Send us a text Discourse routines are a big part of many classrooms (and debates). However, what role does listening play and is there a way to teach it? Our “Hot Seat” guest today is here arguing for the statement: Schools Should Teach Listening Skills You can find out more about The Listening Path . You can contact Christine Miles on her website . And check out her book: What is It Costing You Not to Listen? Listened to the episode? Now, it’s your turn to share! Go to our BlueSky: @DebateMath ...
Jun 30, 2025•24 min•Season 4Ep. 41
Send us a text It’s time for another round of Summer Hot Seats! You may have heard talk about math anxiety and helping students to build confidence in math skills. But our guests today want to focus on the idea of math identity. What is it? And how do we foster it? So for this Hot Seat debate, we have two educators here to share why they think: Teachers MUST cultivate a positive math identity. Brian mentioned the book: The Impact of Identity in K-8 Mathematics You can find Rolanda Baldwin on Lin...
Jun 12, 2025•41 min•Season 4Ep. 40
Send us a text Let’s talk about curriculum resources! Whether you are using a textbook that you chose or your district chose for you, many of you have been asked to use the resource with fidelity. But what exactly is fidelity, and is it a problem to create our own lessons? How much should teachers be expected to use what is included in a curriculum resource? Well that sounds like a great question for debate! So we have a panel of 3 guests today to share their thoughts on the question: Should we ...
May 15, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Season 4Ep. 39
Send us a text Is teaching math the same as teaching reading? Have you ever attended a PD or read about a strategy that works for teaching both reading and were asked to use it in math as well? There are times when these two pedagogies can overlap…but should they? Today, we have a very special “family” episode for you. We are going to hear a husband and wife debate it out on this very topic, answering the question: Should We Be Comparing the Teaching of Reading to the Teaching of Math? You can f...
Apr 17, 2025•47 min•Season 4Ep. 38
Send us a text Math is full of algorithms. These are generalized procedures or sets of rules to be followed in solving problems of a given type. From the standard algorithms for subtraction and long division in elementary school all the way to the distance formula and the quadratic formula in high school, algorithms are a part of the mathematics curriculum. However, some may ask: should we be teaching students these methods, or should we Dump the Algorithms? Pam Harris’s website: mathisfigureout...
Mar 20, 2025•59 min•Season 4Ep. 2
Send us a text How narrow should we make the grade bands for teacher certification? When teachers get their certification in a state, it is usually for a specific subject and/or grade band. For instance, a teacher may get a certification in K-8 Elementary Teaching or 7-12 Math Instruction. These bands vary by state and change over time. So what is the ideal set of grade bands? Listen in as our debaters take on the resolution: Should We Narrow the Grade Bands? Gabriel mentioned the O’Mellan resea...
Feb 20, 2025•57 min•Season 4Ep. 36
Send us a text As we’ve done in the past, we wanted to end the year by bringing together a few of our guests from past debates for a roundtable to reflect on the past debates and also engage in a discussion around a central question. This year’s question is: How do we help students feel that they belong in math class? Follow Melissa Dean on Twitter & Instagram: @Dean_of_math Check out Melissa’s Blog: Dean of Math Blog Follow Liesl McConchie on Twitter (and Bluesky): @LieslMcconchie Check out...
Dec 19, 2024•1 hr 16 min•Season 3Ep. 35
Send us a text At the time of this recording, we are in an election year and political ads are everywhere. As we get closer to November 2024, it is harder and harder to avoid. Now, while you may not think of math as a course that intersects with political topics, teachers may find it coming up in many ways. So for this episode we gathered a panel of educators to give us advice on this, addressing the question: Should politics be avoided in math class? Follow Dee Crescitelli on Social Media: @dcr...
Oct 15, 2024•1 hr•Season 3Ep. 34
Send us a text The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics , or NCTM, is the world's largest mathematics education organization. While many math teachers are members of this organization and may attend its national conference, others do not. Maybe you are someone who has wondered whether or not to join? We wanted to explore this idea more in our latest debate: Is an NCTM membership worthwhile? Follow Desiree Harrison on all platforms: @Kidsmathtalk Follow Bobson Wong on Twitter/BlueSky/Insta...
Sep 19, 2024•1 hr 14 min•Season 3Ep. 33
Send us a text For our final “Hot Seat” of 2024, we wanted to lean into the topic of data science. It’s starting to become a course offered in high schools, but some may wonder if it is a rigorous pathway for students. Is Calculus still the most rigorous course for high school students? We want to hear from our guests from DataScience4Everyone, asking them: Is Data Science as rigorous as any other advanced math course? Follow Lee Ellen Harmer via LinkedIn or on Twitter: @LeeEllenHarmer Follow Ma...
