in assignments late. I would rather have you learn it later than now if you're not ready for it now, as long as you're willing to work on it later. And it has just been incredible. Students will get... The class average on a CFA will be 50%. And I will feel so bad about myself because that means I taught it horribly the first time. But maybe I'll do peer-to-peer tutoring, or maybe I'll pull small group, or maybe I'll go over the CFA together. And it was the way the question was worded. And then on the test, the class average is a 90. So at first, I was like, "Maybe my tests aren't hard enough." But that feedback that constantly having students do it low-stakes, working with them, conferencing with them, and then having them learn from their mistakes has just been so impactful on their overall grades. They don't freak out for tests like they used to. Jon Eckert: And I know you don't teach for an AP score. I know that's not what motivates you, but your kids do well on AP exams. And that's the kind of teacher that I like to see because that AP exam is validation that, "Hey, they learned a lot." And it's not about grade inflation because we have this really problematic thing going on in high schools right now where there's a ton of cheating going on. There's a tacit endorsement among some teachers like, "Hey, I don't care how you get the answers, just get the answers and let's move on." So you have graduation rates that are off the charts because kids are moving through, and the National Assessment of Education Progress, ACT, SAT they're all showing these declines in actual learning. And so what I loved in what you described was this check for understanding is not a throwaway grade. This is a true formative check for me and you to know what you do and don't know. And so then, when you get to the summative assessment, you have these high scores because you and your student know what you didn't know, and then you figure out ways because you are one of the most tireless teachers I've seen for reteaching, figuring out ways to show it a different way, and have an unbelievable amount of energy for that. And that's what gets them over that bar. So it's not about grade inflation. They've truly earned that. And that is, to me, the goal of any teacher. I don't understand teachers that are okay with a class average of 60% that they then curve and bump up because I really want to know what's the 40% of what you taught that you don't care that your kids don't know. I would hope in most classes, the class average is 90% are higher because I want to know if I'm the teacher that's going to get those kids they learn those things. And coming out of your class, they know that. Now, that's not the way most educators work. Why do you think that is? Krystle Moos: It's hard. It is really hard to get the students to take ownership over their own learning because we have just passed them on. And so, if in second grade they struggle with one aspect of math, we pass them on. We're in a very heavy math unit right now, and it involves solving proportions. I can teach them the chemistry. They know all the units. But when it gets to the math, I had to spend a half a class period pulling out small groups of students, that when I said, "Look, it's a proportion. You cross multiply and divide." I had kids honest enough. Let's just be real there. Teenagers being honest enough to say, "I don't know how to do that." They said... An exact quote was, "Teachers have been saying this to me. Cross multiply and divide for the past three years, and I don't know what they mean." And these are students in honors chemistry. And so I've broken down this wall of it's okay to not know, but you have to ask. And if I don't explain it well the first time, I put a lot of the blame on me. If I didn't explain it well the first time because you didn't get it, ask me again, and we'll come up with something else. Or let's go ask one of your friends, because your friend may have been through the same exact system you were. Something I said clicked for them. And so we just do a lot of peer-to-peer tutoring too. Jon Eckert: No, that's great. And I do think sometimes you take too much of the responsibility on yourself as an educator. And I think, as educators, we need to know it's a partnership. And kids have to ask, and they have to do the work. I think, sometimes kids, and I don't think this is true in your class, they'll say, "Well, I don't get it." It's like, "No. You have to articulate what you don't understand because I don't get it is basically saying, 'I'm not even going to try to articulate what I don't know.'" Your example with the proportions is a good example. "Teachers have told me this over and over again, and I don't know what that means." That's a really helpful place because then you can step in and say, "Oh, here's what this is." And you shouldn't have to be teaching that in honors chemistry, but... Krystle Moos: I'm going to. If we look at... You're talking about the learning connection, what our students know. I think for me, honors chemistry, the big thing is I can support our students in ACT, SAT, and just general knowledge. And if that's the hole they're missing, I'm going to jump in and fill it because do I want them to learn chemistry? Yes. But how many of them are going to use ideal gas law later on in life? And so if I can teach them proportion, I'm good for the day. Jon Eckert: Right, right. No. And I really appreciate that about the way you approach, and that's what a lot of great teachers do, and we need to just continue to highlight that. So we always wrap up with a lightning round. So here's your chance in a word, phrase, or sentence to answer a few. And I have a few common ones I go back to, so I'll ask some of those, and we'll see if I come up with anything random. Feel free to take a pause if you need to, because a lot of times these are the first times you've heard these questions, but what's your favorite book that you've read in this past year? It could be education-related, or it could be anything else. I always want a good book recommendation. Krystle Moos: I always go to Limitless Mind by Jo Boaler, Productive Struggle, just that grit, that tenacity, that it's okay to not know. I would recommend it for any math, really. Any science teacher. Jon Eckert: Yeah, you recommended that to me early on when a friend, Jo Boaler, does great stuff. Great, great example for educators. Okay. What is the worst piece of advice you've ever received? Krystle Moos: Yeah. I've watched a lot of the podcasts, and so I know the repeat ones, but I had someone recommend. And I thought it was a great idea to separate all the loud students that talk from each other. And I very quickly learned that they still talk just across the classroom. And so I'm a little bit more intentional about that. And I provide them opportunities to work with their louder friends, but gosh, that was just horrible. The one here, I separated, and they were screaming across the room. Jon Eckert: Well, with my middle schoolers, what I would do in the lab is I would let them choose who they got to sit with for the quarter, and then they get to pick their seats again the next quarter. They said to pick, they couldn't sit with anybody they sat with that quarter, so their group of four would get broken up, and so they had to move those around. But what I found was they so badly wanted to be together that if you put them together and said, "Hey, if this isn't a good choice for you, I'm going to intercede, and we're going to move you," I found that that was my best way to control some of the off-task behavior that they would get. Sometimes, putting them together was the best thing I could do. Not always, but sometimes. Krystle Moos: And their conversations are just so much cooler when they're willing to talk to one another. Jon Eckert: Yes. And hilarious. Krystle Moos: Oh, hilarious. Jon Eckert: And hilarious. All right. Best piece of advice you've ever received. Krystle Moos: Yeah. Support the support staff. My secretaries, custodians, they are the backbone behind the school. I support my leaders, support everybody, but those custodians and secretaries really can get overlooked. And their impact is very powerful at the school. Jon Eckert: Well said. Good thing to remember. Love that. What's the biggest challenge you see for educators in the year ahead? Krystle Moos: Anticipating gaps in learning. As a secondary teacher, I used to know what the students weren't, and were going to know, and where they were. And it seems like each year, planning for those misconceptions is getting a little bit more challenging, but I think it's also really fun to look at the first period and go, 'That did not work. Let's scrap it and try again." Jon Eckert: Yep. No, well said. What's the thing that makes you most optimistic as you look ahead? Krystle Moos: The kids. They're absolutely just doing incredible things. My students are trying and working with me and growing and building. And really, this move to a standards-based learning. Learning to learn and not learning for a grade has changed so much of my students' perspective on learning. They're willing to try things and ask questions in a way that I haven't seen in a while. Jon Eckert: Well, I really appreciate you coming on today. And also, just thank you for helping kids become more of who they're created to be. I think sometimes kids don't even have a vision for who the Lord has made them to be. Obviously, God's never surprised by who that kid, what they can do, but I feel teachers like you help speak into kids' lives, share that with them explicitly, but then implicitly, through the way you teach, give feedback, and push them, allows them to do things that they probably didn't imagine they could do. And you have a lot of kids at Midway High School who consider chemistry and the sciences because they feel like they can do it coming out of your class. So it's a huge blessing to my own children but also to the community. And again, it's what great teachers do. So thanks for being on, and thanks for all you do. Krystle Moos: Of course. Thank you.  

