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How to Stop Math Anxiety and Rebuild Student Success
“I’m just not a math person” is a myth shaped by past classroom experiences. High-quality instruction moves beyond speed and memorization toward deep reasoning and sense-making. By shifting how we teach math, educators can eliminate math anxiety, rebuild student confidence, and transform learners’ identities from anxious to capable.
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How Educators Can Help Every Student Succeed in Math and Build Confidence
“Everyone is capable of mathematical thinking. It’s like an inheritance you get just for being human.” —Daniel Finkel, Founder of Math for Love. Take a minute to think about your math autobiography. Who was considered good at math in your classrooms? What were the expectations in math class? How did math make you feel? Were…
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Guiding Sustainable Learning: Empowering Educators for Powerful Impact
“Powerful learning for children requires powerful learning for educators.” -GELN Organizational Practices Values Stop and consider what it means to learn something new. When was the last time something you learned changed your behaviors? What makes learning so hard? This year, we are tackling these questions at our Michigan Math Educators (MichME) network. Using the text Intentional Interruption, we…
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A New Vision for Math: Equity and Inclusion through the Michigan Early Math Essentials
Do you have any memorable experiences from your preK-12 math classes? What specifically stands out to you? How did those experiences make you feel? For me, one standout moment was when I memorized my multiplication tables in third grade to go to McDonald’s with my teacher as a reward. My best friend and I planned…
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5 Essential Books Every Educator Needs on Their Summer Reading List
With the sun shining bright and days getting longer, educators can take advantage of the perfect opportunity to engage in essential professional learning. Grab a refreshing glass of lemonade, find a comfortable spot to unwind, and explore the top five must-read books that Kent ISD Educational Consultants recommend. These books will inspire, motivate, and transform…
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Has Productive Struggle Proven to be Essential to the Learning Process? Yes!
Humans encounter struggles everyday. In the math classroom, productive struggle is essential for learning. Everyday teachers are striving to find the delicate balance between bringing in learners’ schema to engage with a task and offering enough new information to push them out of their comfort zone, all towards the end goal of conceptual mastery of…
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Kent ISD Consultants Help Lay the Groundwork for Change in Mathematics Education
If you have ever met the Math Consultants Team at Kent ISD, you understand their passion and love for mathematics and student engagement. Rusty Anderson and Marcus Deja are focused on partnering with our districts to provide equitable opportunities for all learners in mathematics, and they are helping to lay the groundwork for change in…
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Getting Started with Essential Practices for Disciplinary Literacy
Recently on the LLCN brief podcast, Mark Raffler and Sarah Shoemaker chatted with Jenelle Williams, Literacy Consultant, Oakland Schools ISD, and Dr. Darin Stockdill, University of Michigan, about the Essential Literacy Practices for Disciplinary Literacy Instruction: Grades 6-12. Mark and Darin discussed the differences between the terms “Disciplinary Literacy” and “Content Literacy.” A topic you…
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Join MiELA to Discover How You Can Incorporate Multiple Literacies to Enhance STEM in Your Classroom
Are you a 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade teacher looking to incorporate STEM placed-based and project-based learning into your classroom? Are you looking for professional resources to help you get started in this type of teaching/learning? Keep reading to find out how to incorporate STEM project-based learning! What is Multiple Literacies Project-Based Learning? Dr. Annemarie…
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Kent ISD Summer Brain Gain is Back!
Free & Affordable Learning Options Online and In-Person Written by Joy Walczak, Communications Specialist for Kent ISD Hundreds of educational options for classes, camps, and learning connections are being offered for students at all grade levels again this summer as Kent ISD brings back Summer Brain Gain in 2021. After a year of multiple approaches…