Making Math Moments That Matter

In today’s math classrooms, there’s a growing expectation: students should be able to use and connect multiple mathematical representations. From visual models to symbolic notation, this practice is becoming a key part of high-quality math instruction. But for many teachers, this shift feels challenging—especially when their own experience with math was primarily abstract and procedural.
So what happens when you’re asked to teach in a way you didn’t experience yourself? When you’re expected to connect visual, physical, contextual, and symbolic representations—but don’t feel like you have the tools or confidence to do it? For many educators, this creates an experience gap. And without support, it can feel overwhelming. The reality is, this isn’t just about learning new strategies—it’s about rethinking what it means to understand math, and being willing to learn alongside your students.
In this episode, you’ll explore:
What it really means to connect mathematical representations
The difference between strategies and representations
Why many teachers feel unprepared for this shift—and what to do about it
How learning alongside students can strengthen your practice
The role of networks and collaboration in building confidence
What teachers, coaches, and leaders can do to support this work
If you’ve been asked to implement connected representations in your math classroom but aren’t sure where to start, this episode will help you build clarity, confidence, and a path forward.
Not sure what matters most when designing math improvement plans? Take this assessment and get a free customized report: https://makemathmoments.com/grow/ 
Math coordinators and leaders – Ready to design your math improvement plan with guidance, support and using structure? Learn how to follow our 4 stage process. https://growyourmathprogram.com 
Looking to supplement your curriculum with problem-based lessons and units? Make Math Moments Problem Based Lessons & Units 

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Get a Customized Math Improvement Plan For Your District.

Are you district leader for mathematics? Take the 12 minute assessment and you’ll get a free, customized improvement plan to shape and grow the 6 parts of any strong mathematics program.

Take the assessment
Are you wondering how to create K-12 math lesson plans that leave students so engaged they don’t want to stop exploring your math curriculum when the bell rings? In their podcast, Kyle Pearce and Jon Orr—founders of MakeMathMoments.com—share over 19 years of experience inspiring K-12 math students, teachers, and district leaders with effective math activities, engaging resources, and innovative math leadership strategies. Through a 6-step framework, they guide K-12 classroom teachers and district math coordinators on building a strong, balanced math program that grows student and teacher impact. Each week, gain fresh ideas, feedback, and practical strategies to feel more confident and motivate students to see the beauty in math. Start making math moments today by listening to Episode #139: "Making Math Moments From Day 1 to 180.

In math classrooms, there’s something that shows up again and again: resistance. It can come from students, from teachers, and sometimes even from the school system itself. And over time, it can start to feel like your job is to constantly push against it—trying to convince, redirect, and move people forward.
But what if we’ve been thinking about resistance all wrong? What if it’s not something people are, but something they’re experiencing in the moment? Because when students push back or teachers hesitate to try something new, it’s easy to label that as unwillingness. In reality, it’s often rooted in something deeper—fear of being wrong, uncertainty about expectations, past experiences with math, or a lack of trust. And in many cases, the system itself creates the very conditions that lead to resistance in the first place.
In this episode, you’ll explore:
Why resistance is a state—not a trait
What’s really behind student and teacher pushback in math
How trust plays a critical role in reducing resistance
Why fear and past experiences influence willingness to try new approaches
How inconsistent systems and shifting priorities can reinforce resistance
What coaches, leaders, and teachers can do to build trust over time
If you’ve ever struggled with resistance in your classroom, your coaching, or your school, this episode will help you reframe what’s really happening—and how to respond more effectively.
Not sure what matters most when designing math improvement plans? Take this assessment and get a free customized report: https://makemathmoments.com/grow/ 
Math coordinators and leaders – Ready to design your math improvement plan with guidance, support and using structure? Learn how to follow our 4 stage process. https://growyourmathprogram.com 
Looking to supplement your curriculum with problem-based lessons and units? Make Math Moments Problem Based Lessons & Units 

Show Notes Page
Love the show? Text us your big takeaway!
Get a Customized Math Improvement Plan For Your District.