EPISODE #47: The Pirate Wires crew is here for your weekly podcast! This week, we kick things off with FTC Chair, Lina Khan, appearing on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. From the standing ovation, to the blatant speak of dismantling tech companies, we analyze exactly what she said. We then get into the "Right To Disconnect" bill introduced in California, that would effectively punish companies who message an employee after 5pm. Next up, the war on algebra continues! Last week, we discussed Jo Boaler in San Francisco. This week, we dive into the insane discourse around the Garry Tan funded company, Mentrava. Finally, squatters all around the nation, from NYC to San Francisco. River breaks down his piece on an organization in SF that's actively helping people to find places to squat. It's all crazy! We're here to help navigate it all.  Featuring Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, River Page, Sanjana Friedman Subscribe to Pirate Wires: https://www.piratewires.com/ Topics Discussed: Pirate Wires Twitter: https://twitter.com/PirateWires Mike Twitter: https://twitter.com/micsolana Brandon Twitter: https://twitter.com/brandongorrell River Twitter: https://twitter.com/river_is_nice Sanjana Twitter: https://twitter.com/metaversehell TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 - Welcome Back To The Pod! Rate & Review 1:00 - Lina Khan's Interview With Jon Stewart - A Tech Anti-Trust Discussion 21:00 - The "Right To Disconnect" Bill - An Insane Piece Of Legislation 39:30 - The War On Algebra 51:35 - Squatter Revolution 1:05:00 - Thanks For Watching! Tell Your Friends! Rate & Review

EPISODE #46: Back at it again! This week we have a discussion around "disinformation experts". What makes these people experts, (aside from Mike Solana of course) and why do they only blame misinformation on the right wing? We think you know why. Meta was in the news this past week. From Boomers getting fooled by AI images, to the decision to limit political news ahead of the election season. Ron DeSantis signs a bill to ban social media for kids in Florida. Do you agree? Finally, Sanjana breaks down her piece on Jo Boaler, the woman who dismantled Algebra education in San Francisco.  Featuring Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, River Page, Sanjana Friedman Subscribe to Pirate Wires: https://www.piratewires.com/ Topics Discussed: https://www.piratewires.com/p/jo-boaler-misrepresented-citations Pirate Wires Twitter: https://twitter.com/PirateWires Mike Twitter: https://twitter.com/micsolana Brandon Twitter: https://twitter.com/brandongorrell River Twitter: https://twitter.com/river_is_nice Sanjana Twitter: https://twitter.com/metaversehell TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 - Welcome Back To The Pod 1:00 - 60 Minutes Story On Misinformation - How Do These People Decide? 17:45 - Meta News: Boomers Fooled By AI & Limiting Political News 29:50 - Ron DeSantis Signs Social Media Ban For Kids Bill - Do You Agree? 43:50 - Quiet On The Set Documentary 48:20 - War On Algebra - CA's Architect of “Equity-Based Algebra” Accused of Academic Fraud

Unlock a new dimension in teaching math with the guidance of Deedee Leoni from Curriculum Associates, who joins us to share her expertise on math manipulatives' transformative power. Imagine replacing math anxiety with excitement and understanding; that's the promise when we integrate visual learning into our curriculum. Deedee, with her deep roots in education and her current role in professional development, sheds light on how tools like the 10 frame can change the game for students by tapping into their innate spatial reasoning skills. We delve into Jo Boaler's research and neuroscientific studies that support the shift from rote learning to a visually stimulating approach that can reinvent how our students perceive and excel in math.Middle school educators, get ready to elevate your classroom experience with actionable strategies for using math manipulatives effectively. Appreciate the art of organization and the importance of student involvement in prep work, as explained by Deedee. Our conversation doesn't just stop at theory; it's a treasure trove of practical tips that will leave you with a classroom buzzing with engaged learners. And the discussion continues beyond the podcast—join us on social media to share your own classroom successes and to become part of a community that's reshaping the landscape of math education together.Read Curriculum Associates' blog: CurriculumAssociates.com/blogFollow us on Twitter: @CurriculumAssocFollow us on Instagram: @MyiReadyHave feedback, questions, or want to be a guest? Email ExtraordinaryEducators@cainc.com to connect with us!

Today's snippet comes from a recent interview that I did with the incredible  Professor Jo Boaler from Stanford University. We covered a lot of ground in our discussion, including parenting, pioneering in a male-dominated discipline, developing mathematical mindsets and how to embrace failure. The link to the full episode is below. In this brief conversation, we discussed one of the best maths lessons she has ever seen. It's a brilliant idea. Enjoy. https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/professor-jo-boaler-developing-mindsets-embracing-failure/id1552506400?i=1000630363973

Today's snippet comes from a recent interview that I did with the incredible  Professor Jo Boaler from Stanford University. We covered a lot of ground in our discussion, including parenting, pioneering in a male-dominated discipline, developing mathematical mindsets and how to embrace failure. The link to the full episode is below. In this brief conversation, we discussed one of the best maths lessons she has ever seen. It's a brilliant idea. Enjoy. The full episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/professor-jo-boaler-developing-mindsets-embracing-failure/id1552506400?i=1000630363973 Links to her resources can be found below: Stanford Profile: https://joboaler.people.stanford.edu/ YouCubed: https://www.youcubed.org/ YouCubed Professional Development: https://www.youcubed.org/professional-development-at-stanford/ Teaching Videos: https://www.youcubed.org/resource/teaching-videos/

Today, I have a very special episode for you. Professor Jo Boaler. Her work has been published in the New York Times, TIME magazine, The Telegraph, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal and many other news outlets. She is currently co-leading YouCubed and was named one of the eight educators “changing the face of education” by the BBC. We covered a lot of ground in our discussion, including parenting, pioneering in a male-dominated discipline, developing mathematical mindsets and how to embrace failure. I was honoured to have a conversation, and I hope it was as transformative for you as it was for me. Links to her resources can be found below: Stanford Profile: https://joboaler.people.stanford.edu/ YouCubed: https://www.youcubed.org/ YouCubed Professional Development: https://www.youcubed.org/professional-development-at-stanford/ Teaching Videos: https://www.youcubed.org/resource/teaching-videos/        

In Vanessa's masters thesis titled "Imagining a World Where Paris Hilton Loves Math", there was nobody quoted more frequently than today's guest, Stanford professor Dr. Jo Boaler.  On the season 5 finale of Math Therapy, Vanessa sits down with her math ed hero to discuss how limiting beliefs vs a growth mindset impact the brain, how struggle and mistake-making benefit learning, and the extremely personal resistance she's faced in a career dedicated to making math more equitable and accessible.About Jo: (Website, Twitter)Stanford Professor Dr Jo Boaler is author of 18 books, numerous articles, and a White House presenter on women and girls. Her latest book is called: Limitless Mind: Learn, Lead and Live without Barriers. She co-founded www.youcubed.org, is currently one of the writing team creating a new Mathematics Framework for the state of California, co-leading a K-12 Data Science Initiative and was named as one of the 8 educators “changing the face of education” by the BBC.  Links mentioned:App: StrugglyWebsite: www.youcubed.orgBook: Limitless MindStandford study by Jo's colleague Lang Chen finding growth mindset helps student successStory of Nicholas Letchford - written off as a child with learning disabilities who went on to get a PhD in applied mathConnect with us:Vanessa Vakharia: @themathguru (Insta, Twitter, TikTok)Math Therapy: @maththerapy (Twitter)

Math Therapy is (briefly) back!  We've been hard at work on a new season which I can't wait for you to hear soon, but I had to share an excerpt of one of the interviews I just did - you'll see why.  Stanford professor Jo Boaler is one of my math heroes, I referenced her all through my master's thesis, and her work in trying to make math education more equitable has been an inspiration to literally millions of people.But there are some who disagree with her vision so much that they have taken things far beyond the classroom, from accusing her of academic dishonesty to media attacks which have led to threats of violence towards her and her family.  So I wanted to share her story of the renewed attacks that she's currently dealing with - if she has helped/inspired you in your math journey please let her know!Jo's recent letter on her Stanford site detailing her storyYoucubed.org - Stanford-backed platform she leads with tons of free resources for students and teachersMy fave book of hers: Limitless Mind Connect with us:Jo Boaler: (Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok)Vanessa Vakharia: @themathguru (Instagram, Twitter, TikTok)Math Therapy: @maththerapy on TwitterWatch on YouTube: full episode at @maththerapypodcast

Lexman interviews Jo Boaler, the professor of mathematics at the University of Oxford. They discussJo's latest book, "In Inspissations and Descents: An Aladdin's Lamp for Mathematical Schemes", which examines mathematical schemes through the lens of Bertrand Russell's novel "Aladdin".

