Math Teacher Lounge
Math Teacher Lounge is a biweekly podcast created specifically for K–12 math educators. In each episode, co-hosts Bethany Lockhart Johnson (@lockhartedu) and Dan Meyer (@ddmeyer) chat with expert guests, taking a deep dive into the math and educational topics you care about.
Join the Math Teacher Lounge Facebook group to continue the conversation, view exclusive content, interact with fellow educators, participate in giveaways, and more!
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Join our community to connect with thousands of other math educators—and be the first to hear when new episodes drop!
We’ll also share new free resources for your classroom every month!
Current episode
S5-05. Math technology & hacks for math anxiety: research-based tips for caregivers
We’ve been very lucky to have so many prolific and brilliant researchers on this season of Math Teacher Lounge, and our next guest is no exception.
Listen as we sit down with Dr. Marjorie Schaeffer to discuss what causes math anxiety, math hacks, and how the right math technology can make an incredible impact in children and caregivers coping with math anxiety.
Listen today and don’t forget to grab your MTL study guide to track your learning and make the most of this episode!
Available episodes
Listen to our available episodes below!
Season 5
Listen to Season 5!
Season 5, Episode 04.
Coaching tips for managing math anxiety in teachers
So far this season, we’ve investigated math anxiety in students and its causes with passionate researchers and curriculum experts, including one from Sesame Workshop! In this episode, we hear from Dr. Heidi Sabnani, consultant, coach, and co-host of Math 4 All, as she gives us research-based tips for teachers who are facing math anxiety themselves! Listen as we discuss Heidi’s own math anxiety and journey through math, the effects teacher math anxiety can have on instruction, and practices educators can implement right away for overcoming math anxiety.
Season 5, Episode 03.
Cultivating a joy of learning with Sesame Workshop
In this episode, listen as we chat with Dr. Rosemarie Truglio, senior vice president of curriculum and content for Sesame Workshop! Continuing our theme of math anxiety this season, we sat down with Dr. Truglio to chat about Sesame Street and her thoughts on how to spread a growth mindset to young children and put them on course to academic achievement and long-term success.
Season 5, Episode 02.
Uncovering the causes of math anxiety
We’re continuing our season theme of math anxiety, going beyond the basics, diving deeper into what causes it, and how we can help students move forward. In this episode, we talk to Dr. Erin Maloney from the University of Ottawa to better understand what’s actually happening in the brain when a person experiences math anxiety, and how we can take steps to shift student mindsets in a positive direction.
Investigating math anxiety in the classroom
Season 5, Episode 01.
Investigating math anxiety in the classroom
This season, we’ll be talking all about math anxiety: what it is, what causes it, and what we can do to prevent or ease this anxiety in the math classroom. To launch this very important theme, in this episode, we sit down with Dr. Gerardo Ramirez, associate professor of educational psychology at Ball State University.
As someone who’s been studying math anxiety for more than a decade, he had some interesting research and advice to share on why math anxiety affects so many students (and adults), and tips for how to start reducing it.
Winter Wrap-Up episodes
Listen to the Winter Wrap-Up!
Ideas to build math fluency
Winter Wrap-Up, Episode 03.
Ideas to build math fluency
In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Valerie Henry to talk about math fluency and what that means for students. Listen as we dig into the research, hear Val’s three-part definition of fluency, and explore her five principles for developing it.
Mathematizing Children’s Literature
Winter Wrap-Up, Episode 02.
Mathematizing Children’s Literature
While we’re hard at work producing the exciting fifth season of Math Teacher Lounge: The Podcast, we’re continuing to share some of our favorite conversations from our first four seasons. This time around, we’re revisiting our popular episode that connected literacy and math!
In this episode, we sit down with Allison Hintz and Antony Smith, authors of Mathematizing Children’s Literature, to talk about what would happen if we were to approach children’s literature, and life, through a math lens–and how we can apply those same techniques to classroom teaching!
Problem solving and facilitating classroom discussions
Winter Wrap-Up, Episode 01.
Problem solving and facilitating classroom discussions
In this episode, In this episode, hosts Bethany Lockhart Johnson and Dan Meyer are looking back at the amazing speakers and conversations from past episodes and sharing some of their favorites!
First up: A season 2 double feature of The Power of Problem-Solving with Fawn Nguyen and Facilitating Classroom Discussions with authors Christy Hermann Thompson and Kassia Omohundro Wedekind.
Fawn is a specialist on Amplify’s advanced math team, and is a former math teacher and math coach—so she knows her stuff! You’ll hear about her five criteria for good problem-solving problems, and the power and importance of exposing all students to problem solving.
Then, we’ll move into Bethany and Dan’s conversation with Christy and Kassia to learn how hands-down conversations allow students to become better listeners and the steps you can take to implement hands-down conversations in your classroom.
Season 4
Listen to Season 4!
Cultivating mathematical joy
Season 4, Episode 05.
Cultivating mathematical joy
In this episode, Bethany and Dan explore mathematical joy while visiting a math teacher conference in Southern California. During this program, Dan describes his attempts to cultivate mathematical joy in his own school-aged kids.
