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In today’s episode, we’re diving into what really happens when kids struggle—and how to support them without rescuing them from the thinking process. You’ll hear the story of a quiet 3rd grader named Daria and how confidence, belief, and intentional instruction changed her entire trajectory.

Many teachers have taught a student like Daria—sweet, shy, unsure, and labeled “below grade level.” Yet, through connection and curiosity, her brilliance surfaced long before her academic data did. This teaser shows why confidence isn’t everything, but why it’s a powerful catalyst for learning.

🔗 Links Mentioned in This Episode:

📘 Word Problem Workshop

⭐️ Join the Book Club HERE

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Listen to the full episode to hear the stories, strategies, and mindset shifts that help kids thrive—without taking away their thinking.

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I’ll start with a confession: I’ve never taught kindergarten. Honestly? I don’t think I could. Kindergarten teachers bring superhuman levels of compassion, patience, and organizational magic. They teach kids how to be at school while also supporting families.

Yet I support K–8 math, and as a parent of two kindergarteners, I know exactly what a Monday afternoon classroom feels like. So when a kindergarten teacher asked me to model what math could look, sound, and feel like with deeper engagement, I said yes. Today, you’ll hear the case study that proves Word Problem Workshop is the solution for low-level, boring curriculum tasks.

Here’s the encouragement I want to leave you with: you don’t need a new curriculum. You just need a routine that reveals student thinking. Word Problem Workshop does that — every single time. Even in kindergarten.

So try one step next week. Launch a real problem. Give space. Let kids think. And watch what happens.

🎧 Listen to the full episode, subscribe to the podcast, and leave a review to support more teachers bringing sense-making into math.

❄️ NEW: Join the Winter Break Book Club HERE

If you want a simple, supportive way to deepen your practice over break, join our Word Problem Workshop Winter Book Club. It’s cozy, low-pressure, and designed to refresh your teaching before January hits. You’ll get discussion prompts, coaching insights, and a community of educators who care deeply about student thinking.

Come as you are — pajama coffee, holiday chaos, and all.

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💭 What “Let’s Just See What They Can Do” Really Means

This phrase isn’t about tossing students into a problem they can’t handle. It’s about honoring the strategies, intuitions, and lived math experiences they already bring. You’ll hear how the Grapple step in Word Problem Workshop allows students to make sense of the story without the teacher rescuing, modeling, or pre-teaching every step.

In this episode, you’ll hear a vivid classroom moment where a teacher doubted her students could handle:
 “There are 27 puppies. Eighteen are big. How many are small?”

Even with large numbers and no regrouping lesson yet, students entered the problem with drawings, cubes, equations, and revising strategies. You’ll see how every learner — regardless of level — found a way to show their thinking when given space to explore.

🎧 Tune In and Try It Yourself

Ready to try this mindset shift in your next lesson?
 Listen to the full episode to hear how Word Problem Workshop helps students think deeply, reason flexibly, and approach big problems with confidence.

➡️ Listen now, subscribe, and leave a review to support the podcast and help more teachers bring sense-making into their math classrooms.

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Coaching often becomes hectic fast. Schedules shift, classrooms get noisy, and teachers feel stretched thin. While the instinct is to fix everything, coaching isn’t actually about fixing at all — it’s about refocusing on student thinking.

In this episode, Mona introduces the anchor moves she relies on when coaching feels chaotic. These moves bring clarity, calm, and purpose back into the work.

When coaching feels wild, return to the routine:
 Observe → Name → Nudge → Celebrate.

This is enough.
 You are enough.
 Your coaching makes a difference — especially now.

And if you want a space to practice these moves with community, we’re diving into them inside Math Coach Huddle on December 8. Bring your questions, your chaos, and your curiosity.

👉 Listen to the full episode
👉 Subscribe and leave a review to support the show
👉 Join Math Coach Huddle anytime at monamath.com/huddle

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Hey teacher friends, Mona here! Today we’re diving into one of my favorite ways to grow as a team and strengthen math instruction across a school: Learning Walks. If you’ve never tried one before, don’t worry. By the end of this episode, you’ll know exactly what Learning Walks are, why they work, and how to use them to build collaboration, confidence, and shared vision among teachers.

And if you're a math coach, instructional leader, or team lead who’s been craving a more meaningful way to bring teachers together — this one is especially for you. Because inside Math Coach Huddle, Learning Walks are one of our most powerful community practices. They help us move from coaching alone… to coaching together.