Jo Boaler talks about her new book Menuhin: The Biography. She discusses the life and work of violin virtuoso Yehudi Menuhin, the presurmise that led him to his success, and the plangency that made his playing so riveting.

Rounding Up Season 1 | Episode 11 – Successful Curriculum Adoption Guest: Dana Nathanson Mike Wallus: Adopting a new curriculum is not for the faint of heart. What makes this challenging? Well, beyond the materials themselves, a curriculum adoption may represent many things: changes to longstanding practices, beliefs, and classroom culture. On today's podcast, we'll talk with Dana Nathanson, the elementary math coordinator in Leander, Texas, about how leaders can effectively design, manage and sustain a successful curriculum adoption. Welcome to the podcast, Dana. I'm thrilled to have you and be able to talk with you a little bit about the work that goes into adopting and supporting the implementation of a new curriculum.  Dana Nathanson: I'm excited to be here. Thank you for the opportunity.  Mike: Absolutely. So, in your case, we're talking about the work that you did in Leander, Texas, when you supported the adoption of Bridges in Mathematics. I'd love to start by talking about something that feels really critical when a school or a district adopts a new curriculum: the idea of buy-in. How did you think about building buy-in for teachers when you adopted Bridges in Mathematics in your district?  Dana: I think that's an interesting question, because we do hear a lot about, ‘How do you get people to buy in?' And in our district when we think about buy-in, I think about, ‘That's my idea. And so how am I going to get people on board with my idea?' And so, really, we want to kind of flip the script on that and think about ownership. And so, when we think about, ‘How do I get people to kind of own this idea with me?' Then that is really where we see true empowerment. And so, we really approach this with that kind of lens to be thinking about, ‘How do I get people to own this, um, process and own what good math instruction looks like with me?' So that when we do adopt that we are adopting something that aligns with our vision for mathematics and what we want to see students participating in and being a part of in the classroom.  Mike: That really feels different even just to hear you talk about it. Ownership kind of conveys this idea that there's a shared responsibility as opposed to buy-in, which is, can I convince you to do a thing?  Dana: Right, right. And so, to get that ownership, we were at a time in the state of Texas where we were adopting new standards. And so, it was kind of, like, the perfect timing to think about, ‘How are we going to really get a clear picture of what we want math instruction to look like?' So, we did a lot of work with our teachers up front prior to adoption on what are those standards going to look like and how are we … or what do we feel like is the best way to teach math, really, in the younger grades? And so, we did a lot of learning together, a lot of reading. We really grounded ourselves with some of the work of Cathy Seeley, who is a former NCTM (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics) president. She wrote a book, called ‘Faster Isn't Smarter.' And so, we kind of looked at that as a good starting point for, ‘We want all students to have opportunities to make sense of math, do the math and use the math.'  And that kind of became our foundation. It's not just about procedural fluency, but conceptual understanding and then ultimately, transfer. And so, we grounded our work in that and tried to bring people along as far as owning that vision. And then from there, we really looked at what teachers wanted from a resource. And thinking about the use of continuous improvement tools, we used feedback loops, consent-o-grams to—all along the way—so that we could really feel like everybody was owning. They wanted a parent component. They wanted more technology. They wanted practice opportunities through, through games. And so, when we established a rubric together with teachers and administrators, then that really helped us when we came to adoption because we were looking for something that checked all of these boxes.  Mike: Yeah. The story that I make up as I hear you talk about that, is that you had a level of consensus around what you were looking for, which made it a lot easier to make a decision that you felt good about, that you felt like people could own.  Dana: Right. Exactly.  Mike: So, I think anyone listening to this podcast knows that schools and districts have limited resources. So, the thing that I'm wondering about is, what were some of the supports that you prioritized during the first year of your implementation of Bridges?  Dana: So, I'm fortunate to work in a team of, there's three of us at the district level, to support all of our campuses. We have over, well, we have 28 elementaries and we're about to open 29; and so over a thousand elementary teachers that we support. But we knew that the three of us could not do it alone. And so, we are also fortunate that we have an instructional coach at each campus. Now this instructional coach is not specific to math. They support all content areas, but we had to bring them along. We had to get them to own it, and we had to have them feeling comfortable. And then we also created a teacher-leader system where we had a lead teacher from each campus. And we really focused on the instructional coach and the lead teacher as our early adopters or our campus champions to really help us rally—rally everyone around, um, owning this vision for mathematics and also the implementation of a new resource. And what a great opportunity along with the implementation of our new standards. And so, we did pay our teacher leads a stipend for that year. And having the instructional coaches in place was critical because it's those two groups that we would be able to lead and then they would take back to their campuses. Another thing that was also critical in that first year was administrator support. And I know that we're going to talk a little bit more about that, but I just want to highlight the fact that our campus principals were really great about giving teachers time in that first year of implementation to work as a professional learning community together, to have half days to plan and support the new adoption that we had.  Mike: There's a lot that you shared there … Dana: ( chuckles )  Mike: ( chuckles ) that I'd love to dig into a little bit. I think what strikes me about what you said though, particularly at the last part first, is the way that you worked with and supported administrators in really designing a year one where teachers had space and time to actually really devote mental space to thinking about a new curriculum: how it's designed, giving space to plan. That feels like it was an intentional priority that you worked with your administrative team to create.  Dana: Yes, that was very intentional. And it was evident when we began our first Getting Started trainings that summer. And we also trained our ICS (In-Class Support) and our lead teachers first, so that they could kind of get the buzz going for summer professional learning. And I thought it was also great that we were able to have the resources available. If you attended the training, you left with your resources. And teachers were so excited to get all of the great resources that are provided with Bridges. So, that was kind of a draw for them. But then once they had their resources and you start to dig through everything, there's another level of support that is needed. And so, we actually had what we called open houses prior to school starting so that teachers could go around to different teachers' classrooms in the district to see, ‘How did you set up your Number Corner? How did you provide space or how are you structuring space in your classroom for Work Places?' And so, we had a lot of teachers [who] would go around to other teachers' classrooms at other campuses and kind of explore to see and get ideas from each other, which was really powerful. And we created the space up front for that prior to the school year so that they would have that opportunity. And I also want to say at this time, seven years ago, we had a pretty good Twitter presence during this, so that we could also have people online. And I know Twitter's kind of blown up since then, but we were on Twitter a lot, and just being able to share that way, as well.  Mike: So, I love this idea of giving teachers space and time to get their materials and get set up. And the open house idea feels really supportive. One of the things that I sometimes think about is an adoption and an implementation might be a pedagogical shift. There might be a different understanding of the mathematics. But the truth is for a lot of people, the very first thing is, ‘How am I going to find a home for all of these things? What will my classroom look like?' You're kind of attending to that really important need that people have to have met even before they're trying to grapple with the curriculum itself.  Dana: Right. And so, to give that time for them up front to kind of get settled in—with what's this going to look like and how do I make it work—I think was key. And I talked a little bit earlier about the principals being able to provide some half-day plannings for teams throughout the year. But we also offered what we would term ‘power hours' after school. And we would host these in teachers' classrooms. And so, this month we're going to talk about the Work Places because we thought it was so critical that the teachers played all the Work Places so that they would know. And that's how you kind of get their ownership of that, too, as well. And so, we would have these power hours after school, where they would come and play the Work Places, or maybe the next month we're going to do a Math Forum together. That's coming up. And then the next month we're going to go through all of the Number Corner. Now you guys have all these great videos, but this was before you had those for Number Corner. And so, we were just really trying to get teachers in each other's classrooms sharing and making it easier. And we would all make the charts together so that they would have them ready for the next month. And we would see a lot of people on Twitter posting: ‘Here I am at my son's baseball game with my binder, learning.' ( laughs ) But I mean, that's just part of the process, too, right?  Mike: Well, you've really started to address the next thing that I wanted to bring up, which is, when I think about having been an elementary teacher for 17 years, what strikes me is that in education, we sometimes give ourselves really short windows of time to do a complete ‘implementation' quote- unquote. I can't tell you how many times I've heard this year is literacy. Next year is math. Dana: Right. Mike: I think what you're starting to address, but that I wanted to ask you directly is, as an instructional leader, how have you really tried to maintain the integrity of your implementation over time? Maybe just talk a little bit about how you've thought about that process of maintaining and sustaining.  