Are you district leader for mathematics? Take the 12 minute assessment and you’ll get a free, customized improvement plan to shape and grow the 6 parts of any strong mathematics program.

Take the assessment
Are you wondering how to create K-12 math lesson plans that leave students so engaged they don’t want to stop exploring your math curriculum when the bell rings? In their podcast, Kyle Pearce and Jon Orr—founders of MakeMathMoments.com—share over 19 years of experience inspiring K-12 math students, teachers, and district leaders with effective math activities, engaging resources, and innovative math leadership strategies. Through a 6-step framework, they guide K-12 classroom teachers and district math coordinators on building a strong, balanced math program that grows student and teacher impact. Each week, gain fresh ideas, feedback, and practical strategies to feel more confident and motivate students to see the beauty in math. Start making math moments today by listening to Episode #139: "Making Math Moments From Day 1 to 180.

In math classrooms, what is the most common frustration that keeps showing up? Not enough time. Interrupted lessons. Lost instructional minutes. The constant feeling of trying to cover more math than the time allows. It’s not just about lost time. It’s about lost momentum. Lost focus. Lost thinking. At the same time, schools are balancing another priority—community and culture. Assemblies. Events. Activities that matter.
So the question becomes:
Is it possible to protect instructional time and still build a strong school culture? Or does it have to be one or the other?
In this episode, you’ll explore:
Why lost instructional minutes impact more than just pacing
What happens to student thinking when lessons are constantly interrupted
Why strong beginnings and endings matter more than we think
How predictable routines can help reclaim lost time
What teachers can do to maximize instructional minutes on a typical day
How school leaders can create more predictable, protected instructional time
If you’ve ever felt like you’re constantly behind—or like your math block disappears before it even starts—this episode will help you rethink how to protect and make the most of every instructional minute.
Not sure what matters most when designing math improvement plans? Take this assessment and get a free customized report: https://makemathmoments.com/grow/ 
Math coordinators and leaders – Ready to design your math improvement plan with guidance, support and using structure? Learn how to follow our 4 stage process. https://growyourmathprogram.com 
Looking to supplement your curriculum with problem-based lessons and units? Make Math Moments Problem Based Lessons & Units 

Show Notes Page
Love the show? Text us your big takeaway!
Get a Customized Math Improvement Plan For Your District.

Are you district leader for mathematics? Take the 12 minute assessment and you’ll get a free, customized improvement plan to shape and grow the 6 parts of any strong mathematics program.

Take the assessment
Are you wondering how to create K-12 math lesson plans that leave students so engaged they don’t want to stop exploring your math curriculum when the bell rings? In their podcast, Kyle Pearce and Jon Orr—founders of MakeMathMoments.com—share over 19 years of experience inspiring K-12 math students, teachers, and district leaders with effective math activities, engaging resources, and innovative math leadership strategies. Through a 6-step framework, they guide K-12 classroom teachers and district math coordinators on building a strong, balanced math program that grows student and teacher impact. Each week, gain fresh ideas, feedback, and practical strategies to feel more confident and motivate students to see the beauty in math. Start making math moments today by listening to Episode #139: "Making Math Moments From Day 1 to 180.

In this episode, hosts Jon Orr and Yvette Lehman unpack a tension that’s been debated in math education for decades: conceptual understanding vs. procedural fluency.
Yvette shares a powerful realization from her math classroom experience: in striving to teach conceptually, she may have unintentionally neglected opportunities for students to build automaticity and recall. Meanwhile, Jon highlights the importance of helping students move fluidly between visual models, strategies, and algorithms.
Together, they explore:
Why the “either/or” debate in math instruction is a false dichotomy
How different learners benefit from different approaches
What happens when math teaching becomes too rigid in one direction
The role of tutoring, parents, and community partners in shaping math success
Why strong math instruction should leverage strengths while building other proficiencies
How educators can balance reasoning, understanding, and efficiency
This conversation is a reminder that great math teaching isn’t about choosing sides—it’s about creating access, building flexibility, and meeting students where they are.
👉 What if the real goal isn’t picking a side… but helping students move between them?
Not sure what matters most when designing math improvement plans? Take this assessment and get a free customized report: https://makemathmoments.com/grow/ 
Math coordinators and leaders – Ready to design your math improvement plan with guidance, support and using structure? Learn how to follow our 4 stage process. https://growyourmathprogram.com 
Looking to supplement your curriculum with problem-based lessons and units? Make Math Moments Problem Based Lessons & Units 

Show Notes Page
Love the show? Text us your big takeaway!
Get a Customized Math Improvement Plan For Your District.