Aug 22, 2024•43 min•Season 3Ep. 32
Send us a text Do you know what Problem-Based Lessons are? And more importantly, do you think they are important? For this Hot Seat, we hear from educators Kyle Pearce and Jon Orr on why they think: Problem Based Lessons are Essential. Follow the Make Math Moments Podcast Check out Problem-Based Lessons on: makemathmoments.com Take the report at makemathmoments.com/report Follow Kyle on Twitter: @MathletePearce Follow Jon on Twitter: @MrOrr_geek Listened to the episode? Now, it’s your turn to sh...
Aug 08, 2024•45 min•Season 3Ep. 31
Send us a text For this next Hot Seat debate, we talk about the complicated decision to leave education. With many teachers leaving or considering leaving the profession, we brought on two former educators–Laila Nur & Justin Aion–to debate the question: Is it OK to quit teaching? Follow Laila on Twitter: @mslailanur or check out her website: www.mslailanur.com Follow Justin on Twitter: @JustinAion Listened to the episode? Now, it’s your turn to share! Go to our BlueSky: @DebateMath to share ...
Jul 17, 2024•57 min•Season 3Ep. 30
Send us a text Welcome to our very first Hot Seat debate! In this debate we hear from Sunil Singh and explore his idea that: Math is Dead! Follow Sunil on Twitter: @Mathgarden Check out Sunil’s Website: www.mathsings.com Listened to the episode? Now, it’s your turn to share! Go to our BlueSky: @DebateMath to share your thoughts. Don’t forget to check out the video version of this podcast on our YouTube channel! Keep up with all the latest info by following @DebateMath or going to debatemath.com ...
Jul 03, 2024•37 min•Season 3Ep. 29
Send us a text You may have heard news of schools and districts that are switching to a 4 day school week. There are claims of improved teacher retention or reduced costs. However, this is a highly debated topic. So we invited four guests to share their thoughts on the debate: Let's Switch to a 4-Day School Week! Resources Referenced in this Episode Follow Jodie on Twitter or LinkedIn: @BaileyJodie Follow Shelby on Twitter or LinkedIn: @Sneffleupagus Follow Brandon on Twitter or LinkedIn: @MrRob...
Jun 13, 2024•50 min•Season 3Ep. 28
Send us a text Have you heard of the Science of Math? It is a movement in the math education world, which aims to use research to inform best practices. However, there has been some push back to this movement. Critics question what and how research was quoted and used. This controversy sounded like a topic for the Debate Math Podcast. Come hear out both sides! Resources Referenced in this Episode Read more about the Science of Math movement on their website: thescienceofmath.com Follow Sarah Pow...
May 02, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Season 3Ep. 27
Send us a text This month's episode is a special recording of two LIVE debates at the OMCA 2024 Retreat. Listen as thoughtful math leaders discuss two topics and answer questions from the audience! The first topic is: We need to have common evaluations. The second debate topic is: Teachers spend too much time on direct instruction. Follow up with our debaters: Follow Angela Schaefer on Twitter: @SchaeferAng Follow Cherry Perentesis on Twitter: @CPerentesis Follow Kelly Madigan on Twitter: @kmads...
Mar 28, 2024•50 min•Season 3Ep. 26
Send us a text Let’s talk about textbooks! Some teachers are handed a textbook and are instructed to follow it. Others may have never had a textbook offered to them. If you are given a textbook, should you be following it? And how much? And if you don’t have one, should you start? Tune in as four thoughtful educators debate the resolution: Teachers should follow the textbook. Resources Referenced in this Episode The book Pi of Life was mentioned. Graspable Math Open Middle Math Same But Differen...
Feb 22, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Season 3Ep. 25
Send us a text Welcome to Season 3! Listen in as Chris & Rob talk about the upcoming season! Listened to the episode? Now, it’s your turn to share! Go to our BlueSky: @DebateMath to share your thoughts. Don’t forget to check out the video version of this podcast on our YouTube channel! Keep up with all the latest info by following @DebateMath or going to debatemath.com . Follow us @Rob_Baier & @cluzniak . And don’t forget to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts!...
Jan 30, 2024•11 min•Season 3Ep. 300
Send us a text We wanted to end the year by bringing together a few of our guests from past debates for a roundtable to reflect on the past debates and also engage in a discussion around the question: How do we bring joy to math class? With politics around education and teaching so often turning negative in the news, we wanted to talk more about joy with our guests. And we hope it will lead to an enlightening discussion with our group today. Resources Referenced in this Episode Essay: The Having...
Dec 07, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Season 2Ep. 24
Send us a text If you know the Common Core, then you have probably seen the 8 Standards of Math Practice (or SMPs as we refer to them). Here at the DebateMath podcast, we are HUGE fans of SMP#3 - Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others. But we wanted to take some time to highlight some of the other SMPs. So we reached out to educators asking for their favorites, asking: What is the best SMP? Resources Referenced in this Episode Follow Paige on Twitter & Mathstadon: @M...
