How I found my way back to loving teaching math

By Kristy McElravy
8th Grade Teacher
Bethel School District
Eugene, OR

At the start of the school year I hated math,” one of my 8th grade students wrote in an end of year letter. I agreed with her. At the start of the year, I had even written a letter to our HR department requesting a transfer out of my current position. In hindsight, I realize I almost missed out on my most joyful, collaborative, and engaging year of teaching. Almost.

I’ve been teaching some level of middle school math since 2006, and in short, there have been good years and not-so-good years. Teaching will always have its challenges, but the last three years of my career had felt nearly impossible. The energy in my classroom was lacking, and students weren’t engaged in the content. Moreover, most of their standardized test scores were showing they were two or more grade levels below where they ought to be. Many of my students didn’t complete the work, and they certainly weren’t willing to talk to each other about math. I desperately tried to blame COVID, the students, social media, or anything for the lack of learning. I began to doubt my abilities as a teacher, questioning whether I still had what it takes to inspire the young people in front of me. I knew a change needed to be made.

First, I tried changing the environment. I purchased nine used dining table sets, hung twinkle lights, decorated bulletin boards; it was as close to a Pinterest classroom as I was ever going to get. It may surprise you, but...it didn’t work. Next, I worked too many hours a day trying to create in-class interventions. I pored over test scores and made groups, schedules and practices to fit the wide range of needs in my class. Guess what? That didn’t work, either.

Then, in the fall of 2023, my school district, Bethel, in Eugene, Oregon, adopted a new math curriculum. I felt a renewed sense of hope as I attended my first training session with MidSchoolMath to learn about Core Curriculum. Over 18 years of teaching different curricula, I’d never seen anything like it. I had also never attended a professional development where my colleagues were actively engaged the entire time!

MidSchoolMath starts each lesson with a filmed short story, called The Math Simulator, which gives them a shared goal of solving a real world problem. I was totally in love with the curriculum when I walked away that day. I had just spent an entire day’s professional development being engaged and collaborative, persevering and discussing math; everything I wanted for my students.

My new set of 8th graders showed up the following week to begin a brand-new school year and I started rolling out Core Curriculum lessons. Right away students were captivated by the filmed narratives in The Math Simulator and enjoyed finding success on the Simulation Trainer. However, in the midst of this new and engaging curriculum, my students weren’t collaborating. I tried so hard to get them to talk; think-pair-share, write it out and then share, type it, etc. I could not get them to talk! It was crickets! The silence and the resistance made me feel like all of my efforts had been in vain. It must be me, I thought. That's when I hastily wrote the letter asking to be transferred to elementary school. The previous years had taken their toll and I desperately wanted to give up.

It turns out it's actually pretty difficult to get transferred in October, and so I was going to have to tough out another year. As I let this reality sink in, MidSchoolMath extended an intriguing opportunity to me. They wanted to film in my classroom for a week! My thoughts raced, “seriously? My classroom? I can’t even get these kids to speak to one another!”

Despite my initial hesitance, I decided to meet with Dr. Scott Laidlaw, and I told him immediately:

1) I have impostor syndrome, why me?

2) MY STUDENTS DON’T TALK

3) Are you creating what not to do videos?

Scott assured me it was going to be great and gave me some homework; he told me to read: Building Thinking Classrooms (BTC).

I started reading Peter Liljedahl’s research describing 14 practices to increase thinking and engagement in the classroom. In addition to the BTC practices, I explored Core Curriculum’s Detailed Lesson Plans. These held a wealth of knowledge; I was able to enrich vocabulary practices, apply mathematical language routines and utilize the exclusive MSM mathematical practice tips.

My students returned from the weekend and found the classroom transformed in its de-fronted state. Nervously, I shared that they’d be working in random groups of three and hit the shuffle class button built into Core Curriculum. As the students clustered around their vertical non-permanent surfaces (VNPSs), I used the script from BTC to introduce The Tax Collector lesson of The Math Simulator. Visibly random groups, in my opinion, is one of the best ways to enhance learning. Students are given permission to stop playing the role they’ve always conformed to, and as a teacher, you make a trust deposit with your students that they can do important thinking with anyone in the classroom.

I knew we were onto something extraordinary that first day. As the dismissal bell rang, students were jotting down parts of the task in order to continue working in their other classes (sorry, not sorry to my colleagues). More telling was the participation from the handful of students who had never spoken in my class, and who were now actually championing the thinking task.

I found that, truly, the entire Core Curriculum works great alongside the 14 BTC practices. MSM’s Teacher Instruction component along with BTC’s When, Where, and How Tasks Are Given in a Thinking Classroom, work together exceptionally well. Because Core Curriculum has taken special care of Teacher Instruction day to write a full script and create slide decks with precise visuals and video versions, I have so many options to think about how tasks are given. Instead of setting my students up to mimic work, I can use these resources to give some parts of instruction verbally at VNPSs or share rich visuals with my students.

Now, my students were talking to each other! Not just talking - they were talking about math! More still, they were thinking about math, collaborating with one another and constructing paths towards solving problems. As the year progressed, math was a class that students wanted to be a part of. Joy radiated through the room. Students were excited to see what the latest story in The Math Simulator would be about, and these stories brought math to life and bonded our classroom.

They were thrilled to see who they would be working with in their random group of three at their VNPSs. They were eager to witness each other's perseverance. Our classroom was a joyful, thinking, safe, engaging,

collaborative space where students wanted to be. This was a place I

wanted to be. This is exactly what I had pictured when the school year began.

I wasn’t the problem and neither were my students. As Liljedahl says, we just needed a reboot. Core Curriculum and BTC transformed my classroom.

My student concluded her letter by writing, “...but you have changed my perspective on math. Now, because of you, I enjoy and look forward to math class. You not only helped me in math, but you helped me with my social skills and flexibility. The new seating and the overall unpredictability of this class helped me more than you can imagine.” As I read and reflected on her words, I realized the transformation wasn’t just hers - it was mine, too. Together, with the help of MidSchoolMath and Building Thinking Classrooms, we had found our way back to loving math.

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