Math Curricula, Jelly Donuts, and the Search for What Our Students Deserve

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Eleven years ago, I wrote a blog post comparing math curricula to jelly doughnuts (go read it; it’s good and accurate).

At the time, it felt like every program hitting the market was either completely overstuffed with too much in the lessons to get through in a single block, or so loaded down with extra bells, whistles, and deep-fried decorations that the core mathematics got lost under all the glaze. Not to mention teachers having to sift through a plethora of books, online resources, and boxes of extra-help materials.

Looking back at that post today, I realized a hard truth: after evaluating those programs over a decade ago, our district didn’t adopt either. Instead, we relied on a supplementary program for over 11 years. The consequence? Years of students moving through our system with significant, systemic gaps in their mathematical understanding and skills.

This school year, however, brings fresh hope. We have officially kicked off a new math curriculum piloting process, and the landscape feels noticeably different.

Pilot #1: Innovamat (Building Thinking Classrooms & True Spiral Design)

We are currently piloting our first of two programs: Innovamat. Centered around Peter Liljedahl’s Building Thinking Classrooms framework, this program places rich student discourse and active problem-solving at the center of every lesson.

What excites me most about Innovamat is how pared-down and intentional it is, paired with its true spiral curriculum design. Rather than teaching concepts in isolated, multi-week blocks, Innovamat continuously revisits core mathematical ideas throughout the year, building upon itself. Curriculum creators seem to have finally realized how unwieldy and unrealistic past iterations were for everyday classroom execution. Innovamat certainly took note of others’ pitfalls.

Innovamat strips away the extra noise and focuses on the absolute essentials and deep understanding:

  • Manageable Lessons: The pacing is realistic, allowing teachers to complete an entire lesson within a standard math block.
  • Cohesive & Spiraled Structure: Concepts are continuously revisited in light, intentional touchpoints, preventing the “teach it once and forget it” phenomenon while keeping learning connected.
  • Focus on Discourse: Students are standing, talking, and working through math concepts together rather than passively sitting through lectures.

That isn’t to say it is without challenges. Because our students have spent years in a system that lacked deep, conceptual discourse, accessing some of the task-based material requires scaffolding and persistence. But because the core design is clean and intentionally spiraled, I am hopeful that our students will begin closing those foundational skill gaps quickly.

Pilot #2: Savvas enVision Math (Topical Architecture)

Later this fall, we will pivot to pilot our second curriculum option: Savvas enVision Math.

This second program also integrates elements of Building Thinking Classrooms and emphasizes student discourse, but it takes a more traditional, topical approach. Instruction is structured in distinct units focused on specific domains before moving to the next.

Savvas enVision also brings back a few more traditional support structures: multiple books to navigate, margin notes and guides for teachers, and built-in accessibility prompts designed to help teachers differentiate on the fly for all learners. There is more of the traditional teacher-led lesson design.

Comparing these two structural philosophies side-by-side will be an incredible learning experience for our district:

  1. Do our students benefit more from a true spiral design, like Innovamat, that offers continuous spaced practice, or from a topical approach, like enVision?
  2. Do we thrive with a streamlined, ultra-focused layout, or do we need the additional embedded teacher margin notes and resource options offered by a traditional publisher?

Hope on the Horizon

It is encouraging to see curriculum publishers finally listening to teachers and creating programs that prioritize student thinking over fluff.

While closing an 11-year gap in math understanding won’t happen overnight, placing student discourse, collaboration, and manageable lesson design at the center of instruction is the exact shift our students deserve. I look forward to sharing our findings as we move through both pilots this year!

Are you using either of these programs? What has your experience been?

5 High-Leverage Ways to Build Deep Place Value Understanding in Grades 2–6

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As elementary teachers begin the new school year, place value is almost always the starting line. It is the foundation of our Base-10 system, grounding everything from multi-digit addition and subtraction to decimals, multiplication, and scientific notation.

Unfortunately, place value can be reduced to a passive exercise in memorizing column labels: ones, tens, hundreds, thousands. But true place value understanding isn’t about naming columns; it’s about understanding the multiplicative relationships, flexibility, and magnitude of numbers. And this is where I geek out. I love this stuff!

So if you are looking to start your math block with deep conceptual understanding rather than rote procedure, here are 5 high-leverage ways to introduce and reinforce place value in your classroom this year.

