Searching for a Better Way

Guest blog post by Susan Smith, a longtime educator who spent her career searching for a better way to teach math. She now shares what she’s learned about helping students build mathematical reasoning, confidence, and a love of math-ing.

“There has to be a better way”. That has been my mantra throughout my teaching career.  

When students struggled to learn their math facts, I thought, “There has to be a better way.”  

When students felt confused and baffled by fractions, I thought, “There has to be a better way.” 

When feeling frustrated by unreasonable answers and students’ lack of engagement, I thought, “There has to be a better way.”  

And so I was always searching to improve my craft as a teacher, make math more fun and engaging, and find new ways to make math easier and more accessible for my students.  My hopes would soar any time I learned a new math trick or cute idea to help students memorize a fact or a process or when our school adopted a new program. But inevitably those hopes would crash when the learning continued to graze the surface and not stick. Sound familiar?

High Scores, Low Depth 

Now, don’t get me wrong, to the outside world, my math class looked successful as my standardized test scores were high, and students knew the steps of how to solve the basic problems in the 4th grade math curriculum. Yet, I felt disheartened by the lack of tenacity, number sense, flexibility, and depth of understanding in my students. And personally, I was beginning to feel burned-out, tired of the exhausting, repetitive nature of teaching math where the goal is for students to learn the rules, steps, and procedures to get correct answers. I knew there had to be a better way. I just couldn’t see it. I thought maybe it was just time for me to retire.

The Turning Point 

And then came Spring Break 2023.  

As was my usual custom, I was looking for my own professional development opportunities, something to inspire and ignite me for my final two years in the classroom. I was searching for how to bring the joy back into teaching and give me hope that I could reach all my students and feel truly successful. And then it happened. In one of my Facebook teaching groups a teacher recommended Pam Harris and Math is FigureOutAble workshops. (I owe that unknown teacher a wealth of gratitude!)

I was skeptical and tentatively dipped my toe in the Math is FigureOutAble water. I explored the website, watched a few introductory videos, and found myself intrigued.  I wanted to learn more. I listened to a podcast episode, and then another, and another…Like tearing through a bag of M&Ms… I couldn’t stop listening.

I began to ask, “What is the purpose of math class?” 

I had just been dutifully following the path of how I was taught math, through mimicking and memorization. Could I empower my students, heck could I empower myself, to solve problems using what I know, to build a denser math brain, to think and reason like a mathematician?  

I wasn’t sure. But, I was excited to try! I could feel a new vision beginning to take shape in my mind of what teaching math could look and feel like. The possibilities energized me.

Taking the Leap 

I took the leap and enrolled in my first Building Powerful Mathematics Workshop, choosing Multiplication for my initial course, as this is such a challenging cornerstone of 4th grade math. As I engaged in the math of the workshop and experienced the learning alongside the participants in the class, I could feel my brain shifting in how it solved problems. I went from systematically following a well-traveled, algorithm-based process to one in which I reasoned, noticed and used relationships, made new connections, and grew in my sophistication. I literally felt transformed! Each week I would implement with my students what I was learning in my class. The energy in my room was electric. Here was the joy of math. You don’t have to “make math fun” in some cutesy way. Real math-ing is fun in and of itself. Math-ing, using what you know to think and reason to solve problems, is a joyful endeavor and one in which all students have an entry point to participate. I had finally found a better way to teach math.

Real Reason to Hope 

It may sound dramatic, but it is the absolute truth: Taking a Math is FigureOutAble Workshop forever changed me as a student and as a teacher. To this day, taking that workshop is the single best professional development decision I ever made as a math educator. It set me on a path to really make a difference in the lives of my students and colleagues. Within a year I had joined JourneyLeader and completed 3 additional  workshops. I had never felt better about myself as a math teacher. The growth I experienced with all of my students was remarkable and rewarding. Helping other teachers reimagine the purpose of math class and feel the power of developing mathematical reasoning with their students was equally fulfilling! 

Now I have joined the mission to help revolutionize math education. I knew there had to be a better way. And I was right!  Math is Figureoutable and we can teach it that way!

Ready to See What's Possible?

If you’ve been searching for that better way in your own classroom, you don't have to figure it out alone. Ready to help students build real mathematical reasoning?

Enrollment for our online workshops in the Building Powerful Mathematics Series is currently open, but only through September 11. Because we only open registration three times a year, taking action now ensures you can bring these ideas into your classroom right away—rather than waiting until January to start making an impact on your students' learning.

Not sure which course is the best fit? Take our quick Which Workshop Quiz to find the right deep dive for your grade level, or explore all of our Developing Math and Reasoning Workshops.

Come see what’s possible when students have the opportunity to truly think.

Let's keep math-ing together!