Dana: So again, we leaned heavily, and we still continue to lean heavily, on our instructional coaches at campuses. So, each nine weeks, especially in the first three years of implementation—but even now— we'll dive into what does that curriculum look like for the upcoming nine weeks? And we'll give them ideas and point out specific things that are coming up so that they know how to share or how to kind of pull these things out when they're planning with the different grade levels. And so, we would continue to meet with them, but we always start with that unit introduction.  Mike: Hmm.  Dana: And if teachers can just take the time to read this, and this was another big sell from our department for Bridges, was the built in PD (professional development). If you read those introductions, just, like, how much learning that the teachers can have. So, those first years we really wrapped ourselves around those introductions and the learning together as teams. But we also took, at the time you guys had an Implementation Guide …  Mike: We still do.  Dana: Then I will plug the Implementation Guide. Now it's expanded a lot more. But we took that and we had teachers really pick what's a strength for you on here so that other teachers could come see that modeled for them. And then, what's your area of growth for this nine weeks or for this year? Are you going to focus just on Number Corner, but what parts of Number Corner? Or you want to work on the Work Places, but you're not really implementing the sentence frames correctly. So, whatever that goal is for you, and then the instructional coach and the campus administrator would know what that is, and they're able to support you or come give you feedback on that. And that has really helped us because that gave also administrators, kind of the look-fors that they should see when they walk into classrooms. And our department is fortunate to be able to walk with administrators and our instructional coaches so that we could all kind of participate in this coaching together around what we want it to look like, and then where it's going well. And we bring teachers across campuses and classrooms to see where it's going well, and really having them focus on some goals that they want to set to improve.  Mike: So, I suspect unless Leander is a magical school district that's different from everywhere else, you don't have exactly the same staff that you did … Dana: ( chuckles ) Mike: … seven years ago when you started your process. So, you probably know where I'm going, which is … Dana: Yes. Mike: … how do you account for the fact that teachers, like everyone else, have lives? And sometimes they move on from the grade level that they're teaching or their families move somewhere else. You have new administrators and educators coming in. How do you account for, kind of, that turnover that's just natural in education?  Dana: Right. So, we have the natural turnover. But also we are one of the fastest-growing school districts in Texas. And we continue to open about one school at least, sometimes two a year. So, we know that training and learning together is so important. And so, we have sent our curriculum specialists have participated in many of the Bridges trainers of trainers, trainers of leaders, and for Getting Started. And so, we still offer a two-day for that every summer and also in the fall. And we offer that special session for our new administrators, and we even have turnover in our cabinet. So, we offer that training, and I sit down with superintendents and our area superintendents, because we all have to own, own this. And so that is just a yearly thing that we do. But then also continuing to use our campus champions. We have continued that teacher-leader program. They support our new-to-district teachers as well, and then our instructional coaches. So, it is an ongoing cycle. And I will tell you, at first we kind of say, like, ‘If you can get Number Corner, your Problems & Investigations, and your Work Places down,' then we kind of introduced then the assessment piece the next year and then the intervention piece. So, we have layered it in that way so that it's not so overwhelming for our teachers. And then it just becomes part of your practice.  Mike: Thank you so much for that, Dana. The next piece that I wanted to go to, and you've alluded to it throughout this, is the role that instructional leaders—be they administrators or instructional coaches— play … I was reading a bit from The Wallace Foundation about how critically important principals are. Anthony Mohammad talks about how administrators are the ceiling on where a building can go. Can you talk in a little bit more detail about the kind of work that you did to bring your instructional leaders, particularly your principals, into the process of owning the adoption and the implementation?  Dana: This is still a journey. And so, I want to make sure that I plug that, that even though we are seven years into this adoption, we're still on a journey. Everybody's on a journey. We're not at the end of the race when we think about best practices and instruction in mathematics. But to bring our administrators along, we are fortunate to have instructional leadership meetings every month. And so, we really focus on curriculum with them. We focus on best practices and really, we bring learning to them. And we use a lot of the resources that The Math Learning Center provides. We will learn through some of the blog posts together, reading those together. But really what we wanted upfront before adoption and through the adoption process was for our principals to really own the fact that all students, each and every student, can learn math; and making that accessible to all of our learners. And so that is a mindset. We did a lot of work around the mindset work with Jo Boaler and Carol Dweck. And so, thinking about how then, we wanted—we're not a district that just throws out the direct instruction piece either. We still value that direct instruction. But we want to see that blended with investigating and exploration for our students. And then also having that small group time where they're able to reinforce through Work Places. And so, we really wanted our principals to be firm in the components so that they would know what to see in the classroom, but also firm in the fact that we want to see visual models. What do our standards say? What are the best practices for mathematics say? And the use of manipulatives. And that our Number Corner is meant to be a routine and why we value that for practice for pre-teaching and reinforcing. And what's the value of playing the games in Work Places? So that they would understand these components and really own that they want to see these in the classroom because that's what we know is best practices in mathematics.  Mike: When you think about Bridges, in particular, as a curriculum that you've adopted, were there features of the way Bridges is structured or organized that you really felt like it was important to help people understand going into it? And what I mean by that is, in some ways, Bridges is a departure from a traditional curriculum. And I'm wondering what were the things that you identified that's like, gosh, I've just got to make sure people understand this about how it's designed to work?  Dana: Again, it's kind of the three components that I already alluded to, but really that Number Corner piece. Really thinking about Number Corner as an opportunity for the whole class. And we even kind of connect it to a read-aloud. This is an opportunity for the whole class to come together and to, either it's going to pre-teach some things or it's going to reteach some things. And so how are you making sure that those routines are in place and making sure that we have secured small group time for the Work Places to happen? And that's what we call our small group time, is Work Place time. Because we're talking about how the teacher is floating about the Work Places and observing how they're communicating and playing the game and how they are talking about the math with each other. So, I would say, the Work Places and the Number Corner are really, kind of, the areas that were a little bit harder to bring people along.  Mike: What strikes me about what you said is that you describe the function of those two pieces of the curriculum, Number Corner as a tool to have consistent, long-term opportunities to either reengage with big ideas or pre-engage with big ideas that are coming up. And then the idea that Work Places are an opportunity to practice. But they're so much richer of an opportunity to practice than the worksheets that I remember as a kid, where there were 25 naked number problems and two story problems at the bottom ( chuckles ). They function in the same way in the sense that they're the opportunity for longterm practice. Dana: Right. Mike: And the added bonuses, as you said, when the teacher's moving about the classroom, they can formatively assess and listen to what kids are saying. But they can also jump in and do some miniconferring with children in the moment. Dana: Right. Mike: To help guide them or move them or advance their thinking.  Dana: Exactly. And just thinking about that Work Place time and when teachers are thinking about, ‘Oh, I have to plan something different for this small group.' Well, bring that group together to engage in the Work Place with them so that you are right there observing and having, like you said, that conferring time or that mini-lesson over the Work Place.  Mike: Well, before we close, one of the default questions that I ask anyone who's a guest is, if someone was listening to this podcast and they were charged with leading an adoption or an implementation of a curriculum, what are some of the resources you would recommend for someone who is looking for guidance on how to do this work?  Dana: Well, now I would definitely use the blue ( laughs ) ‘Principles to Actions' NCTM book, because I think this sets the great stage for, what are those teaching practices that we want? But also it talks about the elements. One of the essential elements is specific to curriculum. I didn't mention this earlier, but we also had parents give us feedback along the way. And I think that that is also critical, as well as students. Let your students have some hands-on experiences with the resources so that they're able to even advocate and say, ‘This is how we want to learn math.' There's no denying when you see that students are feeling successful, but also when they are loving what they're doing in the math classroom.  Mike: Well, I was just going to say, everything that you talked about today, I think that the word that comes to mind in addition to ownership is investment. As I've listened to you, I keep thinking, you invested time and energy to make the things that you were looking for come to fruition …  Dana: Uh-hm.  Mike: … to continue the journey, as you said. And without investing in those really important things, the outcome might look really different at this point in time. Dana: Right.  Mike: Well, thank you so much for joining us, Dana. I've learned a lot from the conversation. It's been a pleasure talking to you.  Dana: Thanks, Mike. I appreciate it.  Mike: This podcast is brought to you by The Math Learning Center and the Maier Math Foundation, dedicated to inspiring and enabling individuals to discover and develop their mathematical confidence and ability. © 2023 The Math Learning Center | www.mathlearningcenter.org