1. Hook Students with a “Notice & Wonder” Prompt

Instead of lecturing on place value positions, start with a simple prompt that sparks curiosity and math discourse. Display a place value chart with a number like 2,488 written across it. Ask students: “What do you notice? What do you wonder?”

Guide the conversation to the two 8s. Ask students: “What is the difference between these two identical digits?”

This opens the door for students to discover the core rule of our Base-10 system themselves: where a digit sits determines its value. They quickly see that the 8 in the tens place (80) is 10 times greater than the 8 in the ones place (8). This sets a strong foundation for understanding the 10x and 1/10 relationships across grade levels.

2. Play Strategic Digit-Placement Games

Turn place value into an active strategy game! Give pairs of students a sheet with blank spaces representing a multi-digit number (e.g., four blank spaces for a 4-digit number: _ _ _ _).

Students take turns rolling a standard die (or a 0–9 digit spinner) and deciding where to place the rolled digit in their blank spaces. The goal? Create the largest possible number.

This simple game forces high-level strategic reasoning:

  • “I rolled a 5. Should I put it in the thousands place, or risk holding out for a 6?”
  • “If I put a 1 in the thousands place, my entire number loses its value.”

After playing, have students read their final numbers aloud to their partners and compare them using <, >, or = signs.

3. Connect Concrete Manipulatives Directly to Charts

Building numbers with base-10 blocks, place value disks, or interlocking cubes is essential, but the physical building alone isn’t enough. The magic happens when students connect the concrete blocks to the representational (pictorial) to the abstract chart.

Have students physically build a number using base-10 blocks inside or right above a place value mat. Then have students draw the blocks. This allows students to begin moving away from concrete representations toward the representational. Moving fluidly between concrete blocks, pictorial drawings, and abstract numbers ensures students understand the base-10 number system.

4. Interactive Notebook Anchors

Give students a permanent, easy-to-reference tool by incorporating half-page place value anchors into their interactive notebooks.

Combine a traditional place value chart with an open number line directly underneath it. When students write a number like 3,450, have them plot it on the open number line between 3,000 and 4,000. Seeing the number simultaneously on a chart and a number line builds a dual mental model, helping students understand both the structural breakdown of the digits and the relative magnitude of its position on the number line.

5. Integrate Daily Flexible Decomposing (Place Value MathReps)

Place value shouldn’t be taught for three weeks at the beginning of the year and then shelved. To build automaticity, embed flexible number sense into your daily warm-up routine using a MathRep. (There are lots to choose from. Be sure to check them out at MathReps.com)

Challenge students to decompose numbers in non-standard ways:

  • Standard Form: 1,200
  • Expanded Form: 1,000 + 200
  • Flexible Form: 12 hundreds or 120 tens

When students realize that numbers can be broken apart flexibly without losing their total value, mental math and complex multi-digit computation become infinitely easier.

Which Approach Will You Use First?

Building a deep understanding of our Base-10 system during the first weeks of school sets the tone for the entire math year. Whether through strategic games, rich discourse, or visual anchors, giving students multiple access points ensures no one gets left behind.

Which of these 5 strategies are you planning to try with your students this week, or when you return to school? Let me know in the comments below!

Math Dash Chats: 5 Minutes to Boost Daily Student Discourse and Spiral Review

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As a teacher, I make a point every single school year to pick one specific area to refine and make better than the year before. Last year, my focus was clear: creating meaningful, daily mathematical discourse teachers could easily incorporate into their classrooms.

The traditional math curriculum my district used for over a decade had virtually no opportunities for student talk built in. When you combine a lack of built-in discourse with the challenge of fitting in manageable, productive spiral review, especially for standards like measurement, data, and geometry that so often get crammed into the final weeks of the school year, I knew teachers needed a structured, low-prep tool.

That is why I created Math Dash Chats.

I have built them for 2nd through 6th grade, and I am more than happy to expand the series if there is a demand for other grade levels! You can access the entire collection directly in this free Google Drive folder.

