Episode 196 - Repackaging Style Word Problems: Transforming Missing Part Word Problems
Release Date: 04/06/2025
Episode 216 - Why Math Practice Fails (And the Simple Fix)
The Build Math Minds Podcast
Do your students complete their math practice but forget everything by next week? There's a reason this happens—and a simple fix. Australian educator Michaela Epstein reveals why most practice only goes one direction (question → answer) and shares sorting & matching tasks that build real understanding. Learn how to add one metacognitive step that transforms mindless practice into flexible thinking. Plus, get details on the upcoming 10th Virtual Math Summit (Feb 28-March 1, 2026) with 34 sessions designed specifically for PreK-5 teachers and math coaches. Get any resources/links...
info_outline
Episode 215 - Why Balance in Teaching Isn't What You Think
The Build Math Minds Podcast
Are you exhausting yourself trying to make everything "equal" in your math instruction or math coaching? In this video, I'm sharing why balance in teaching isn't about equality - it's about creating a beautiful structure that meets the needs of those you are working with. Let's rethink what balance really means for elementary math teachers and coaches. Get any resources/links mentioned in this episode at
info_outline
Episode 214 - The REAL Purpose of Teaching Math (And Why It Matters More Than Ever)
The Build Math Minds Podcast
When your students ask "When will I ever use this?"—especially with AI doing calculations faster than any of us—how do you answer? In this episode, I share a conversation that just validated how I think about the purpose of teaching math. Spoiler: It's not about long division. It's about building thinkers, not calculators. You'll hear the difference between students who DO math versus students who THINK about math, why building flexible thinkers actually speeds up your teaching (not slows it down), and how to shift your instruction to focus on what really matters....
info_outline
Episode 213 - Seeing Multiplication - How Subitizing Builds Fact Fluency Through Relationships
The Build Math Minds Podcast
Are your students still counting on their fingers for 6×4? Transform how you teach multiplication facts with this game-changing approach to subitizing! In this episode, you'll discover how to move beyond the exhausting "times tables treadmill" that forces students to memorize 100 disconnected facts. Instead, learn how subitizing—the ability to instantly recognize quantities without counting—can help your students see multiplication as beautiful, connected relationships. You'll learn: Why traditional fact memorization fails (and what works better) The 4 Types of Multiplication Facts...
info_outline
Episode 212 - Subitizing With Fractions
The Build Math Minds Podcast
Discover how subitizing—the ability to instantly recognize quantities without counting—can transform your fraction instruction! While you may already use subitizing with your younger students, this episode reveals why it's equally powerful for upper elementary learners working with fractions. You'll learn what subitizing with fractions actually looks like and why keeping quantities small makes all the difference. We'll explore how subitizing helps students focus on relationships between quantities rather than getting bogged down in counting individual pieces, allowing them to use grouping...
info_outline
Episode 211 - Building Number Sense Without Adding to Your Plate
The Build Math Minds Podcast
You know that building number sense is crucial—but finding time for one more thing feels impossible. In this episode, discover how investing time in foundational number sense concepts actually saves you time in the long run. Learn two practical strategies for fitting this essential work into your already-packed day without adding anything extra: the 1% Better Approach and the Replace, Don't Add Strategy. You'll walk away with clear examples of which activities to stop doing and what to start doing instead, so your students develop flexible thinking about numbers and you spend less time...
info_outline
Episode 210 - Why Good Activities Aren't Enough - The Missing Piece That Makes Number Sense Work
The Build Math Minds Podcast
Are you doing all the "right" math activities—Number Talks, Number Strings, Quick Images—but still not seeing the progress you expected? In this episode, you'll discover why having great activities isn't enough, and what actually builds real number sense with your students. You'll learn the critical difference between facilitating activities to collect answers versus facilitating them to develop deep mathematical understanding. Through concrete examples, you'll see how the same activity can produce completely different results depending on how you guide the discussion, what questions you...
info_outline
Episode 209 - The Power of Integration - Why Teaching Number Sense Concepts Together Accelerates Learning
The Build Math Minds Podcast
Are you overwhelmed thinking about trying to add in number sense activities into your already jam-packed day? In this game-changing episode, learn how to transform your math instruction by integrating number sense concepts into ONE quick activity. The ‘unspoken rule’ of teaching math has been to keep each math skill in separate boxes that we teach in isolation. Teaching in this way is one of the causes of feeling overwhelmed when teaching math. In this episode, you’ll see how to integrate math concepts into one activity using an example of Number Strings. A single 10-minute...
info_outline
Episode 208 - The Number Relationships That Transform Math Understanding
The Build Math Minds Podcast
In this second episode of the math fluency series, we explore the four essential number relationships that help students move beyond counting and develop true mathematical thinking. Learn about spatial relationships, one/two more or less, benchmarks of 5 and 10, and part-part-whole thinking—and discover how these relationships evolve from PreK through fifth grade. We'll look at why students get stuck using inefficient strategies and how building these foundational relationships transforms them into flexible problem-solvers who can see multiple pathways to solutions. Plus, get practical...
info_outline
Episode 207 - The Math Foundations - What Elementary Students Need Before You Ever Have Them Operate with Numbers
The Build Math Minds Podcast
In this episode, I'm kicking off a series on building math fluency by diving into what I wish I had known when I first started teaching—the critical foundations students need BEFORE we ever ask them to add, subtract, multiply, or divide. Many students can DO the math, but they don't truly UNDERSTAND it. And the problem isn't that they need more practice—they're missing something much more fundamental. I'm sharing the four early numeracy concepts from the research of Douglas Clements and Julie Sarama: subitizing (instantly recognizing quantities without counting), verbal counting...
info_outlineIn this second installment of our three-part series on Missing Part Activities, we explore 'repackaging tasks' - a powerful approach to traditional missing part word problems. While educators are familiar with finding unknown parts in word problems like “Christina has $12, she spends some now she has $7. How much did she spend?”, repackaging tasks push mathematical thinking further by having students redistribute quantities across equivalent expressions. Through practical examples in both multiplication and addition contexts, I demonstrate how these problems help students develop a deeper understanding of equality, number properties, and flexible thinking strategies. Learn how incorporating these enhanced word problems alongside your regular curriculum builds stronger mathematical minds.
Part 1 is Episode 195 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZZKctj2pns