Dr Jo Boaler is the Nomellini & Olivier Professor of Education at Stanford University. Former roles have included being the Marie Curie Professor of Mathematics Education in England, and a maths teacher in London comprehensive schools. Her PhD won the national award for educational research in the UK. She is an elected fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (Great Britain), and a former president of the International Organization for Women and Mathematics Education (IOWME). She is the recipient of a National Science Foundation ‘Early Career Award', the NCSM Kay Gilliland Equity Award (2014) and the CMC Walter Denham Mathematics Leadership award (2015). She is the author of eighteen books and numerous research articles. She is a White House presenter on women and girls. Jo co-founded www.youcubed.org to give teachers, parents and students the resources and ideas they need to inspire and excite students about mathematics. Her work has been published in the New York Times, TIME magazine, The Telegraph, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal and many other news outlets. Her latest book is: Limitless Mind: Learn, Lead & Live without Barriers, published by Harper Collins. She is currently co-leading a K-12 Data Science Initiative and was named as one of the 8 educators “changing the face of education” by the BBC. Social Links LinkedIn: @dr-jo-boaler Twitter: @joboaler

Jo Boaler - Mindset are the biggest thing to help improve maths outcomes. Martin Seligman - You can build resiliance: https://hbr.org/2011/04/building-resilience Don't be bitter, be better. Post traumtic stress vs Post traumatic growth. Fixed mindset vs Growth mindset. Fictim mindset vs Innovator mindset Learned helplessness vs Learned help yourselfness I was either right, or I learned something. I'm not trying to raise a child, I'm trying to raise a future adult. Life outcome = Starting point + Effort Low expectations = Bad High expectations = Good. You rise to the level of your expectations. Unrealisticly high expectations = Bad. Instrinsic motivation vs Extrinsic motivation. Contact us at: info@cloudstreaks.com

Jo Boaler, Professor of Mathematics at University College London and Mathematical Intendant of France, joins Lexman to discuss the history and meaning of ladder and podites.

Lexman is interviewing Jo Boaler, a professor at the University of Cambridge and one of the world's leading experts on school punishment. In this episode, they discuss how heaving can be used to punish students and how pulley systems can be used to manage punishments more efficiently.

