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 - May 20, 2026
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In today’s MathStratChat, Pam and Kim discuss the MathStratChat problem shared on social media on May 20, 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 0:00
Hey, fellow math-ers! Welcome to the podcast where Math is Figure-Out-Able. I'm Pam Harris.
Kim 0:07
And I'm Kim Montague.
Pam 0:08
This is a MathStratChat episode because 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 0:20
Okay, so this week, our math problem was 1500 times 32. How would you solve this problem? Pause the podcast. Solve it however you'd like. The problem is 1,500 times 32.
Pam 0:32
Ah, Iove that you did that because when you said 1500, I was like I wonder if she's going to
say 1,500. Okay, I'm going to go first.
Kim 0:39
Okay.
Pam 0:40
Okay, I'm going to do 1,000 times 32. Which is 32,000.
Kim 0:46
Okay.
Pam 0:46
And then I'm going to do half of that to get 500 times 32. And that's going to be 16,000.
Kim 0:54
Mmhm.
Pam 0:55
And I do a lot with, yeah, 12s. I don't know what I'm thinking about. Anyway, that's going to be 48,000.
Kim 1:08
Okay. Little 5 is Half of 10.
Pam 1:09
Yeah, little 5 is Half of 10.
Kim 1:09
Okay, I'm going to do... I know that 1,500 times 32 is equivalent to 3,000 times 16. Little Double Halve.
Pam 1:15
Nice. Your'e welcome that I didn't do that one.
Kim 1:17
But, yeah, I don't like that enough, so I'm going to Double Halve again and get 6,000 times 8. Which is 48,000.
Pam 1:27
Sweet. So, it could look like kind of a gnarly problem and would be lots and lots of steps with the algorithm.
Kim 1:33
Yeah,
Pam 1:33
It's pretty darn doable. And gets us reasoning about magnitudes. Nice.
Kim 1:37
Yeah, yeah. Alright, we can't wait to see what you do every week. Join us on MathStratChat and let us know how you think about the problems and comment on each other's strategies.
Pam 1:46
Y'all, we post the problems on Wednesdays around 7:00 p.m. Central. When you answer, tag me and use the hashtag MathStratChat. Then join us on these episodes 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.