Math is Figure-Out-Able!
Math teacher educator Pam Harris and her cohost Kim Montague answer the question: If not algorithms, then what? Join them for ~15-30 minutes every Tuesday as they cast their vision for mathematics education and give actionable items to help teachers teach math that is Figure-Out-Able. See www.MathisFigureOutAble.com for more great resources!
Math is Figure-Out-Able!
#MathStratChat - April 1, 2026
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In today’s MathStratChat, Pam and Kim discuss the MathStratChat problem shared on social media on April 1, 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
Pam 0:01
Hey fellow math-ers! Welcome to the podcast where Math is Figure-Out-Able. I'm Pam Harris.
Kim 0:09
And I'm Kim Montague.
Pam 0:11
And this episode is a MathStratChat episode where Kim's going to join us eventually, and we chat about our math strategies. Every Wednesday evening, I throw out a math problem on social media, and people from around the world chat about the strategies they use and comment on each other's thinking.
Kim 0:26
Okay, so this Wednesday, our problem was 25 times 32. How would you solve this problem? Pause the podcast. Solve it however you'd like, and then come on back. The problem is 25 times 32.
Pam 0:37
Hey, Kim, did I tell you that somebody said the other day that it was a MathStartChat problem. They're like, "Hey, I did your MathStartChat. And I was like, "Wait, what?"
Kim 0:47
I mean, that's not actually all that bad.
Pam 0:49
It's not, right? Like, start chatting about math. It's not bad. Yeah. I thought, "Well, that works. Okay, MathStartShat, MathStratChat.
Kim 0:55
Huh.
Pam 0:56
Yeah.
Kim 0:56
Okay.
Pam 0:57
There you go. Okay. I'm going to...
Kim 0:59
Do you want to go first or do you want me to?
Pam 1:00
I do want to go first because I want to try strategy that I think you do all the time...
Kim 1:03
Okay.
Pam 1:03
...that is not second nature to me, yet.
Kim 1:05
Okay.
Pam 1:05
But I'm working on it. So, I'm going to think about 25 times 32 as 32 quarters. And I'm going to say that every quarter... Like, 25 times 4 is $1.00. And so, I'm asking myself how many dollars I have. So, I wrote down 25 times 4, and I'm thinking about 32 divided by 4 is 8. So, I think I'm going to need 8 times those dollars. 8 times 25 times 4. And so, that's 800.
Kim 1:31
Okay.
Pam 1:31
Times 100. Is that? Yeah?
Kim 1:38
Yeah.
Pam 1:38
Okay.
Kim 1:39
Okay, then I think I'll do something that you taught me that comes more naturally, maybe to you. Or, I don't know, maybe think of it more. Maybe you mess with it more. I think I do the quarters thing because I taught third grade, and I think you do this because you taught older. So, I'm going to think about flexible factoring, and I'm going to think about 25 is 5 times 5. And I'm going to think about 32 is 4 times 8. And then, I'm going to rearrange those to make 5 times 4 times 5 times 8.
Pam 2:10
Nice.
Kim 2:10
And then I have 20 times 40, which is 800.
Pam 2:14
I like it. That's very nice. Okay, y'all. We can't wait to see what you do each week. Join us on MathStratChat and let us know how you think about the problems. And while you're there, comment on each other's strategies.
Kim 2:25
Pam posts the problems on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. Central. And when you answer, tag her and use the hashtag MathStratChat.
Pam 2:34
Then join us here to hear how we're thinking about the problem. We love having you as part of the Math is Figure-Out-Able movement. Math is Figure-Out-Able!