If you want to contact us: info@cloudstreaks.com

Rounding Up Season 1 | Episode 8 – Unpacking ICUCARE Guests: Dr. Pamela Seda & Dr. Kyndall Brown Mike Wallus: What does it mean to offer our students a culturally relevant experience in mathematics? This is a question on the minds of many, particularly elementary mathematics educators. Today we're talking with Pamela Seda and Kyndall Brown, authors of “Choosing to See: A Framework for Equity in the Math Classroom.” We'll talk with our guests about what culturally relevant mathematics instruction looks like and identify practical steps educators can take to start this important work in their classrooms. Mike: So, hello, Pam and Kyndall. Welcome to the podcast. We're so glad to have you with us. I'm wondering if both of you would be willing to take a turn and just talk a little bit about what brought you to writing the book. Pamela Seda: OK, well I'll start. This book really started with my dissertation research. And when I started my Ph.D. program, I was very well aware of the achievement gap and the lack of opportunities for so many students, and I just wasn't satisfied that there was a gap. I had to find answers. And so, my Ph.D. program was my quest to find answers. In the process of finding answers, I created this framework that came out of my study, and I had the opportunity to think about how to support teachers. Firstly, implement it in my own classroom and then figure out how to help teachers implement this. And it was just one of those things that I knew that there were a lot of people who wanted to do better for their kids, but they weren't quite sure how to do it. And so, therefore, this book was really kind of a nuts-and- bolts place to start. Mike: And, Kyndall, if you can pick up the story, how did the two of you start collaborating around the book? Kyndall Brown: So, I met Pam at the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics Conference in Boston in 2015. I was doing a keynote presentation focused on equity and mathematics, and Pam was in the audience. And at the end of the presentation, she approached me and suggested that we start doing presentations together. So ever since then, we were collaborating to do presentations at national conferences. I had been approached by a publisher about writing a book focused on equity in mathematics. So often when those of us who've been doing this equity work over the years, what we hear from math teachers in particular is, ‘What does it look like in the math classroom?' In language arts, you can read the literature that's reflective of your student population. And [in] a social studies class, you can study the cultures of the student populations in your classroom. But math teachers were always wondering, ‘What does equity look like in a math classroom?' And so, one of the first things Pam did when we met was, she introduced me to her ICUCARE framework. It just made perfect sense to use her framework. I asked if she would like to collaborate. She said yes, and this is what we did during the pandemic. Mike: Well, I'm wondering if the two of you could just start and unpack the premise of the book and describe the framework that you all have proposed for people who may not have read it yet. Pamela: Well, ICUCARE is the acronym. The first part is, ‘I include others as experts; C, be critically conscious; U, understand your students well; and then the second C is, use culturally relevant curricula.' Kyndall, you want to take it from there? ( laughs ) Kyndall: ( laughs ) Sure. The next principle is, ‘Assess, activate, and build on prior knowledge; then comes release control; and the final principle is, expect more.' Mike: You know, we could do a podcast episode for every component of the ICUCARE framework, but today we're really focused on using culturally relevant curricula. I suspect there are many educators listening who are kind of in the shoes that Kyndall was describing earlier, this idea that they're interested in the work, but they're not sure how to start, particularly in the math classroom. So, I'm wondering if you all could just spend a little bit of time talking about the guidance you would offer folks when it comes to culturally relevant curricula in a math classroom. Kyndall: Well, first of all, in order to make a task or your curriculum culturally relevant, you have to know who it is that you're teaching, right? You can't make assumptions and assume that you know who they are based upon some physical characteristic or some other information that you might have with your students. The first thing you have to do is get to know who they are, what their interests are, what their concerns are, and then you can begin to start making the curriculum culturally relevant. Mike: Hmm. Pamela: I always say, if we're talking about a task, let's start with something that is cognitively demanding; something that is accessible but also cognitively demanding. And so, oftentimes we describe that as a low-floor, high-ceiling task. And it's real important that students have that opportunity to be able to have cognitively demanding tasks. I say that's a good place to start. We can use textbook problems, we can go to websites—things like Jo Boaler and Achieve the Core and Bridges—those kinds of things. And that's a good place to start. And so, then you might say, ‘OK, well how do I know that's culturally relevant?' Well, that's what we start with, the good task, and then we're going to take that and make it culturally relevant. And one way I say to take a baby step is, take that task and then just change the names and put some names in there that are meaningful to your students. Pamela: And I say, put your students' names in there rather than just trying to come up with some ethnic-sounding names. Put your students' names so that they can see themselves in there. Put your school's names, put the other teacher's names. The key is students need to be able to see, ‘I am a part of mathematics, that mathematics is a part of who I am, a part of who we are.' And so, I think that's a very good baby step to take is just put meaningful names in there. I know that it was very effective. My students really enjoyed it. I could tell, like, even I purposely oftentimes would do that on tests to help reduce the anxiety level of taking a test. And my students, you would see them kind of smile and look around for the persons that they saw whose name was mentioned in the problem. Pamela: So, that's a good first step. And then I would say, the next thing you could do after you've changed the names is then change the context. Change the contexts to things that are meaningful. But as Kyndall said, this is going to require you understanding something about your students. And some things that you can do to understand your students: You can interview your students. And one of the things we talk about in our book is empathy interviews that you can do. You can have listening conversations. Just have conversations with your students in the hall. What are they talking about in the hall? What are they talking about at lunch? What are they talking about at the bus stop? Just pay attention to those conversations, those social conversations, to figure out what's important to them. And then just do community walks. Find out what's in the community. What are popular places that kids hang out, that they go? What's meaningful to them and their families? And incorporate those contexts into problems. And then after that, if you've gotten used to changing the context, then I suggest what I call go to a Stage Four Task. And then you try to engage their agency and help them understand that math can be a tool to use. Mike: I would love for you to—either of you—to talk a little bit more about that last bit that you mentioned, Pam, when you talked about ways to build up kids' sense of agency. Would you be willing to indulge and just go a little bit further down into that conversation? Pamela: Absolutely. So oftentimes, even if we have these wonderful contexts that students will solve problems and become engaged problem-solvers, there's always the question is, like, ‘So what now? What do I do with this? Why is this important to even get this answer?' And it has to be more than, ‘Well, it's going to be on the test,' right? ( laughs ) And so, helping students understand and solve problems that help them see that they can be a part of solutions [to] things that are important to them. So, for example, I remember taking a problem. And it was something about increase in numbers. There was something about what percent did this increase? And I changed the context to the housing market because we had just actually had some storms that had come through our state and had created a lot of damage to houses and homes. And so, then the very next step was I started having them think about, ‘Well, how much might it cost to rebuild these homes? Were some houses damaged more than others?' Pamela: And ‘What could you possibly do to help?' Those are just some kinds of things to help kids understand that, ‘Oh, well, I'm not just trying to find percent increase or decrease, but there's some contexts here that matter, and it may cause me to do some more research.' And even thinking about, ‘Well, if there are neighborhoods that were impacted, what are some things that I can do? Could there be some money that we raise? If I'm going to rebuild the house, how much might I need to spend? How much might I need to invest so that this maybe doesn't happen again?' Those are just all different types of questions to help students understand that you can use math as a part of your community. I also talk about an example of how I was teaching a unit on regression equations, and I know this is an elementary audience, but it was just an example of the fact that we give tests all the time. Pamela: We give those state standardized tests, and I decided to use our district's data for the schools in our district, and things like that, to actually do the mathematics. And students care about that. They got to see their state scores, and they got to see the scores of their neighborhood, of friends who maybe go to a school down the street. And then not only did they get to do the math with that, then they got to have some input. I gave them that opportunity to basically talk to fellow students, talk to fellow teachers, talk to fellow administrators about, ‘What do you think should be different now that you've analyzed and looked at this data?' Kyndall: And I would just add that Lisa Delpit, an education scholar, wrote this book in the early 2000s called ‘Multiplication is for White People.' And that's an extremely provocative title, but it was actually a quote from an African American student of ours. And it kind of spoke to that student's math identity. The actual quote was, ‘Multiplication is for white people, addition and subtraction is for Black people,' right? And so that speaks to what that student's identity was about. The ability of certain people to do math based upon their racial or ethnic background. So, it is very easy to go through the U.S. educational system and come to the conclusion that mathematics is pretty much the domain of mostly white, European men, right? Mike: Certainly. Kyndall: When nothing could be further from the truth. There's an excellent book called ‘The Crest of the Peacock: Non-European Roots of Mathematics' that shows very clearly that mathematics is a cultural endeavor. It's a humanistic endeavor that all humans all over the planet have engaged in. And that other cultures have made significant contributions to the field of mathematics. And so, we need to do a lot better job of exposing students to that so that we can make sure that they see mathematics is as much a part of their culture as any other racial or ethnic group. And they need to see examples of people that look like them in the math textbooks, on the walls of their classrooms, as another way to help build that mathematics identity. Mike: You know, and I think that is actually one of the things that I really appreciated about the way that you all structured the book. I know that I've heard other people who have read it say how much they appreciated being able to hear the stories from your own classrooms, the experiences that you had with students, and really being able to put those out there in a way that help people see where there might be pitfalls and where there might be opportunities. I'm curious if either of you would be willing to share a story about culturally relevant curricula and the impact that you saw on a particular student. Kyndall: Well, Pam has a couple of really good stories in that chapter, so I'm going to let her ... Pamela: ( laughs ) Yeah. So, one of the things I talk about is Jasmine. Jasmine was one of my students who, we'll just say we didn't see eye to eye on most things ( laughs ). Jasmine was very openly hostile towards me, and I was expending a lot of my energy just trying to get her to do anything. And she just made it very clear to me she wasn't interested in doing anything I asked her to do. And so I gave her that project that I talked about, where we decided to look at our test scores, our standardized test scores throughout the district, and applied the math content of the standard that we were using to this, to where she got to make an analysis and be able to see if there was a relationship between the percentage of Black students in our school and then our college and career readiness index, and those kinds of things. Pamela: And I was just really amazed about the transformation that happened with her. Because previously, not only was she not willing to work with me, she didn't want to work with her classmates either ( chuckles ). Mike: Mm. Pamela: And she, as a result of working on this project, asked to be a part of a group. When she found out that she had made some mistakes on some of the data, she willingly stayed after school to fix her mistakes. And I even remember the day that the project was due. She stayed late to put her finishing touches on it. And so, I just was amazed. She was just ... became pleasant. And as a result, I wanted to talk with her about the impact that this project had on her. And she said she really wanted to do it. It wasn't like it was just for a grade. She really wanted to learn the information. And the other thing that was kind of interesting is she didn't really see it as math. She didn't really think that what she was doing was really math, even though she was using Excel spreadsheets and she was using formulas. What that told me was how her perception was that school math wasn't what real math was, and that what we were doing that was connected to her community didn't feel like math. And I felt like that's something that we really need to change. Mike: Yeah. Kendall, I saw you nodding on the other ... (this podcast was recorded via Zoom with video) Kyndall: Well, I think the general public has come to believe that the only thing that counts as math is what you do in school, in a math classroom, right? Mike: Uh-hm. Kyndall: That all of these ways that people are engaging in mathematical thinking and reasoning all day, every day, they don't see as math. And so, they don't see themselves as math people, right? Because they were not successful at school math. Right? Mike: Right. Kyndall: And so how do we undo that perception and get people to recognize the myriad of ways that they're engaging in mathematical thinking and reasoning all the time? Mike: Absolutely. Yeah. I was just going to ask you if there's anything in particular you think might be important for an elementary math educator to be thinking about when they're trying to apply the ideas, some of the suggestions that you all have when it comes to ‘Choosing to See.' Is there anything in particular that folks who are operating at the elementary level might consider or might think about that has come to y'all as you've brought the book out into the world and had people interact with it? Pamela: Well, one thing that I've come to understand is that, while we do need to have good tasks—and the work that we ask students to do needs to be meaningful and needs to be accessible—tasks don't teach kids. And we need to think about how do we structure how kids experience the mathematics in our classrooms? And that to me is what the framework does. It's a lens to help teachers think about, ‘How do I engage my students? How do I structure the instruction so that kids have a positive experience around the mathematics?' So, it should not be thought of as, ‘Oh, this is just once I get the math, then I'm going to go and think about this as a add-on.' Mike: Hmm. Pamela: There are myriads of strategies out there. It's not saying that you should throw out everything that you've ever done before. It's just look at the strategies and the things, the rituals and routines that you've been using in your classroom. And think about them in terms of this lens. If you're getting ready to do an activity, you might say, ‘OK, here's a routine that I normally have. How can I adapt it so I can include others as experts, so I'm not the only one that's doing all the talking? How can I engage my students so that I expect more out of them?' Right? So that they're doing more of the work? So, it's really a lens of how to think about the work that you do and the work that they do. Mike: That totally makes sense. Kyndall: Right. And the research shows that tracking begins very early in elementary school, right? And so elementary teachers need to be conscious of all of these different issues so that they can be on guard at the very early stages to not allow that tracking to begin. Mike: For educators or instructional leaders who are new to the conversation, in addition to reading ‘Choosing to See,' are there other resources that you think would be helpful in supporting people in learning more about equity in the mathematics classroom? Pamela: Well, yes, I know that I've just started reading recently, it's a new book this out called ‘Engaging in Culturally Relevant Math Tasks: Fostering Hope in the Elementary Classroom.' And it's by our good friends Lou Edward Matthews, Shelly M. Jones, and Yolanda Parker. It's at Corwin books, and I definitely recommend that that is a great resource. Kyndall: There's a new book that just came out. It's called ‘Middle School Mathematics Lessons to Explore, Investigate, and Respond to Issues of Social Injustice,' by Robert Berry and his colleagues. In 2020, they released a high school version of the book. And in the fall of 2022, they're planning on releasing an upper- and lower elementary version of these books. And the first section of the book is really talking about the kind of pedagogy needed to implement social justice tasks. And then the second part of the book has lessons aligned to the different content strands that are social justice focused, a lot of digital resources. And so, I think that is an excellent resource for teachers. Mike: That's fantastic. Pam and Kyndall, I want to thank you both so much for being here with us today, for sharing the book with us. It's really been a pleasure talking with both of you. Kyndall: Thank you. Pamela: Well, thank you. Mike: This podcast is brought to you by The Math Learning Center and the Maier Math Foundation, dedicated to inspiring and enabling individuals to discover and develop their mathematical confidence and ability. © 2023 The Math Learning Center | www.mathlearningcenter.org