How Math Dash Chats Work

The premise is simple, efficient, and intentional:

  • 36 Weeks of Ready-to-Use Content: Each grade level includes 36 weeks of slides—one for every single week of the school year.
  • 5 Weekly Talk Prompts: Each slide features five distinct opportunities for review and mathematical reasoning; one for each day of the week:
    • Which One Doesn’t Belong
    • Convince Me That (adapted from Dan Kauffman)
    • Geometry
    • Data
    • Measurement
  • Interactive “Door” Covers: Off to the side of each slide is a set of visual “doors” that cover the five spaces. Setting them aside allows teachers to preview the content before presenting it. (Pro-Tip: Highlight and grab all five doors at once to slide them directly over the prompts – they are pre-aligned perfectly for you!)
  • Video Explanation: If you want a quick visual walk-through of how to set up and run the slides, check out slide #2 in any grade-level deck or watch this quick Math Dash Chats video tutorial.

Why Structured Discourse Matters

We know that when students are required to explain their mathematical reasoning aloud, their conceptual understanding shifts from superficial memory to deep mastery.

The primary barrier for teachers isn’t a lack of desire; it’s a lack of time. Teachers don’t have the mental bandwidth to invent a new discourse prompt every single morning. While informal partner talk can happen naturally, Math Dash Chats provides intentional, structured spiral review that follows a thoughtful progression across the year. Early-year slides ground students in prerequisite standards from previous grades, letting them focus on building communication habits with math they already know before tackling new grade-level standards.

Because the heavy lifting of curriculum alignment and slide design is already done, implementation is manageable.

3 Ways to Run a 5-Minute Math Dash Chat

Designed to take just 5 minutes at the start of your math block, here are three ways you can begin to execute them:

  1. The Morning Bell-Ringer: Have the slide projected first thing in the morning. Allow students to partner up and talk through the prompt as they settle into class before launching into whole-group discussion.
  2. Whiteboard Pre-Writes: Have students jot quick notes or sketch models on individual whiteboards before speaking. Writing down their thoughts first forces them to slow down, clarify their thinking, and articulate their reasoning more precisely when they begin sharing orally.
  3. Academic Vocabulary Warm-Up: Use the prompts specifically to practice domain-specific math language in context, giving multilingual learners a low-stakes environment to test out new vocabulary before encountering deeper concepts later in the lesson.

Ready to Start?

If your curriculum is missing structured student talk, or if you need an effortless way to keep geometry, data, and measurement standards fresh all year long, give Math Dash Chats a try.

Which grade level are you going to test out first? Let me know how your students respond in the comments!

Maximizing Tier 1 Math Instruction with MathReps

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Before we dive into how MathReps fits into daily classroom instruction, let’s review what Tier 1 actually is.

In a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) framework, Tier 1 is the core, universal instruction that all students receive. Often referred to as “best first instruction,” the goal of Tier 1 is to provide high-quality, grade-level learning that meets the needs of roughly 80–85% of students without requiring outside intervention.

The goal of Tier 1 is simple: build a solid foundation early, so we avoid creating learning gaps. As every educator knows, when a math gap is left unaddressed in the early years, it grows exponentially wider as a student progresses through school.

This is precisely where MathReps shines. MathReps isn’t a “fun extra” or a filler activity; it is a powerful engine for Tier 1 core instruction.

The Core Characteristics of Effective Tier 1 Instruction

To understand why MathReps works so well at the Tier 1 level, we have to look at what makes core instruction effective in the first place:

  • Universal Access: Every student engages directly with grade-level standards and core mathematical concepts, rather than being isolated into low-level remediation.
  • Low Cognitive Load: Instructional frameworks and routines are structured predictably so students spend their mental energy wrestling with mathematical concepts, not deciphering complicated directions.
  • Spaced Retrieval & Mixed Practice: Learning relies on continuous, spaced exposure across time to build automaticity, fluency, and long-term retention.
  • Real-Time Formative Assessment: Daily insights allow teachers to check for understanding on the spot, adjusting instruction in real time rather than waiting for an end-of-unit test.

How MathReps Powers Your Tier 1 Math Block

Here is specifically how a daily 10-minute MathReps routine fulfills the promise of Tier 1 instruction:

1. Low Floor, High Ceiling Accessibility

Tier 1 instruction must serve learners at various entry points. Because MathReps utilize consistent visual models (such as ten-frames, area models, place value charts, and number lines), every student can access the prompt at their current level of understanding. At the same time, open-ended quadrants provide natural depth and extension for advanced learners.