Are you district leader for mathematics? Take the 12 minute assessment and you’ll get a free, customized improvement plan to shape and grow the 6 parts of any strong mathematics program.

Take the assessment
Are you wondering how to create K-12 math lesson plans that leave students so engaged they don’t want to stop exploring your math curriculum when the bell rings? In their podcast, Kyle Pearce and Jon Orr—founders of MakeMathMoments.com—share over 19 years of experience inspiring K-12 math students, teachers, and district leaders with effective math activities, engaging resources, and innovative math leadership strategies. Through a 6-step framework, they guide K-12 classroom teachers and district math coordinators on building a strong, balanced math program that grows student and teacher impact. Each week, gain fresh ideas, feedback, and practical strategies to feel more confident and motivate students to see the beauty in math. Start making math moments today by listening to Episode #139: "Making Math Moments From Day 1 to 180.

We talk about planning all the time in math education. But here’s the question:
How much time should you realistically be spending planning your math lessons each day?
Because the reality is—you’re not just planning math. You’re planning multiple subjects or courses, managing everything else on your plate, and at the same time trying to make sense of a new math curriculum, new models, and new expectations for how math instruction should look in your classroom.
And when that happens, math planning can quickly turn into a daily cycle of planning for tomorrow, feeling behind, and trying to keep up.
Especially when you’re trying to design math lessons that move beyond procedures and actually build student thinking, reasoning, and understanding.
In This Episode, You’ll Learn
Why planning math lessons day-by-day leads to burnout
How to shift to unit-based math planning so you can see the big mathematical ideas
A simple strategy: focus on one meaningful math experience per day
How to reduce planning time while still improving the quality of your math instruction
Why unpacking the math (not just the lesson) matters when using a new curriculum
How to build repeatable planning routines that make math teaching more manageable
Ways to improve your math practice without sacrificing your time or well-being
As you think about your next math lesson, consider this:
What if you didn’t try to perfect everything tomorrow?
Instead, choose one moment in your math block to focus on—one opportunity for students to think, reason, or engage more deeply with math.
Start there. Because improving your math instruction isn’t about doing more.
It’s about making small, intentional shifts in your math planning that build over time.
Not sure what matters most when designing math improvement plans? Take this assessment and get a free customized report: https://makemathmoments.com/grow/ 
Math coordinators and leaders – Ready to design your math improvement plan with guidance, support and using structure? Learn how to follow our 4 stage process. https://growyourmathprogram.com 
Looking to supplement your curriculum with problem-based lesso
Love the show? Text us your big takeaway!
Get a Customized Math Improvement Plan For Your District.

Are you district leader for mathematics? Take the 12 minute assessment and you’ll get a free, customized improvement plan to shape and grow the 6 parts of any strong mathematics program.

Take the assessment
Are you wondering how to create K-12 math lesson plans that leave students so engaged they don’t want to stop exploring your math curriculum when the bell rings? In their podcast, Kyle Pearce and Jon Orr—founders of MakeMathMoments.com—share over 19 years of experience inspiring K-12 math students, teachers, and district leaders with effective math activities, engaging resources, and innovative math leadership strategies. Through a 6-step framework, they guide K-12 classroom teachers and district math coordinators on building a strong, balanced math program that grows student and teacher impact. Each week, gain fresh ideas, feedback, and practical strategies to feel more confident and motivate students to see the beauty in math. Start making math moments today by listening to Episode #139: "Making Math Moments From Day 1 to 180.