Room to Grow - a Math Podcast

Written by: Room to Grow Math
  • Summary

  • Room to Grow is the math podcast that brings you discussions on trending topics in math education in short segments. We’re not here to talk at people. We’re here to think and learn with others — because when it comes to mathematics there’s always room to grow!
    © 2025 Room to Grow - a Math Podcast
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Episodes
  • Promoting Reasoning and Problem Solving with Tasks
    Feb 11 2025

    In this episode of Room to Grow, Joanie and Curtis continue the season 5 series on the Mathematics Teaching Practices from NCTM’s Principles to Actions, celebrating it’s 10th anniversary. This month’s practice is “Implement Tasks that Promote Reasoning and Problem Solving.” Our hosts being by expounding on the difference between selecting a task and implementing it, and that selecting a good task does not guarantee good implementation. They bust the idea that the only way to engage students in reasoning and problem solving is with a rich task, by considering how educators can weave together procedural learning with conceptual understanding.

    Next, they connect reasoning and problem solving to the Standards of Mathematical Practice, particularly practices 7: Attend to and make use of structure and 8: Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning. Capitalizing on students’ natural noticing and shining the light on the underlying mathematics leads to stronger connections and increasing students’ ability to generalize their understanding.

    By building a foundation of reasoning and sense-making, and helping students understand that this is a resource for them tap into, that allows for the learning and engagement beyond rote classroom experiences.

    Additional referenced content includes:

    · NCTM’s Principles to Actions

    · NCTM’s Taking Action series for grades K-5, grades 6-8, and grades 9-12

    · Selecting and Creating Mathematical Tasks article from Smith and Stein

    · A Teacher’s Guide to Reasoning and Sense-Making from NCTM

    Did you enjoy this episode of Room to Grow? Please leave a review and share the episode with others. Share your feedback, comments, and suggestions for future episode topics by emailing roomtogrowmath@gmail.com . Be sure to connect with your hosts on X and Instagram: @JoanieFun and @cbmathguy.

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    25 mins
  • Facilitating Meaningful Mathematics Discourse
    Jan 14 2025

    In this episode of Room to Grow, Joanie and Curtis begin a season 5 series on the Mathematics Teaching Practices from NCTM’s Principles to Actions, celebrating it’s 10th anniversary. This month’s practice is “Facilitating Meaningful Mathematics Discourse.” Our hosts first identify what they mean by discourse and why it is important: that students are able to communicate their mathematical thinking in ways that others can clearly understand for the purpose of furthering their own mathematics learning.

    Next, Curtis and Joanie unpack how to get students talking in math class, a necessary condition for meaningful math discourse. Classroom culture is a key element to ensure that students feel safe and comfortable enough to share their mathematical thinking. Implied in this is that the teacher must hold themselves to precision of language as well, and should understand when to require precision from students and when to be more flexible with informal language.

    Finally, their conversation suggests that effective math discourse is not improvisational, but rather something teachers can and should plan for, and use as a strategy for an equitable classroom.

    Additional referenced content includes:

    · NCTM’s Principles to Actions

    · NCTM’s Taking Action series for grades K-5, grades 6-8, and grades 9-12

    · Strategies for facilitating math discourse in the classroom

    · Latrenda Knighten, NCTM President’s message on Let’s Give Students the Gift of Time

    Did you enjoy this episode of Room to Grow? Please leave a review and share the episode with others. Share your feedback, comments, and suggestions for future episode topics by emailing roomtogrowmath@gmail.com . Be sure to connect with your hosts on X and Instagram: @JoanieFun and @cbmathguy.

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    31 mins
  • What we’ve learned this year
    Dec 17 2024

    In this episode of Room to Grow, Joanie and Curtis reflect on their personal and professional experiences of 2024 and what they learned. Reflect – conferences, books, podcast guests. Thinking differently about teaching and learning math. Hope you’ll take the time to reflect and capture your own learning.

    Curtis and Joanie reference these episodes of Room to Grow which aired in 2024:

    · Teaching and Learning Math: Students’ Perspectives Part 1 (aired August 28, 2024) and Part 2 (aired September 17, 2024)

    · Routines for Supporting Student Thinking with Grace Kelemanik and Amy Lucenta (aired October 16, 2023)

    · Unleashing the Mathematical Brilliance of All Students with Rachel Lambert (aired April 10, 2023)

    · Balancing Instructional Modalities (aired March 12, 2024)

    · Asset-Based Teaching to Transform Math Class with Mike Steele and Joleigh Honey (aired October 15, 2024)

    · A Conversation with the National Teacher of the Year with Rebecka Peterson (aired February 13, 2024)

    · High School Mathematics Reimagined Revitalized and Relevant with Latrenda Knighten and Kevin Dykema (aired November 12, 2024)

    Additional referenced content includes:

    · The book Transform Your Math Class Using Asset-Based Teaching for Grades 6-12

    · The work of Liping Ma, including her book Knowing and Teaching Elementary Mathematics

    · Rachel Lambert’s research and resources at mathematizing4all.com

    · Kevin Dykema’s President’s Message on Balancing Instructional Strategies in the Math Classroom

    · NCTM’s Reimagining High School Mathematics resources on the NCTM webpage

    Did you enjoy this episode of Room to Grow? Please leave a review and share the episode with others. Share your feedback, comments, and suggestions for future episode topics by emailing roomt

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    35 mins

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