2. Spaced Retrieval Over Isolation

Traditional math curricula often present concepts in isolated silos; teaching division for three weeks in October, moving on, and never revisiting them until the end-of-year exam. MathReps embeds spaced retrieval into daily practice. By continuously cycling through core standards across the entire school year, students build durable retention and see connections across mathematical domains.

3. Reduced Cognitive Load Through Familiarity

When the layout of a MathRep remains consistent over a 6-to-8-week cycle, students don’t waste working memory trying to figure out how to do the worksheet. Because the format is predictable, 100% of their cognitive capacity is freed up to focus on the actual math.

4. Immediate, Actionable Formative Data

A core goal of Tier 1 is catching misconceptions before they turn into gaps requiring Tier 2 or 3 intervention. During a quick 5- to 10-minute MathReps session, you can scan the room or review digital submissions (like Snorkl) in real time. You instantly know who needs a 2-minute check-in, what needs whole-class clarifying, and who is ready for an extension.

5. Seamless Warm-Up Integration

As an EduProtocol-aligned routine, MathReps serves as the ultimate Tier 1 practice. It sets a predictable, success-oriented tone for the math block, builds confidence through daily wins, and normalizes a classroom culture grounded in mathematical discourse and reasoning.

Teach with Confidence

Because MathReps aligns directly with the research behind effective Tier 1 instruction, you can feel 100% confident bringing it into your classroom every single day.

If an administrator ever walks into your room and questions what you are doing (as has happened to me) or asks for the pedagogy behind the routine, you have a clear, research-backed answer: MathReps is high-leverage, low-cognitive-load Tier 1 instruction designed to catch gaps before they start.

How has MathReps helped your Tier 1 instruction?

Enhance Math Skills with the 8 Mathematical Language Routines

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As we kick off a new school year, one of our primary district priorities is diving deep into the 2023 California Math Framework. While curriculum frameworks can sometimes feel dense or disconnected from the daily realities of the classroom, there is one aspect of this framework I genuinely love: its deep grounding in the 8 Mathematical Language Routines (MLRs).

Back in 2023, while sitting with my dad in his hospital room, I wrote an extensive series breaking down these routines. (You can explore the full breakdown and access a comprehensive collection of explanations, examples, and resources in this resource document).

If you are familiar with the 2013 California Math Framework, it focused heavily on vertical content progressions, showing how a concept like addition moves from number paths in Kindergarten to visual area models in 2nd grade, ultimately culminating in the standard algorithm by 4th grade. The 2023 framework doesn’t replace that progression; it elevates it by embedding specific routines designed to build language, conceptual fluency, and student discourse.

While implementing all eight routines at once can feel overwhelming, you don’t need to do everything on Day 1. Here is a close look at my top two go-to routines, plus a high-impact bonus routine, to get you started.

1. Routine #6: The 3 Reads Protocol (Plus the Essential “Plan” Step)

Word problems are notoriously difficult for students because their brains are forced to work double-duty. First, they must execute ELA reading comprehension skills to parse the text; then, they must activate their mathematical processing to execute the computation. For multilingual learners or students with reading disabilities, this cognitive load can be paralyzing (I speak from experience).

The 3 Reads Protocol deconstructs the word problem into manageable, bite-sized cognitive steps:

  • Read 1 (Context): Read the problem without focusing on numbers. The sole goal is to understand the situation and visualize what is happening. Drawing out the scene can help students visualize it.
  • Read 2 (Quantities & Relationships): Read the problem a second time to identify the numbers, units, and how those quantities relate to one another.
  • Read 3 (The Task): Read a third time to isolate the specific question or mathematical task.

My Practitioner Twist: Adding “The Plan” Typically, I see student thinking break down right after Step 3. Students know the context, the numbers, and the question, but they freeze when deciding what to do with that information. That is why I always add a fourth step: Designing a Plan/Model. We analyze how we will answer the question, often by drawing out an area model, bar model, or diagram. Running this protocol several times a week as a whole group removes the mystery from word problems and builds durable problem-solving habits.

2. Routine #3: Clarify, Critique, and Correct

How often have we told a student to “go check your work,” only for them to glance at their paper for two seconds and say, “Yup, looks good”? Telling students to check their work without teaching them how to critique math is ineffective.