In this episode, Lexman talks to Jo Boaler about batswings, droghers, cotyloid and cardiograms.

https://monicawesolowska.com/leo-lea Author, Editor, Speaker, Teacher Leo + Lea, illustrated by Kenard Pak (Scholastic, August 2022)Elbert in the Air, illustrated by Jerome Pumphrey (Dial, February 2023) Holding Silvan: A Brief Life (Hawthorne, named a "Best Book" of 2013) So… just a quick reminder to check out Monica's website for more info and a resource or 2 that will help you to extend students' learning around LEO and LEA's perspectives. Also, I've included a link to learn more about Jo Boaler, an educator Monica mentioned who's helped thousands and thousands of young students grow in confidence around mathematics, banishing their math anxiety… Anxiety, whatever its cause, impacts a child's sense of self, to one degree or another, which will impact a child's mindset and interactions… which is one of the many reasons this, the Big Picture Social Emotional Learning podcast has such a wide-armed embrace around various influences and experiences that impact our students' development. Jo Boaler is a Professor of Mathematics Education at the Stanford Graduate School of Education, and she has headed up powerfully engaging projects that empower educators, even early childhood educators, with accessible and practical approaches to teaching mathematics. Her website provides tons of free resources: https://www.youcubed.org/ If you're interested, I highly recommend a conversation Jo Boaler shared with Lex Fridman. Here's the link. In a future episode I plan to share more insights about how to develop conversation with young ones, so they have the benefit of gaining skills around expressing their own ideas, about following and exploring topics of interest so that the architecture of their brains can receive the benefit of more fully integrated neural pathways… FASCINATING and important stuff… Okay ~ until next time. Oh: Instagram!!! It would be great if you'd follow this, the Big Picture Social Emotional Learning podcast, there. Okay, for real: BYE. BYE. Oooops... sorry... I couldn't include the resource that Monica wanted to share, so now I hope you'll definitely check out her website. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/nini-white/message

The uproar over the 2021 Revision of the California Mathematics Framework shows us how passionate people are about mathematics – and how we learn it. For many, however, math arouses not so much passion as fear, even, loathing. But does it have to be this way? Jo Boaler is a professor of mathematics education at Stanford University. She is the author of nine books on mathematics learning, including Limitless Mind: Learn, Lead and Live Without Barriers. In 2013, Boaler taught the first-ever Massive Online Open Course on mathematics education for Stanford University, called "How to Learn Math". Jo Boaler is an advisor to the PISA team at the OECD and one of the authors of the 2021 Revision of the California Mathematics Framework, which is an advisory for kindergarten-to-Grade 12 maths education in California. Hosted by Clara Young and produced by Stephen Flynn.

Levelling up = Quantity * Quality - Quality is normally a function of past quantity. Over time the quality should improves. Places with ceiling vs ceilingless places. - In ceilingless mental places we believe one can level up indefinitely. Discipline = freedom. Jocko Willink. Discipline = More discipline. - Routine is cruicial to being able to do what you want. - First you make your habits, then your habits make you. Average IQ goes up. - https://reason.com/2015/06/01/average-iq-scores-have-risen-30-points-d/ Dunning Kruger: - The more I know the less i know. - https://miro.medium.com/max/639/1*6ss9wuGIVSnPKOKmCeS3tA.jpeg Intrinsic vs extrinsic motivation. - Buffett and internal vs external score card. Passions can be built. - https://www.cloudstreaks.com/blog/2019/8/10/where-does-passion-come-from-you-can-create-grow-and-sustain-passion

In this episode of Room to Grow, Curtis and Joanie dig into a conversation about data science. They start by trying to define what data science is, describing it as the intersection of content, statistics, computer science, problem solving. It is complex, and allows people to interact with information that content, statistics, or computer science couldn't do alone. In our current technology and data rich world, this topic is timely, relevant, and growing in importance.Curtis and Joanie describe data science as a process by which we start with a question we want to know the answer to, then gather, interpret, analyze, and model data that can help answer the question. Although we acknowledge that data science in school looks different than data science in the world, we recognize it as a valuable way to foster students' natural curiosity and to build their modeling, problem solving, and communication skills.Our hosts recognize and discuss that not everyone believes that data science is relevant content for K-12 students and educators, and offer the complicating factors that come alongside bringing new ideas such as these to the curriculum. We encourage you to explore the resources to decide for yourself! Blog series in support of data science https://justequations.org/blogArticle expressing critique against using data science in place of calculus-centered courses Jo Boaler and youcubed data sicence big ideas for K-8 https://www.youcubed.org/data-big-ideas/UCLA data science course https://www.introdatascience.org/ Berkeley data science course: http://data8.org/Cal State free Course for teachers Course Kata: https://coursekata.org/Jo Boaler and youcubed data sicence big ideas for K-8 https://www.youcubed.org/data-big-ideas/Data talks for students in younger grades https://www.youcubed.org/resource/data-talks/ New York Times' What's going on with this graph? https://www.nytimes.com/column/whats-going-on-in-this-graph Data Science 4 Everyone: https://www.datascience4everyone.org/Did you enjoy this episode of Room to Grow? Please leave a review and share the episode with others. Share your feedback, comments, and suggestions for future episode topics by emailing roomtogrowmath@gmail.com . Be sure to connect with your hosts on Twitter and Instagram: @JoanieFun and @cbmathguy. 

Should elementary teachers be content specialists? In most high schools, we are used to teachers being content specialists–in math or history or art etc. Students have a different teacher for each subject. Elementary students typically have one teacher for all content. Teachers are responsible for all subjects at that grade level. Some have said that elementary schools should have some teachers that specialize in content. Others push back on that idea. So let's hear from both sides in our latest debate!Resources Referenced in this Episode:Resources Mentioned: Building Thinking Classrooms, Classroom Chef, Dr. Jo Boaler, Learning Trajectories, Graham Fletcher Progression Videos, Figuring Out FluencyAn article from NCTQ cited by AmandaFollow Kristen Acosta on Twitter: @KristenMAcosta. Book: Hanging Math Out to Dry. Website: kristenacosta.com.Follow Dr. Mike Flynn on Twitter: @MikeFlynn55 or on YouTube. Book: Beyond Answers.Follow Amanda Beeler on Twitter: @AmandaBeeler314.Follow Mario Valdez on Twitter: @mvaldez_mario. Podcast: Math Unmuted.Listened to the episode? Now, it's your turn to vote! Go to our Twitter: @DebateMathPod to cast a vote.Don't forget to check out the video version of this podcast on our YouTube channel!Keep up with all the latest info by following @DebateMathPod or going to debatemath.com. Follow us @Rob_Baier & @cluzniak. And don't forget to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts!

Dr Jo Boaler is a Stanford Professor. Former roles have included being a maths teacher in London schools. She is author of 18 books, numerous articles and a White House presenter on women and girls. Her latest book is called: Limitless Mind: Learn, Lead and Live without Barriers. She co-founded www.youcubed.org, is currently one of the writing team creating a new Mathematics Framework for the state of California, co-leading a K-12 Data Science Initiative and was named as one of the 8 educators “changing the face of education” by the BBC.