Your challenge this week:
Invite one person into your classroom.
Or visit theirs.
Notice. Wonder. Reflect. Learn together.

Until next time — keep leading with curiosity, keep learning in community, and keep building joyful math spaces. 💛

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Many classrooms use the CUBES strategy for solving word problems. It's familiar, structured, and gives students a clear process. However, in this episode, we explore how traditional CUBES may unintentionally encourage students to “hunt for clues” instead of understanding the meaning of the story. Let’s talk about how to shift from keywords to reasoning using the Word Problem Workshop approach.

In this episode, you’ll hear how we reimagine CUBES to shift students from identifying to understanding:

• C — Consider the Context: What’s the story about?
• U — Understand the Question: What is being asked?
• B — Bring Meaning to Numbers: What do the numbers represent?
• E — Examine the Situation: What is changing or happening?
• S — Support Understanding: Grapple and discuss before solving.

This small shift leads to huge gains in reasoning, confidence, and real problem-solving.

🎧 Listen + Subscribe

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www.monamath.com/cubes

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What does it really look like when students thrive in math? In this inspiring episode, Kendra unpacks what it means to build thriving math communities — classrooms where every child feels seen, confident, and ready to learn. She shares practical ideas and joyful starting points that any teacher can use to bring connection and purpose to math learning.

When students thrive in math, it’s not quiet — it’s alive. You’ll hear how thriving classrooms buzz with conversation, curiosity, and confidence. Kendra paints a picture of what it looks like when students feel safe to take risks, when math talk flows naturally, and when belonging fuels learning.

💬 Connect with Kendra

Website - https://www.mathematizing247.com/

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🔗 Tune In and Build Your Thriving Math Community

🎧 Listen to the full episode to hear Kendra share her journey and practical steps for creating classrooms where students feel confident, capable, and connected through math.

💬 Subscribe to the podcast, leave a review, and share this episode with a colleague who’s ready to make math more joyful and inclusive.

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Think about this: how often do you hear a student say, “I can’t do this”?
You might wonder, why do they give up so easily?
But here’s the truth — it’s not laziness. It’s not a lack of confidence. It’s anxiety.

Because each of us has a Math Story.
Some stories are good. Some, not so much.
Maybe yours began with racing to be the fastest in “Around the World,” or memorizing steps to get the answer first. Maybe it’s standing at the board while the teacher asks the class, “Are they right?” — even though everyone, including you, knows you’re wrong.

So let’s stay together — and let’s help our students do the same.

🎧 Listen to the full episode

💬 Subscribe to the podcast, leave a review, and share this episode with a fellow teacher who’s ready to bring new energy and joy to math learning.

📘 Order your copy of the Word Problem Workshop book today and start building a classroom where students think deeply, collaborate often, and love solving problems.

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Math education is changing fast — and few people are leading that change more thoughtfully than John SanGiovanni, a math educator, district leader, and author of numerous influential books. In this episode of our math education podcast, John shares the conversations we should be having about teaching math — and what’s getting in the way.

John offers a refreshingly candid take on what’s missing from our current math dialogue — and why focusing on instructional quality, not gadgets or gimmicks, is the way forward.

💻 Links Mentioned in this Episode

Books by John SanGiovanni:

📘 Productive Math Struggle: A 6-Point Action Plan for Fostering Perseverance

📘 Figuring Out Fluency in Mathematics Teaching and Learning, Grades K-8: Moving Beyond Basic Facts and Memorization

Website - https://www.sangiomath.com/

🔗 Listen, Learn, and Lead Change

🎧 Tune in now to hear the full conversation with John SanGiovanni — and explore what’s next for math instruction and curriculum design.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast, leave a review, and share this episode with a colleague who cares about reimagining math education.

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It’s here — the Word Problem Workshop book is officially out in the world! 

Every teacher knows the struggle — students disengaged, confused, or quick to say, “I’m not a math person.” This book was born out of that challenge. It’s a response to years of listening to teachers, watching classrooms, and realizing something had to change.

🔗 Listen, Celebrate, and Join the Movement

🎧 Tune in to the full episode to celebrate the launch of the Word Problem Workshop book and hear the story behind it all.

💬 Subscribe to the podcast, leave a review, and share this episode with a fellow teacher who’s ready to make math meaningful again.

📘 Grab your copy of the Word Problem Workshop book today and start building a math classroom where students thrive as thinkers and problem solvers.