Routine #3 teaches students to analyze mathematical reasoning critically; first in others, and ultimately in themselves. My favorite way to execute this is through the EduProtocol Nacho Problem.

You present a math problem containing a common conceptual error. Students must locate the mistake, correct the procedure, and, most importantly, write about it using a C.E.R. (Claim, Evidence, Reasoning) structure. When students have to justify why an error occurred in writing, their understanding shifts from surface-level recall to deep conceptual mastery.

3. The Bonus Routine: Co-Craft Questions (Routine #5 / 3-Act Math)

This routine is an incredible tool for student engagement and organic differentiation. You present students with a rich scenario or visual context without providing a final question. Students are then tasked with co-crafting mathematical questions that could be answered using the provided information.

The beauty of this routine is that students naturally differentiate the math themselves. You will see students generate “mild, medium, and spicy” questions. When given the choice, the vast majority of students will naturally challenge themselves with a more complex question than the one a teacher might have assigned them.

Classroom Management Pro-Tip: What about the student who intentionally chooses the easiest possible question? Let them! They will finish it in 30 seconds. When they do, simply say, “Great job. Now choose one of the spicy questions to tackle.” If it becomes a habit, offer a structured choice: “You can choose Question B or Question C today.” They retain autonomy, but the floor of rigor is raised.

Which Routine Will You Try First?

No matter which Mathematical Language Routine you choose to introduce to your math block this semester, you are giving your students the tools to move beyond procedural compliance and into true conceptual understanding.

Which of these routines are you going to test out with your students first? Let me know in the comments!

Effective Communication of School District Goals

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Do you know, without a doubt, what your district’s core goals and initiatives are for this school year?

After 31 years in education, I can finally say that I do, and so does every single teacher in our district. That isn’t to say we didn’t have goals in previous years; we certainly did. But like many educators, I was often unclear on what they actually were, or how they were supposed to shape my daily work in the classroom.

Living in California, the beginning of August signals our return to work. Our annual district orientation took place this week. We are also in the midst of some organizational shifts: navigating a potential unification with our local high school district, welcoming a new interim superintendent, and preparing for an upcoming math curriculum pilot.

When our new Interim Superintendent took the mic for her welcoming presentation, she included a single slide that clearly outlined our district focus (three core areas) alongside three manageable initiatives. Many of these build directly on the work we started in the last two years, making the vision feel focused rather than overwhelming.

It was deeply refreshing for me. Just as teachers are expected to post learning targets on the board so students know where they are headed, a district must clearly communicate its target destination to its staff.

Years ago, I had a candid conversation with a former district administrator about this very issue. I remember stating that I didn’t know what our district goals were, and that generic phrases like “raising test scores” didn’t qualify as a real goal in my book; it was far too broad and detached from daily practice. The administrator acknowledged that while goals existed, leadership had done a poor job communicating them. Unfortunately, despite that realization, very little changed in how information was shared – until now.

This year, the shift was as simple as presenting a clear visual slide at a district-wide meeting, followed by immediate action from site leadership. My site administrator took that slide, printed copies, and placed one in every teacher’s mailbox. We didn’t just hear the goals once in a crowded multipurpose room; we were given direct, permanent access to them.

Naturally, a piece of paper on a desk or posted next to a desk can easily get lost in the shuffle of daily classroom life. But knowing the administration, those goals won’t sit forgotten in a folder; they will be referenced, revisited, and integrated into teachers’ work throughout the year.

Will this clear communication actually make a difference? Educational research unequivocally says yes (Hattie). When a district aligns its staff around clear, actionable priorities – like our current focus on a new writing plan and expanding standards-based learning – it builds collective efficacy. We stop operating in isolated silos and start moving in the same direction, equipped with a common language and a shared point of reference.

As we kick off another school year, I’m curious about your experience: Does your district or school have clearly communicated goals this year, or are you still trying to guess the target?

Launching MathReps

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Getting MathReps started at the beginning of the school year doesn’t need to be overwhelming. In fact, when structured intentionally, it is one of the easiest ways to transform your math culture from day one.

Too often, math is viewed by students as a hurdle, a mucky, frustrating chore that has somehow become socially acceptable to trash-talk. MathReps flips that dynamic by prioritizing immediate success and predictable routine over high-stakes execution.

Here is how to soft-launch MathReps in your classroom, build student confidence, and streamline your management from week one.

