But I have a little secret…I didn’t always love teaching math.

And that’s because I struggled with math when I was in school. I don’t know about you, but as a kid, I would dread when the teacher would call on me to come up to the board and solve a problem. I thought if I wished hard enough, I would become invisible (It never worked).

Fast forward to becoming an elementary school teacher. My first year, I was the classic textbook teacher. Bring out the number 2 pencils and all the worksheets! 

But in the back of my mind, I knew there had to be more because there was no joy on my kids’ faces. They were bored and I was bored too! I wanted my students to have fun and work on engaging yet meaningful activities. But I just didn’t know what to do. Can you relate?

I started doing my research and read a ton of professional development books, and I discovered ways to get kids excited about math. I dusted off my base ten blocks, implemented math centers and incorporated games into my classroom. It worked!

My students were growing into mathematical thinkers and so were their test scores! I got noticed for what I was doing and was offered a job as a K-5 math coach. My focus quickly shifted from getting students to love math to getting teachers to love teaching math.

It’s O.K. if you’re not there just yet, but I promise once you are more confident in your math teaching skills you won’t ever groan again when it’s time for math workshop. Your math block deserves love too!

You may be asking, so how did you end up writing a blog and creating teacher materials? Glad you asked!

After 15+ years of teaching and coaching teachers, I began creating professional developments and instructional resources to help teachers. I started taking a closer look at our math curriculum and thinking of ways to make things more manageable for the teachers I was supporting because I knew the overwhelming feeling first hand.

I got lots of positive feedback and thought. Hmmm…I can reach even more teachers online. That led me to create digital resources, online courses and video training for teachers just like you! 

Teaching is a very important part of my life. I love helping teachers get their students to fall in love with math. My wife is a reading specialist! We talk about education all the time.