Math is Figure-Out-Able!

In today’s MathStratChat, Pam and Kim discuss the MathStratChat problem shared on social media on October 28, 2026. 

Note: It’s more fun if you try to solve the problem, share it on social media, comment on others strategies, before you listen to Pam and Kim’s strategies. 

Check out #MathStratChat on your favorite social media site and join in the conversation.

Twitter: @PWHarris

Instagram: Pam Harris_math

Facebook: Pam Harris, author, mathematics education

How does Mathematics Education compare to the Science of Reading? In this episode, Pam Harris begins a conversation by addressing the broader differences in defining each discipline and the level of consensus in the literacy and mathematics education communities.

Talking Points:

• How terminology describing evidence-based practices differs in reading and mathematics.
• How math educators lack the same consensus as in the Science of Reading.
• Language Arts/Literacy is the analog to Mathematics. Reading is a subset of Language Arts/Literacy. There is no subset analog to reading in mathematics.

Links:

1. Comparing Mathematics Education to the Science of Reading (https://bit.ly/mathedreading)       

2. Developing Mathematical Reasoning Book Series

3. Developing Mathematical Reasoning: Avoiding the Trap of Algorithms audiobook

Check out Pam's social media
Twitter: @PWHarris
Instagram: Pam Harris_math
Facebook: Pam Harris, author, mathematics education
Linkedin: Pam Harris Consulting LLC 

In today’s MathStratChat, Pam and Kim discuss the MathStratChat problem shared on social media on October 21, 2026. 

Note: It’s more fun if you try to solve the problem, share it on social media, comment on others strategies, before you listen to Pam and Kim’s strategies. 

Check out #MathStratChat on your favorite social media site and join in the conversation.

Twitter: @PWHarris

Instagram: Pam Harris_math

Facebook: Pam Harris, author, mathematics education

A teacher's willingness (or unwillingness) to work on their craft of teaching, no matter the reason, impacts thier students. In this episode, Pam and Kim unpack one student's perspective about why teachers do or do not teach math that is figureoutable.

Talking Points:

• How teachers respond differently to Math-is-Figure-Out-Able ideas?
• A student's take on 4 types of teachers
• How students are impacted by different teaching beliefs and actions
• How building belief in kids' capability (and teachers' own capability) drives Math is Figure-Out-Able workshops

Links:

1. BLOG: When "Covered" Doesn't Mean Understood: Building Reasoning in Middle School Math

2. Developing Mathematical Reasoning Book Series

3. Developing Mathematical Reasoning: Avoiding the Trap of Algorithms audiobook

Check out Pam's social media
Twitter: @PWHarris
Instagram: Pam Harris_math
Facebook: Pam Harris, author, mathematics education
Linkedin: Pam Harris Consulting LLC 

In today’s MathStratChat, Pam and Kim discuss the MathStratChat problem shared on social media on October 14, 2026. 

Note: It’s more fun if you try to solve the problem, share it on social media, comment on others strategies, before you listen to Pam and Kim’s strategies. 

Check out #MathStratChat on your favorite social media site and join in the conversation.

Twitter: @PWHarris

Instagram: Pam Harris_math

Facebook: Pam Harris, author, mathematics education 

What perspective and assumptions do you bring to your teaching? In this episode, Pam and Kim discuss the kinds of teachers they've interacted with and their own growth as teachers.

Talking Points:

• "Inquiry-based" + Mimicking
• "Direct teach" + Mimicking
• "Inquiry-based"+ Math-ing
• "Direct teach" + Math-ing

Links:

1. BLOG: When "Covered" Doesn't Mean Understood: Building Reasoning in Middle School Math

2. Developing Mathematical Reasoning Book Series

3. Developing Mathematical Reasoning: Avoiding the Trap of Algorithms audiobook

Check out Pam's social media
Twitter: @PWHarris
Instagram: Pam Harris_math
Facebook: Pam Harris, author, mathematics education
Linkedin: Pam Harris Consulting LLC 

In today’s MathStratChat, Pam and Kim discuss the MathStratChat problem shared on social media on October 7, 2026. 

Note: It’s more fun if you try to solve the problem, share it on social media, comment on others strategies, before you listen to Pam and Kim’s strategies. 

Check out #MathStratChat on your favorite social media site and join in the conversation.

Twitter: @PWHarris

Instagram: Pam Harris_math

Facebook: Pam Harris, author, mathematics education

What can we do to keep students thinking, instead of waiting to be told what to do? In this episode Pam and Kim focus on an algebra Problem String that helps students learn to choose between strategies.

Talking Points:

• What it mean to keep kids in "Thinking Land"
• How to keep students actively reasoning versus cueing them to mimic/memorize steps
• How the same instructional phrase can lead students into or out of "Thinking Land"
• Ask yourself: "Is this direct move keeping kids reasoning, or just cueing mimicry?"

Links:

1. BLOG: When "Covered" Doesn't Mean Understood: Building Reasoning in Middle School Math

2. Developing Mathematical Reasoning Book Series

Check out Pam's social media
Twitter: @PWHarris
Instagram: Pam Harris_math
Facebook: Pam Harris, author, mathematics education
Linkedin: Pam Harris Consulting LLC 

In today’s MathStratChat, Pam and Kim discuss the MathStratChat problem shared on social media on September 30, 2026. 

Note: It’s more fun if you try to solve the problem, share it on social media, comment on others strategies, before you listen to Pam and Kim’s strategies. 

Check out #MathStratChat on your favorite social media site and join in the conversation.

Twitter: @PWHarris

Instagram: Pam Harris_math

Facebook: Pam Harris, author, mathematics education 

What does explicit teaching mean to you? In this episode, Pam and Kim discuss an Adding Mixed Numbers Problem String, idenitfying exactly what teachers should be explicit about versus what they should leave for students to grapple with.

Talking Points:

• Being explicit about the student's job during a Problem String
• Ways to nudge students to make connections
• Eliciting specific strategies
• Creating helper problems 

Links:

1. Pam's Books

2. Math is FigureOutAble Blog

Check out Pam's social media
Twitter: @PWHarris
Instagram: Pam Harris_math
Facebook: Pam Harris, author, mathematics education
Linkedin: Pam Harris Consulting LLC