1. Soft Launch with a 2-Week Prerequisite Cycle

Before jumping into your core 6-week grade-level cycle, run a 2-week prerequisite cycle.

During these first two weeks, select a MathRep built entirely on skills from the previous grade level. When students already know the math, they aren’t fighting two battles at once. They can focus 100% on learning your expectations, understanding the layouts, and mastering the daily pacing. Starting with familiar material builds immediate self-efficacy; students feel successful right out of the gate, and you establish the routine smoothly. It’s a win for everyone.

2. The 6-Week Implementation Timeline

Once your 2-week prerequisite launch is complete, you move into your first full 6-week grade-level cycle. Expect the daily timeline to shift rapidly during Week 1 of any new Rep:

  • Week 1 (Building the New Rep):
    • Day 1: Expect this to take up to 45 minutes. You are walking through every section together, establishing vocabulary, and setting expectations.
    • Days 2–4: Pacing drops fast. As students grasp the format, time will shrink from 30 minutes down to 12–15 minutes or less by Day 4.
    • Day 5: Use this rep as a baseline assessment to track growth.
  • Weeks 2–6 (Independent Execution & Immediate Feedback): Set daily time limits (10–12 minutes), have students complete their reps, and check them immediately. The time limits are based on Parkinson’s Law. Give them enough time to finish the task, whether you break it into chunks or do the whole MathRep at once. Use Friday as your weekly progress check.

3. Practical Setup & Differentiation Pro-Tips

  • Low-Stakes Management with Plastic Sleeves: Slide a blank MathRep into a dry-erase plastic sleeve. This saves thousands of copies over the year, but more importantly, it lowers student anxiety; erasing with a marker is psychologically much easier for a struggling student than erasing paper and tearing the page. Bonus: Slide a completed example or anchor chart on the back side of the sleeve so students have an instant reference tool.
  • Anchor in Interactive Notebooks: Complete one full MathRep as a whole group early in the term and have students glue it directly into their interactive notebooks as a reference page for the rest of the year.
  • Differentiate with Choice Boards (The 2-Week Mastery Rule): If a student demonstrates proficiency on a specific MathRep two Fridays in a row, pivot them off daily repetitions and onto a Choice Board for deeper, practical application. To maintain Choice Board status, students must continue showing mastery on the Friday assessments (or through a teacher checkpoint built into the Choice Board itself). This keeps proficient students challenged while freeing you up to target support where it’s needed most.
  • Streamline Feedback with EdTech: If checking Friday assessments feels daunting, leverage tools like Snorkl. It gives students immediate, diagnostic feedback, limits response attempts to keep them focused, and provides you with instant analytics without drowning in paper. (If you teach K–5, pre-built MathReps are already loaded in Snorkl and ready to assign).
  • Elevate Learning through Metacognition: Practice without reflection is just compliance. Have students complete a weekly reflection log analyzing what went well, where they struggled, and how their conceptual understanding shifted over the five days.

What strategies or management hacks have you used that aren’t listed here for a smooth start with MathReps in your math class?

Balancing Summer Break and School Communication

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As July winds down, a familiar shift begins across the country. Teachers are starting to mentally shift toward the new school year, ordering supplies, sketching out classroom setups, or just enjoying those final, precious quiet mornings.

Behind the scenes, though, our school buildings have been humming with activity all summer. A huge shout-out goes to our maintenance and custodial crews who work tirelessly in the heat cleaning, repairing, and prepping facilities. The same goes for our office staff, secretaries, cafeteria teams, and site administrators who are already deep in the logistics of scheduling, hiring, and organizing. It takes a massive, dedicated team to get a school ready to welcome hundreds of students and staff back through the doors.

With all that prep work in full swing, an interesting seasonal observation always pops up right around this time: the arrival of the first Back To School communications.

We all know the essential information needs to go out at some point: when teachers can access their classrooms, bell schedules, dates for initial professional development, and general orientation details. But as I listen to colleagues across various districts, it brings up some interesting questions about the timing, frequency, and psychological impact of summer communication.

How much communication should schools or districts disseminate while staff is still contractually on summer break? And when is the ideal time to hit “send”?

There seem to be two very different approaches out there:

On one hand, you have the “one-and-done” approach: an email sent roughly two weeks prior to the start date containing the foundational, confirmed details teachers need to plan their return. It’s concise, predictable, and respects the remaining days of break.