Dear Math
Season 4, Episode 04.
Dear Math
In this episode, Bethany and Dan chat with Sarah Strong and Gigi Butterfield, authors of Dear Math: Why Kids Hate Math and What Teachers Can Do About It. Listen in as they chat about their experiences with finding joy in math, and how their passion helped them tell the stories of other students’ journeys to find (or not find!) joy in math.
LIVE from NCTM with Bethany and Dan
Season 4, Episode 03.
LIVE from NCTM with Bethany and Dan
In this episode, co-hosts Bethany Lockhart Johnson and Dan Meyer are LIVE with more than one hundred Math Teacher Lounge listeners at the recent National Council of Teachers of Mathematics conference. Listen in as they answer the pressing question: Who is the best teacher in film or television?
Bethany and Dan share their math biographies
Season 4, Episode 02.
Bethany and Dan share their math biographies
In this episode, co-hosts Bethany Lockhart Johnson and Dan Meyer get personal and share their “math bios”—their early experiences with math and how those experiences turned them into the educators they are today.
Joyful math teaching with Kanchan Kant
Season 4, Episode 01.
Joyful math teaching with Kanchan Kant
In this episode, Kanchan Kant joins Bethany Lockhart Johnson and Dan Meyer to discuss the key, early investment she makes at the start of the school year to ensure her math teaching will be joyful for herself and for her students for the rest of the year.
Season 3
Listen to Season 3!
Dan and Bethany Take on Twitter!
Season 6, Episode 06.
Dan and Bethany Take on Twitter!
In this episode, Bethany and Dan take a look at several tweets that caught the most fire on Twitter during the 2021-2022 school year. The pair answer questions about viral teaching methods, the best teaching advice you can give in three words, and if students should use pencils or pens in class. Join them as they take on those questions and several others in a fast-paced episode.
Developing an asset orientation with Lani Horn
Season 3, Episode 05.
Developing an asset orientation with Lani Horn
In this episode, math education professor Lani Horn shares with us what it means to have an asset orientation towards students, contrasting it with a deficit orientation, and helping Bethany and Dan understand the many ways students experience one or the other. Their conversation hit both high notes and low notes and included a challenge that Bethany and Dan both found extremely valuable for helping a teacher develop an asset orientation towards their students.
Ideas to build math fluency with Valerie Henry, Graham Fletcher, and Tracy Zager
Season 3, Episode 04.
Ideas to build math fluency with Valerie Henry, Graham Fletcher, and Tracy Zager
In this episode, Bethany and Dan are joined by three guests to better understand fluency and how to make its approach fun. Dr. Val Henry shares her three-part definition of fluency and her five principles for developing it. Additionally, Tracy Zager and Graham Fletcher join Bethany and Dan to better understand fluency through a lens of equity and using multimedia as a tool.
Math professional learning experiences with Elham Kazemi
Season 4, Episode 03.
Math professional learning experiences with Elham Kazemi
In this episode, Bethany Lockhart Johnson and Dan Meyer chat with Elham Kazemi to explore how to look at teaching as a collaborative experiment. Moving more toward analyzing student thinking and how that contributes to teaching itself, leaves more space for one’s own understanding of math to grow throughout your career. When one revises their teaching based on the data we’re collecting from students and peers, this allows us to be both teachers and learners forever.
Mathematizing Children’s Literature with Allison Hintz and Antony Smith
Season 3, Episode 02.
Mathematizing Children’s Literature with Allison Hintz and Antony Smith
In this episode, Mathematizing Children’s Literature authors Allison Hintz and Antony Smith join Bethany Lockhart Johnson and Dan Meyer to discuss what would happen if we were to approach children’s literature, and life, through a math lens – and how we can apply those techniques to classroom teaching.
Making math viral with Howie Hua
Season 4, Episode 01.
Making math viral with Howie Hua
In this episode, Howie Hua (you may know him from his viral TikTok videos) joins Bethany Lockhart Johnson and Dan Meyer to discuss making math accessible for students through multiple social media platforms, creating an engaging space for students to share their ideas.
Season 2
Watch Season 2!
Math potluck favorites
Bethany Lockhart Johnson and Dan Meyer are hosting a Math Teacher Lounge potluck. Instead of bringing a casserole (or a store-bought item passed off as homemade), Bethany and Dan are bringing you a cornucopia of math topics. Be sure to join our Facebook group (facebook.com/groups/mathteacherlounge) as we will be announcing some exciting changes in the new year!
The power of problem solving with Fawn Nguyen
Rio School District Teacher on Special Assignment and Amplify Math advisor Fawn Nguyen joins Bethany and Dan to discuss the power of problem solving. Hear from Fawn about:
- Her five criteria for good problem solving problems.
- How problem solving should involve all students.
- The power of exposing all students to problem solving.
- And much more!
Hands Down, Speak Out | Facilitating classroom discussions
Authors Christy Hermann Thompson and Kassia Omohundro Wedekind chat with Bethany and Dan about facilitating student conversations in the math and literacy classrooms. Watch the video to learn how hands down conversations allow students to become better listeners and learn about steps you can take to implement hands down conversations in your classroom.
