In this episode, Mark Alcorn (educator, coach, and founder of the Sum of It All podcast) invites us to rethink something deceptively simple: goals in math classrooms. Rather than treating goals as compliance-driven statements or posted objectives, Mark challenges us to see them as powerful drivers of student thinking, engagement, and agency.

Mark explores how, even when we don’t name goals explicitly, they still exist and shape classroom experiences. He unpacks common barriers (“bad warm-up bands”) that keep goals from being meaningful, including performance-focused language, overly broad standards, and goals written only for teachers.

CONTACT / RESOURCES

Mark Alcorn

mark@mark4math.com

Instagram: mark4math

Linkedin.com/in/mark4math

LEARN with the California Mathematics Council…

✚ Join us in our monthly Inspiring Math Minds webinars and get on our mailing list to be notified:

https://www.cmcmath.org/cmc-central/virtual-learning-series

✚ Visit the California Math Council website:

https://www.cmcmath.org/

✚ Become a member of the California Math Council:

https://camc.memberclicks.net/member-info-join-renew

SUBSCRIBE!

✚ YouTube (video & audio):

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvolZqLMhJmlKZXVW-HMWHmGsXXaeH09f

✚ Spotify (video & audio):

https://open.spotify.com/show/7A17FvtyV8FiFJ0SWoTiQm?si=44d81611497e4c7a

✚ Apple Podcast (audio only):

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/math-on-the-rocks/id1728772089

We all got together to chat some more about mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT) and why it is so important for teachers to have it. Who is responsible for supporting teachers in their development of MKT? When is it supposed to happen? We have more questions than answers in this episode. We know that answer is in part…DOING MATH TOGETHER. When teachers do math together, this is when we develop our MKT.

RESOURCES…

✚ Register for our FREE webinar series: https://theothermath.com/index.php/2026/03/30/our-next-inspiring-math-minds-webinars/

✚ High-Quality Instructional Materials: https://edushare.ing/HQIM

✚ What is Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching? https://edushare.ing/whatismkt

✚ California Mathematics Framework describes HQIM in Chapter 13

https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/ma/cf/

Register for our conferences:

✚ Check out our conferences here:

https://www.cmcmath.org/conferences

Learn about our monthly webinars and get on our mailing list to be notified:

https://www.cmcmath.org/cmc-central/virtual-learning-series

As always, we hope you visit the California Math Council website:

https://www.cmcmath.org/

SUBSCRIBE!

✚ YouTube (video & audio):

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvolZqLMhJmlKZXVW-HMWHmGsXXaeH09f

✚ Spotify (video & audio):

https://open.spotify.com/show/7A17FvtyV8FiFJ0SWoTiQm?si=44d81611497e4c7a

✚ Apple Podcast (audio only):

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/math-on-the-rocks/id1728772089

This is our final podcast episode before our symposium. So we spend a little time talking about how cool we are…and why folks should attend our symposium. Then our main topic is all about Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching (MKT), why teachers need MKT, and how to spread & scale building teacher capacity for MKT.

Some MKT resources

✤ Better teacher preparation leads to better student results

https://www.nctq.org/policy-area/elementary-math/

✤ MKT and High-quality Instruction

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07370000802177235

✤ Prospective Elementary Teachers’ Pedagogical Knowledge for Mathematical Problem Solving

https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7390/9/15/1811

✤ Math through other's perspectives

https://www.apmreports.org/episode/2015/08/26/thinking-about-math-from-someone-elses-perspective

✤ Conceptual Understanding versus Procedural Fluency. Teachers need MKT

https://kappanonline.org/beyond-the-math-wars-focus-on-teachers-to-improve-instruction/

REGISTER FOR OUR CONFERENCES:

✚ CMC Central Symposium in Bakersfield, March 13 & 14, 2026:

https://www.cmcmath.org/cmc-central-symposium

LEARN with the California Mathematics Council…

✚ Join us in our monthly Inspiring Math Minds webinars and get on our mailing list to be notified:

https://www.cmcmath.org/cmc-central/virtual-learning-series

✚ Visit the California Math Council website:

https://www.cmcmath.org/

✚ Become a member of the California Math Council:

https://camc.memberclicks.net/member-info-join-renew

SUBSCRIBE!

✚ YouTube (video & audio):

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvolZqLMhJmlKZXVW-HMWHmGsXXaeH09f

✚ Spotify (video & audio):

https://open.spotify.com/show/7A17FvtyV8FiFJ0SWoTiQm?si=44d81611497e4c7a

✚ Apple Podcast (audio only):

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/math-on-the-rocks/id1728772089