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

Duane is still on his quixotic adventure to convince teachers to update their instructional script to Teaching Through Problem Solving (TTP). It is the secret sauce for how to teach in the manner envisioned by California Mathematics Framework. Listen to all our past episodes about TTP and then give it a try in your classroom. Let us know how it goes!

Past TTP episodes:

• Episode 61: https://youtu.be/g88Uvzp4dC0
• Episode 63: https://youtu.be/hYIMw7rut_M
• Episode 65: https://youtu.be/XN4nyQUc5q8

Here is a Teaching through Problem Solving slide deck we use at Merced County Office of Education:

https://tinyurl.com/MCOE-TTP

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

Welcome to another episode of CMC's Inspiring Math Minds webinar series!

Janet Lee-Ortiz (teacher and 2024 LAUSD Teacher of the Year) and Rachel Lambert (UC Santa Barbara professor and author of Rethinking Disability and Mathematics) invite us to rethink two things at the same time: how we understand disability and how we understand mathematics. In this episode, they explore neurodiversity as human variation (not a deficit) and show how shifting our lens changes what we notice, value, and design for in math classrooms. You’ll hear concrete, classroom-ready examples (choral counting, number strings, and inclusive routines) that make space for many ways of thinking, communicating, and engaging while building powerful mathematical understanding and identity.

CONTACT / RESOURCES:

Janet Lee-Ortiz

Facebook: Brainpower On. Math Fear Gone.

Email: JSL8939@lausd.net

Rachel Lambert

Website: https://mathematizing4all.com/

Bluesky: @mathematize4all.bsky.social

Facebook: Mathematize4all

Email: mathematizing4all@gmail.com

Book: Rethinking Disability and Mathematics: A UDL Math Classroom Guide for Grades K-8

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

Whether we know it or not, math teachers in America have a default teaching script that is so engrained into our cultural DNA that we don't even know it exists. Yet that cultural script – largely described as "I do, We do, You do" – is preventing us from experiencing the math joy our students deserve.

In recent episodes we have been proposing Teaching Through Problem Solving as a new cultural script for teaching mathematics. This time Katie goes into depth on HOW to plan for a TTP lesson. She points out all the opportunities in a TTP-style lesson where the teacher can naturally embed Mathematical Language Routines (MLRs) and the Eight Standards for Mathematical Practices (SMPs) without making the MLRs and SMPs feel like add-ons to an already crowded lesson.

Katie's previous episode (Episode 53) in which we talk about the power of a curriculum-based professional learning protocol we call Collaborative Lesson Design.

Episode 53 on Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4qDfVAigez9YPgEw1G3jDl?si=SdkLITgtTzejZv6pv0WIfw

Episode 53 on Youtube:

https://youtu.be/LGytsImcQUY

Here is a Teaching through Problem Solving slide deck we use at Merced County Office of Education:

https://tinyurl.com/MCOE-TTP

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

As the mathematics instruction community adds to our understanding of how mathematics should be taught and learned, teachers now face the prospect of having to change how they teach. This is a challenge in a profession that historically neither provides the support to learn what changes need to be made nor the time to practice making those changes. Cole shares his thinking about how to support teachers to grow.

Deskilling due to AI:

https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/08/19/nx-s1-5506292/doctors-ai-artificial-intelligence-dependent-colonoscopy

Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath: How screen time hurts kids:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fd-_VDYit3U

Here are all the symposium sessions. Ask your principal to send you to this nationally known professional learning opportunity.

https://web.cvent.com/event/64508313-27b3-4253-9cce-f00f664d7d3b/websitePage:15580fe6-047c-4bbd-bb8a-7738500bff66

HQIM resources on CMC website

• https://www.cmcmath.org/resources

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

We start out by talking about the goings on of California Math Council as we get ready for our symposium in March. Then we switch to continuing our conversation about the Teaching Through Problem Solving instructional script. Duane wants the world to adopt TTP as the primary form of instruction. Of course we'll still need to occasionally use the instructional script of "I do, We do, You do", but TTP should be your default script.

HQIM resources on CMC website

• https://www.cmcmath.org/resources

Become a member of the California Math Council:

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

Kissing cousins to TTP

• Math Medic: https://mathmedic.com/

• 5 Practices: https://www.nctm.org/Store/Products/5-Practices-for-Orchestrating-Productive-Mathematics-Discussions,-2nd-edition-(Download)/

• Upside Down Teaching: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1157349

Here is our Teaching through Problem Solving slide deck:

https://tinyurl.com/MCOE-TTP

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