How to Launch the Year With a Problem-Solving Mindset in Math Class

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What if the most important thing you teach at the beginning of the year isn’t a routine… but a belief about what math actually IS?

In this episode of the Math Chat Podcast, we’re talking about how to launch the school year with a true problem-solving mindset so students learn to think, persevere, discuss ideas, and trust themselves as mathematicians from day one.

Because students learn what math is by experiencing math.

If math is always watching, copying, and repeating, students learn math is about compliance. But when math becomes noticing, wondering, trying, discussing, revising, and making sense of ideas… students learn math is about thinking. And teacher friends… that changes everything.

In this episode, we’ll chat about:

•  the biggest mindset mistake teachers make at the beginning of the year 
•  how over-scaffolding can accidentally reduce student independence 
•  what students actually need to become problem solvers 
•  ways to normalize productive struggle in math class 
•  what classrooms full of thinkers really look and sound like 
•  practical shifts that help students build confidence, reasoning, and perseverance from the very beginning 

Mentioned in this episode

👩🏼‍🏫 Word Problem Workshop Teacher Training

🆓 5 Questions to Ask in Math Class to Get Students Thinking

📒 The BOOK! Word Problem Workshop: 5 Steps to Creating a Classroom of Problem Solvers 

📱 @hellomonamath on Instagram

A few favorite reminders from this episode:

•  “Students become problem solvers by solving problems. Not by watching us solve them.” 
•  “We have to stop treating struggle like an emergency.” 
•  “Your job is not to perform the math. Your job is to facilitate the thinking.” 
•  “Students learn what math is by experiencing math.” 

If you’re enjoying the Math Chat Podcast, leaving a quick review helps more teachers discover the show and build classrooms full of thinkers too.