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!
Episodes
549 episodes
Ep 24: Perspectives Impacting Pedagogy: How Did You View Math?
This episode is part one to a new five part series! Pam and Kim introduce the three main perspectives that influence the way we teach math. Understanding these perspectives helps teachers analyze their past perspective so they can make choices ...
Ep 23: The Commutative Property
How can we help students feel comfortable with using the commutative property? In this episode Pam and Kim go through some addition and multiplication problems to demonstrate how they think and reason using the the commutative property.
Ep 22: The Swapping Strategy
Pam went most of her life not knowing about this really cool thing! Listen in as Kim relates a great math experience she had with her son, Luke, while they were messing around with addition. Pam and Kim discuss the importance and kinds of place...
Ep 21: Playing with Percents Pt 2
Are percents truly figure-out-able? You bet! Grab a pen and paper for this one as Pam and Kim discuss the 3 types of percent problems and how they solve them using relations, not with algorithms. Talking Points:What ...
Ep 20: Playing with Percents Pt 1
So are percents really figure-out-able too? In this episode Pam and Kim do a Problem String and share their strategies to solve some percent problems. Listen in as they play with percents!Talking Points:Can we make math fun?
Ep 19: Fractions, Decimals, Percents
Pam and Kim explore what it means to be flexible with fractions, decimals, and percents. They discuss how we can become more flexible as we deal with rational numbers to help us be more judicious problem solvers.Talking Points:W...
Ep 18: This, Not That
You might want your magnifying glass for this one, because in this episode we're getting a little nitpicky. Pam and Kim discuss common and often traditional nomenclature/math-slang that can take the reasoning out of mathematics. They offer usef...
Ep 17: Social vs Logical Knowledge
Math is Figure-Out-Able, but surely there are some parts that are only memorizable, right? In this episode Pam and Kim parse out the difference between social knowledge and logical mathematical knowledge. They explain how knowing the difference...
Ep 16: The Language of Counting
This week's episode is for all you parents and teachers of young children. Pam and Kim discuss ways to make counting Figure-Out-Able! How can we help kids make sense of our counting system and master the meaning behind the words we give to numb...
Ep. 15: Problem Solving with a Twist
Have you tried teaching your students "the steps" to approaching word problems, but your students still struggled? Pam and Kim discuss a better way to help kids tackle math problems. They explain why the acronyms and problem annotation methods ...
Ep 14: Guess My Number
Pam and Kim have some fun in this episode as they read out a submission from Aaron Houston about his mathy dad and having mathy fun at a restaurant. They talk about the kinds of things parents can do with their kids to have fun mathematizing!&n...
Ep 13: Mathematics for Teaching
There are so many aspects to teaching, and it gets more complex when we want to discuss teaching math. Pam and Kim define the 5 layers for mathematics teaching. What do math teachers, who want to help their students mathematize, need to focus o...
Ep 12: Top 3 Things to Start the Year: Know Your Beliefs
As Pam and Kim wrap up their series on how to start the school year right, they discuss the importance of having your beliefs about teaching and learning solidified, so that everything that you do fits when making decisions in your classroom. T...
Ep 11: Top 3 Things to Start the Year: Building Culture Remotely
Join Pam and Kim in part two of their Top 3 Things to Start the Year series. This week its all about building a classroom culture where students and students' thinking is valued. They'll talk about how to implement and facilitate familiar tasks...
Ep 10: Top 3 Things to Start the Year: Student Names
As the world prepares for one of the most interesting beginnings to the school year, Pam and Kim are here to help us get it right. They start off this 3 part series by dialing in on the importance of using students' names to help them feel seen...
Ep 9: Strategies and Models
What is the difference between a strategy and a model? Listen as Pam and Kim define strategies and models and explain the difference. They also give examples from both elementary and high school content to demonstrate the importance of developi...
Ep 8: More Cool Things Mathy People Do
After last weeks discussion on partners of 10, 100, and 1000, Pam and Kim thought of more habits "mathy people" have in common. Listen in as they discuss three fun things mathematicians do.Talking Points:Mathematicians "Notice a...
Ep 7: I Have, You Need
In this episode Pam and Kim share one of their favorite instructional routines: I Have, You Need. They discuss some of the most common patterns that mathematicians play with, partners of 10, 100, and 1000. These "partners of ___ " patterns pop ...
Ep 6: The Development of Mathematical Reasoning Pt 2: Functional Reasoning
Reasoning and numeracy doesn't come to an end in highschool! Can we mathematize algebraic concepts? What is Functional Reasoning? Listen as Pam explains how Functional Reasoning builds off of Proportional Reasoning and empowers students to anal...
Ep 5: The Development of Mathematical Reasoning
This episode is so important! Pam and Kim describe the Development of Mathematical Reasoning, and how it transforms our understanding of what it means to learn and teach mathematics. They discuss how freeing it feels to know that everyone can d...
Ep 4: Top Ten Influencers
Who's shaping math education today? Does Pam come up with it all herself? Far from it! In her fourth episode Pam wanted to pay homage to her top 10 influencers as well as share with you all some of her favorite resources for teaching Real Math....
Ep 3: Mentoring Mathematicians
When we read, we are reading. When we write, we are writing. What is the verb for doing math? Pam and Kim continue from Episode 2 to discuss what it means to do and teach Real Mathematics. Listen in as they discuss what mathematicia...
Ep 2: Math Does Not Equal Algorithms!
What is 99 plus anything? What is 99 times anything? How can you use relationships to solve those problems? In this episode, Pam and Kim talk about how Real Math is not about mimicking an algorithm, but rather about letting the numbers and the ...