In this episode, I talk with Melisa McCain, an instructional coach in Franklin Community Schools in Franklin, Indiana. Melisa, has taught grades 1, 3, 4, and 5, and has been a special education teacher and media specialist. She has multiple graduate degrees, and discovered her love of learning at a very young age when, as a child that was “pulled out” to learn math, worked against all the odds to solve a problem none of the kids who got to stay in the room could solve. GO MELISA.  Melisa’s love of learning has turned her into a passionate instructional leader and, among other things,  helped her discover the book,  Building Thinking Classrooms by Peter Liljedahl. When she discovered there was no Building Thinking Classrooms Conference she could get teachers to to further their professional learning on the topic, decided to reach out to Peter and his team and create her own. Melisa is a true leader, an inspired learner, and has a passion for education that, after listening to this episode, will make you want to go out and transform the learning in your school and community.

The math in this episode is the power of classroom discourse, what happens when you have patience and give students time to think, make sense of the problem they are solving, and allow time for collaboration. 

The other things is the role of the instructional leader who learns while also guiding teachers through the learning process, the power of perseverance, the joy in taking risks, and so much more. 

Resources Referenced in this episode:

Building Thinking Classrooms Conference Page

Indiana Math Leadership Academy Page

Virtually Different Summer Conference

Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics, Grades K-12: 14 Teaching Practices for Enhancing Learning