Nov 02, 2023•55 min•Season 2Ep. 23
Send us a text Earlier this season we had a lovely debate on whether or not to Ditch Algebra 2. During that debate, our four guests tangentially expressed four very different viewpoints on Geometry. We thought it would be a great idea to get these guests back together to hear more of their thoughts on Geometry. Should we keep it? Is it important? We want to dig deeper into this with our debate. So, we have 2 teams of 2 debating the resolution: Ditch Geometry. Resources Referenced in this Episode...
Oct 05, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Season 2Ep. 22
Send us a text Join us as we take a break from our usual format for a special Back to School episode! Here at the DebateMath podcast, we highly value discourse in math. On the podcast, we want to elevate the voices of teachers and students in our episodes, and we also want that for our classrooms. We want to encourage student discourse in math class. So for this special episode, we asked a handful of educators for their “quick advice” on how to get students talking in math class. We did a handfu...
Sep 07, 2023•46 min•Season 2Ep. 21
Send us a text Math class is so often associated with pencil and paper work–students working through steps of symbolic manipulation. But what role does or should technology have in math class? Our world is constantly changing, and how do we adapt to that? From calculators, to apps, to ChatGPT, the resources available keep growing. So how or what should we allow? How can we help students use technology wisely? In our latest episode, we are not debating the inclusion of technology, but we are disc...
Aug 03, 2023•52 min•Season 2Ep. 20
Send us a text Math exams are the typical culminating assessment at the end of the unit or the end of a semester, but what if we didn’t give exams? What if we instead spent that time on an alternative form of assessment. What would that look like? What are the options? In this episode, we have 3 awesome educators each sharing a different way to alternatively assess students. Resources Referenced in this Episode More on Dr. Gholdy Muhammad's can be found here Follow Coach Victor Hicks on Twitter:...
Jul 06, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Season 2Ep. 19
Send us a text It’s final exam season! So we thought it would be a good time to get into a debate about tests. Should we continue using paper tests, or is it time to give tests on computers? Which way is easier? Which method is best for teaching and learning? Should we stick with paper or is it time to say: Let’s Get Digital! Tune in as four educators share their thoughts on this debate! Resources Referenced in this Episode More information Common Core Standards of Math Practice (including #5) c...
Jun 01, 2023•54 min•Season 2Ep. 18
Send us a text Let’s talk about pacing guides. What are they? Why do we have them? How much should we follow them? This topic has caused quite the stir in many schools among colleagues. Some educators believe pacing guides may not be effective, or even necessary! While others believe pacing guides are needed so we stay on track to cover all of our grade-level content. Check out this great debate about pacing guides, featuring Hilary Kreisberg, Farshid Safi, Kwame Sarfo-Mensah and Berkeley Everet...
May 04, 2023•58 min•Season 2Ep. 5
Send us a text Have you heard that there’s is a new AP math exam: AP PreCalc. Yes, the College Board is planning to offer an AP PreCalc exam, starting in the spring of 2024. So should you offer an AP PreCalculus course next school year? What is on the test? What’s more, the College Board has been involved in some controversial headlines lately. The politics of the College Board are intertwined with our discussion about offering an AP PreCalc course. Join us as three passionate educators share th...
Apr 06, 2023•58 min•Season 2Ep. 16
Send us a text Suppose some students do not do well on a test or a quiz. What’s the best way for students to improve and then show their improved understanding? They could correct their mistakes for credit or set a date for a retake. Which way do you want students to show mastery? Listen in as our teams discuss what they think is the best way forward in this month’s debate! Connect with People from This Episode: Follow Julie Saller on Twitter: @edtechmathteach , or search for Julie Ann on Facebo...
Mar 09, 2023•55 min•Season 2Ep. 15
Send us a text Let’s talk about Algebra 2! What is it? Why is it important? And most importantly, should we continue to require it? Plenty of high school students struggle in what we call Algebra 2, and many ask the question “when are we ever going to use this?” Some schools and districts now offer alternative pathways for students in their high school math options. So, that leads us to this month’s debate resolution: Ditch Algebra 2 Resources Referenced in this Episode More information on Ohio’...
Feb 09, 2023•57 min•Season 2Ep. 14
Send us a text We’ve heard the question of the relevance of high school math come up in both our podcast and in many conversations with educators. Do our students need high school math? Is it important to their future careers? What topics should we really emphasize or focus on? In this episode, we speak with four young professionals who are not math educators and ask them the question: Is the math we learn in high school relevant to their future? Follow Alex on Instagram: @alex_hansen17 Follow E...
Jan 12, 2023•54 min•Season 2Ep. 1