On the other hand, there is the “real-time stream” approach: communications starting 2 to 2.5 weeks out, rapidly building to multiple emails a day as new details trickle into the office.

Often, these frequent communications include a thoughtful disclaimer from administration: “It’s still summer break, please don’t feel obligated to read or respond to this now!”

While the intent behind that disclaimer is genuinely kind and meant to relieve pressure, it often creates an unintended mental paradox for teachers. If an email lands in your inbox, human nature kicks in. We wonder: If I don’t need to read it, why was it sent now? Is there something urgent I’m missing? What is the unwritten expectation here? Even if we choose not to open it, the notification itself pings our mental workspace, pulling a little piece of our mind out of “recharge mode” and back into work mode.

Furthermore, when information is sent out rapid-fire, it inevitably leads to the dreaded follow-up email: “Correction: Please disregard the previous message regarding…”

Administrators are under immense pressure, often managing shifting district mandates, late staffing changes, and master schedule puzzles right down to the wire. It is completely understandable why the urge exists to share updates the moment they are finalized. But it leaves me wondering:

  • Could taking a step back, waiting a day or two to let information settle and proofreading it before hitting send, prevent the need for corrective follow-ups altogether?
  • Would batching non-urgent updates into a single, scheduled weekly digest give staff the information they need while preserving their peace of mind?
  • Are we utilizing simple tech features, like scheduled send, to ensure emails land during contract hours rather than on a Sunday afternoon or late July evening?

I don’t bring these questions up to point fingers or call anyone out. Building a healthy, communicative school culture is hard work, and administrators are walking a tightrope between keeping people informed and respecting off-contract time.

My hope is simply that we pause to reflect on how our communication strategies land on the receiving end. By slowing down, batching information, and being intentional with our timing, we can ensure that when that first message arrives, it feels like a helpful roadmap for a great year ahead, not an unintended disruption to a well-deserved break.

What are your thoughts? Which approach works best for you?

Reflections on Year 31: Growth, Gratitude, and Navigating the Unknown

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Reflecting on a school year is always a delicate balance of celebrating deep classroom triumphs while navigating the inevitable winds of systemic change. This year marked my 31st year in education. If three decades in the classroom and in coaching roles have taught me anything, it is that while our daily tasks may shift, the core mission of supporting authentic student and teacher growth remains entirely unchanged. Looking back at the full landscape of the months behind me, I can confidently say it was a year filled with personal and professional success, driven by educators and students willing to take risks and try something new.

The best moments of my year took place directly inside classrooms, where I had the privilege of watching brilliant teaching across several grade levels. In Kindergarten, students were mastering foundational coding using Bee-Bots, while up in 5th grade, classrooms were diving into collaborative critical thinking through the Cyber Sandwich EduProtocol. As a Tech TOSA and instructional coach, my favorite days involved partnering with teachers to blend meaningful technology with powerful pedagogical frameworks. In one room, we paired MathReps with Wipebooks and Snorkl to make mathematical thinking visible and dynamic. In a 2nd-grade classroom, the students proved to be absolute rockstars in independent reading comprehension, leveraging Snorkl to capture their responses before seamlessly transitioning to choice boards to further explore topics independently.

Perhaps the most profound professional joy this year came from an instructional coaching cycle focused on student discourse with a 1st-grade teacher. By implementing just a few precise, intentional shifts, this teacher increased student-led discussion by an incredible 62% in a short six-to-eight-week period (I think it was six weeks, but I tell ya, it’s been a year). The transformation came down to a few key pedagogical changes: intentionally giving the students dedicated time to share ideas with one another before speaking to the whole group, and introducing structured sentence frames to support their developing language skills. The most rewarding part of this growth was that these targeted design shifts ultimately saved the teacher a great deal of time and energy, proving that shifting the cognitive load to our youngest learners is a win for everyone.

Beyond individual classrooms, our district has continued its steady journey into standards-based learning in mathematics. Refining our proficiency scales has brought massive clarity to our school sites. Through this ongoing work, our teachers now possess a much deeper understanding of the standards and a clearer picture of exactly what is expected of our students to build true conceptual understanding. Which led to many discussions as we evaluated which Math curriculums to pilot next year. On a professional level, I also adjusted to a new supervisor this year: our Director of Curriculum and Instruction. Navigating a change in leadership always requires a period of mutual adaptation.