Be sure to head over to our Facebook group to participate in our book club study with Christy and Kassia.
An asset-based return to school | Math teaching ideas
A lot of great learning occurred over the last school year. Watch Bethany and Dan’s conversation with math educators (Zak Champagne, Natali I. Gaxiola, Howie Hua, Janaki Nagarajan, Brian Shay, and Dolores Torres) to hear what learning, practices, and ideas they want to bring with them to the 2021-2022 school year.
Season 1
Watch Season 1!
Episode 6, Segment 1: Math in public with Molly Daley and Chris Nho
Where is the most unusual place you have seen math in the last year? In this segment of Math Teacher Lounge, Public Math’s Molly Daley (@mdaley15) and Chris Nho (@nhoskee) join Bethany Lockhart and Dan Meyer to discuss all the unique places one can find math, including a laundromat, to elicit and invite math conversations.
Learn more about Public Math by visiting public-math.org.
Episode 6, Segment 2: Math in public with Molly Daley and Chris Nho
Molly Daley and Chris Nho are back in the lounge to answer this question. In this segment they join Bethany and Dan for a mathematizing public places game. Watch the video to join in the game and see how you can spot and make sense of math in public spaces.
Learn more about Public Math by visiting public-math.org.
Episode 6, Segment 3: Math in public with Omo Moses
MathTalk’s CEO Omo Moses enters the Math Teacher Lounge to chat with Bethany Lockhart Johnson and Dan Meyer. Watch their conversation to learn about how communities can create positive math experiences for all.
Episode 5: Slow reveal in an 8th grade classroom
In the latest segment of the Math Teacher Lounge series, Dan Meyer (@ddmeyer) substitute teaches an 8th grade class. Students interact with a few activities authored by Dan using the slow reveal described first in the Power of Data Science segment.
Curious how Dan found his way to this class? Our Math Teacher Lounge Facebook group made it happen! Join the group today and catch up on previous segments and stay in-the-know with all things MTL.
Episode 4, Segment 1: Wrong and brilliant
Is there a different and better way to teach rightness and wrongness in math class? In this segment, Bethany and Dan use a Desmos activity to discuss how wrong and brilliant answers can reveal student understanding and inform your instruction.
Episode 4, Segment 2: Wrong and brilliant with Mandy Jansen
University of Delaware professor and author Mandy Jansen (@mandymathed) joins Bethany Lockhart Johnson and Dan Meyer to continue the discussion around wrong and brilliant and the idea of rough draft math.
Episode 4, Segment 3: Wrong and brilliant with Megan Franke
The conversation around wrong and brilliant in the classroom concludes with UCLA Professor Megan Franke (@meganlfranke). Professor Franke discusses with Bethany (@lockhartedu) and Dan (@ddmeyer) the amazing things students are doing in math (in a pandemic!) and more.
Episode 3: The power of data science with Jenna Laib
Curious how data science can reveal profound noticings in your math class? Special guest Jenna Laib joins Bethany Lockhart Johnson and Dan Meyer to discuss this and the power of data science in the classroom.
Episode 2: Effective and ineffective technology in the math classroom
Bethany Lockhart Johnson and Dan Meyer discuss technology in the math classroom with the following special guests: Idil Abdulkadir, Robert Berry, Lauren Carr, Steve Leinwand, Francis Su, and Theresa Wills.
Episode 1: Welcome to MTL, let’s talk distance learning!
In this episode, Bethany and Dan talk distance learning. You’ll learn a little about what’s in store for series subscribers, listen to your hosts figure out the topic du jour by playing a game, and hear from Idil Abdulkadir as the group discusses real vs. fake Zoom norms.
About your hosts
Learn more about your hosts!
Bethany Lockhart Johnson
Bethany Lockhart Johnson is an elementary school educator and author. Prior to serving as a multiple-subject teacher, she taught theater and dance, and now loves incorporating movement and creative play into her classroom. Bethany is committed to helping students find joy in discovering their identities as mathematicians. In addition to her role as a full-time classroom teacher, Bethany is a Student Achievement Partners California Core Advocate and is active in national and local mathematics organizations. Bethany is a member of the Illustrative Mathematics Elementary Curriculum Steering Committee and serves as a consultant, creating materials to support families during distance learning.
Dan Meyer
Dan Meyer taught high school math to students who didn’t like high school math. He has advocated for better math instruction on CNN, Good Morning America, Everyday With Rachel Ray, and TED.com. He earned his doctorate from Stanford University in math education and is currently the Dean of Research at Desmos, where he explores the future of math, technology, and learning. Dan has worked with teachers internationally and in all 50 United States and was named one of Tech & Learning’s 30 Leaders of the Future.
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Facebook groups
Join in the Math Teacher Lounge conversation by joining our Facebook group or by checking out our Facebook community group!
Join in the Math Teacher Lounge conversation by following us on Instagram @Amplify.education.
Desmos Classroom
Desmos Classroom is a teaching and learning platform offering a collection of free digital lessons and lesson building tools. Learn more about Desmos Classroom on Twitter and on Facebook.
Resources
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