We were very lucky to have Maria Miller from Math Mammoth on the show today. We talked all about Math Mammoth, the nuances of teaching math, and how to help struggling math students to ensure positive math outcomes. It was a wide-ranging discussion that you don't want to miss. Math Mammoth - https://www.mathmammoth.com/ Touring The World Resource Guides Check out our country resource guides to help you with your around the world journey: https://gumroad.com/homeschooltogether Consider Leaving Us A Review If you have a quick moment please consider leaving a review on iTunes - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/homeschool-together-podcast/id1526685583 Show Notes Math Mammoth - https://www.mathmammoth.com/ Math Mammoth Practice - https://www.mathmammoth.com/practice/ Jo Boaler - https://www.youcubed.org/ Khan Academy - https://www.khanacademy.org/ Transum - https://transum.org/ IXL - https://www.ixl.com/ Get Your Own stuffed "Mathy" - https://amzn.to/3u03PKW Math Mammoth Acing Math - https://www.mathmammoth.com/download/acing_math.pdf (By PEP nonprofit. Redistributed under CC BY-NC 4.0.) Connect with us Website: http://www.homeschool-together.com/ Store: https://gumroad.com/homeschooltogether Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/homeschooltogether Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/homeschooltogetherpodcast/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/homeschooltogetherpodcast Twitter: https://twitter.com/hs_together The Gameschool Co-Op: https://www.facebook.com/groups/gameschoolcoop/ Email: homeschooltogetherpodcast@gmail.com

From Earning to Learning is the podcast where Dave Frangiosa shares research backed philosophies, thoughts on student engagement and classroom tested techniques that can help move students towards learning. Educational consultants have been gaining more influence over educational policy, and with that come some challenges. In this episode, I discuss my take on the recent incident that occurred between Jo Boaler and Jelani Nelson. You can view the threads here. Twitter: @DavidFrangiosa Website: www.reimaginedschools.com

Zeoli Show Hour 4:  In the final hour of the Zeoli Show, Rich discussed two professors in California at Stanford and Berkley getting into a heated argument over the curriculum established by the Stanford Professor, Jo Boaler, in mathematic education in California that also resulted in the Berkley professor, Jelani Nelson, criticizing the curriculum and Boaler's high $5,000 consulting fee for public schools.  9:02-NEWS 9:07- Stanford Professor calls cops on Berkeley professor after war of words turns personal.   9:35-the FBI is doubling down of tracking social media posts  9:42-CUT SHEET | Brian Stelter fears Elon Musk buying shares of Twitter | mainstream media panics over the new climate change report | Psaki questioned on how the U.S. has done everything to combat Russia except put military on the ground | Tiger Woods plans to play The Masters | China is providing chemicals to the criminal drug networks  9:55-Final Thoughts   

Until the 21st century, we thought skills and capacities discovered in childhood set the standard for adulthood. We assumed people grew from a ‘fixed mindset', giving way to phrases such as “you can't teach an old dog new tricks.” Ongoing discoveries in neuroscience reveal that not only can we teach old dogs, but that the new tricks are the ongoing path to brain growth. In this episode, Stanford professor and author Dr. Jo Boaler talks about our limitless minds and how our brains and our lives are highly adaptable when we welcome a growth mindset rather than a fixed mindset.

In this episode, Joanie and Curtis continue their conversation with Robert Ahdoot, founder of Yay! Math. We continue the conversation from Episode 9, digging into how teachers can address students' math anxiety. We discuss the idea that teaching could be considered a service profession, and how that perspective can support teachers in building trust with their students. Robert shares a powerful story of a discipline issue in his classroom, and how approaching the situation with the humanness we share with students supported a positive outcome. Although Robert's creative, outgoing, and exuberant personality are part of who he is as a teacher, he reminds us that any personality type can be a profoundly impactful educator by working to connect with and understand students. After all, Robert suggests, students just want to know that we have their backs.Listeners are encouraged to consider these additional resources mentioned in the episode:Robert Ahdoot's website, https://www.yaymath.org/  where you can find videos, courses, Robert's blog and more to help inspire the students in your care;Robert's Algebra 1 lesson on ratios and proportions for Texas Instruments' “Smart Space” video series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5itAHkH0YH4&list=PLQa_6aWmaC6AebhOVkKXC8Vags6D1TVaz ;Jo Boaler's research article on timed tests: https://bhi61nm2cr3mkdgk1dtaov18-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/nctm-timed-tests.pdf More about our guest, Robert Ahdoot: Robert Ahdoot is a math teacher and founder of YayMath.org, a free online collection of math video lessons filmed live in his classroom, in the studio, and even as street performance art, using iconic costumes and characters. Robert has given TEDx talks and travels to schools and conferences promoting his message of achieving positive learning through meaningful human connections. He is the author of One-on-One 101: The Art of Inspired and Effective Individualized Instruction, and the creator of online Algebra and Geometry math courses.Share your feedback, comments, and suggestions for future episode topics by emailing roomtogrowmath@gmail.com. Be sure to connect with your hosts on Twitter and Instagram: @JoanieFun and @cbmathguy. 

You can buy Breaking the Bottle Legacy: How to Change Your Drinking Habits and Create A Peaceful Relationship with Alcohol on Amazon.  US Kindle US Paperback UK Kindle UK Paperback Join my private FB group Alcohol Minimalists here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/changeyouralcoholhabit Has this podcast helped you?  How about leaving a review: Itunes Follow me on Instagram: @AlcoholMinimalist  You can grab two free chapters of my upcoming book here! Have you grabbed your free e-book, "Alcohol Truths: How Much is Safe?" Get it here.  Low risk drinking guidelines from the NIAAA: Healthy men under 65: No more than 4 drinks in one day and no more than 14 drinks per week. Healthy women (all ages) and healthy men 65 and older: No more than 3 drinks in one day and no more than 7 drinks per week. One drink is defined as 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof liquor. So remember that a mixed drink or full glass of wine are probably more than one drink. Abstinence from alcohol Abstinence from alcohol is the best choice for people who take medications that interact with alcohol, have health conditions that could be exacerbated by alcohol (e.g. liver disease), are pregnant or may become pregnant or have had a problem with alcohol or another substance in the past. Benefits of “low-risk” drinking Following these guidelines reduces the risk of health problems such as cancer, liver disease, reduced immunity, ulcers, sleep problems, complications of existing conditions, and more. It also reduces the risk of depression, social problems, and difficulties at school or work.   Today on the podcast, I'm thrilled to introduce author, speaker and professor Jo Boaler.  Dr. Jo Boaler is a professor of education and equity at Stanford University and the faculty director of youcubed—an education resource that has reached over 230 million students.She was named by the BBC as one of eight educators “changing the face of education.”  We discuss the six keys of learning presented in Boaler's most recent book, The Limitless Mind. The six keys are based in science and underscore the main idea of the book that the human brain is capable of learning anything if we are dedicated, if we believe in ourselves and if we work through struggle.  By understanding that we aren't born innately "gifted" and we can truly learn anything.  Key #1 is really all about neuroplasticity and I've talked about it before on the podcast. This podcast loves neuroscience and Iearning HOW the brain works and  understanding that neuroscience validates how our brains can actually be rewired is so powerful.  Key #1:  Every time we learn, our brains form, strengthen, or connect neural pathways. We need to replace the idea that learning ability is fixed, with the recognition that we are all on a growth journey.    For me, learning the neuroscience is what helped build the foundation in self-belief.  Believing that it's possible to change a negative habit pattern like drinking is easier to believe if our brains are capable of changing.  Key #2 The times when we are struggling and making mistakes are the best time for brain growth.  With regard to mistakes I use the phrase compassion and curiosity a lot. It's challenging for people to reframe mistakes in their life and I think that is largely because of something you talk about in the book of “the performance culture”  vs the a mistake culture where we celebrate mistakes as way of enhanced learning.  It's important for us to be aware of how we may have been taught this way and how it shapes our mindset for life.  Key #3 When we change our beliefs, our bodies and brains physically change as well. Self-belief actually is critical to learning...tell me more about how our mindset about being believing we are capable of learning anything fuels our ability to do it.  Key #4 Neural pathways and learning are optimized when considering a multidimensional approach. Explain what this is and help me understand what it means in life situations….creativity and flexibility are the big takeaway here right?  Key #5 Speed of thinking is not a measure of aptitude. Learning is optimized when we approach ideas and life with creativity and flexibility.  I loved the example here of cramming for a test...I think everyone can remember doing that and also that they can't remember anything that was on the test. They didn't really learn it. Real learning comes from the new neural pathways and this is always a slow process. Key #6 Connecting with people and ideas enhances neural pathways and learning.  Part of the reason people give up on learning is because they find it difficult and think they are alone in their struggle.  Value differences, have an open mind...learning from other people.  To learn more about Jo Boaler visit www.youcubed.org