Summary:

Were you a math lover or a "math avoider" as a student? What do you want your students to be? I had the privilege of chatting with Mona Iehl of Local Learners and Co, who is sharing her passion and strategies for building positive math identities within our students. Mona is an absolute "math teacher cheerleader" and the tips she shares in this episode are so motivating and so actionable!

A few things we chatted about:

• Math is creative!
• A positive class community can make a world of difference in supporting our learners.
• Speed isn't everything! Focus on the learning that occurs in the journey to the solution.
• The thinking matters more than the answer.
• The teacher isn't the authority on what's right and wrong in math class - help students see that we *all* have a collective responsibility to help one another understand.
• Build a safe space and provide language students can use to question, clarify, and encourage one another.
• Lift the burden off our students of "I have to have the right answer in order to succeed in math class."
• Provide math role models and help students see connections to math in the real world, both their own world and throughout history.
• Think about who you want your students to be as mathematicians when they leave your class next spring, and what pieces you need to put in place now to get them there.
• And so much more!!

Links and resources:

• Connect with Mona on Instagram @locallearnersandco, on her website locallearnersandco.com, or in that incredible Facebook community we chatted about, The Math Teacher Collaborative.
• Grab Mona's FREE E-book, 5 Steps to a Student Centered Math Class, at locallearnersandco.com/ebook

• Get ready for first-year teacher success! Download my free ebook: New Teacher's Roadmap to Confidence and Growth
• Follow me on Instagram, where I'm sharing my process of starting in a new district, school, and grade level: @appleblossomteachers
• For current resources and updates, check out my website.
• Also mentioned in this episode:
• I'm presenting on building positive relationships with students and their families at the Educators2Educators conference! (P.S. It's FREE!)
• I'm presenting on using simple robotics for content-area instruction and assessment at the Teach With Tech conference! (Under 40 bucks! That's not even half a tank of gas here in SoCal!! Yikes…)

Make sure you hit SUBSCRIBE so you don't miss out on any of the excitement coming your way! I've got a great list of special guests and bonus episodes coming your way all summer long!

And, if you enjoyed this episode, please share it out so other teachers can find it too!