Of course, a year rarely goes by without some friction, and it certainly wasn’t all smooth sailing. At the district level, it was a genuinely rough year marked by internal site issues that caused considerable unrest, leading to some contentious board meetings. Compounding this unrest was the sudden announcement that our high school district will unify with us within the next three to five years due to the desired unification of a neighboring town’s elementary district. (NOTE: our high school district is in charge of our town’s high school and the neighboring town’s). It is a massive undertaking, and the reality is that we simply are not ready and currently have no viable plan in place. To add to the complexity, our superintendent decided to retire this past spring. Because the announcement dropped so late in the school year, it left very little time for a thorough, comprehensive search for a new leader who is ready to take on both our internal site challenges and a looming district unification. As of today, the district has been in negotiations with one candidate, but that is as far as it has gone (as far as I know), leaving us entering the summer with real uncertainty about who will be leading our district forward.

Looking back at the year, it was a journey filled with intense ups and downs. Unfortunately, there were far more bumpy patches than smooth ones this year. While our absolute focus should always remain firmly on our students, the honest truth is that maintaining that focus can be incredibly difficult when there is so much systemic upheaval going on all around us. Some school sites felt this weight much more than others. It was a heavy, exhausting year for many.

Looking ahead to the upcoming school year, we have a major math pilot in place to evaluate two distinct approaches to conceptual understanding. We will be taking a deep look at Innovamat’s Thinking Math alongside Savvas’ EnVision, and I am eager to see how our teachers and students interact with these resources as we continue to refine our standards-based instruction.

Here’s to closing out year 31and to stepping into year 32 (YIKES). Seriously, though, how did so many years already pass by? It truly feels like I just started teaching ten years ago. Wherever the road leads and whoever steps in to lead our district, my hope is simply that this next year brings a little more stability and a lot more smooth patches for our district.

Essential Steps to Prepare Your Google Classroom for August

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As the school year winds down in June, the last thing anyone wants to think about is August. However, spending just a little bit of time setting up your digital environment now is the ultimate gift to your future self. By organizing your space before you leave for summer, you can walk away completely disconnected, knowing you are ready to roll on day one.

When we talk about setting up for success, it’s not just about teacher sanity; it’s about the student experience. A messy, disorganized digital space creates unnecessary clutter that can quickly overwhelm students before the year even starts.

1. Archive This Year’s Classrooms (Not Just the Work)

Don’t just delete assignments or leave your current classes sitting active on your dashboard. Go to your Google Classroom homepage, click the three dots on your current classes, and then click Archive.

  • Why it matters: Archiving completely removes the class from your and your students’ active dashboards, preserving the data and work without cluttering up the new school year.
  • The Golden Benefit: Archiving keeps all your past assignments safe in the cloud. This means you can easily use the “Reuse post” feature next year to pull forward your best materials without having to recreate them from scratch.

How to Archive Your Google Classroom

Archiving your completed classes is the best way to clear the dashboard for both you and your students while completely preserving your assignments, materials, and student work for future reference.

  1. Navigate to the Classroom Homepage: Go to classroom.google.com or open the app.
  2. Locate the Class Card: Find the specific class you want to archive on your main dashboard.
  3. Open the Menu: Click the three vertical dots (More options) in the top right corner of that class card.
  4. Select Archive: Click Archive from the dropdown menu.
  5. Confirm: A pop-up will appear letting you know that you and your students won’t be able to make changes to the class unless it’s restored. Click Archive again to confirm.

Tip: You can always view, restore, or permanently delete these files by clicking the three horizontal lines (Main Menu) in the top left of your screen and selecting Archived classes.

How to Reuse a Post in Your New Classroom

Instead of recreating assignments from scratch every term, you can pull proven, high-quality assignments from any of your archived classes directly into your active dashboard.

  1. Open Your Active Class: Navigate to the new Google Classroom where you want to publish the assignment.
  2. Go to Classwork: Click on the Classwork tab at the top of the page.
  3. Click Create: Click the + Create button.
  4. Select Reuse post: From the dropdown menu, choose Reuse post (indicated by an icon with two spinning arrows).
  5. Choose the Source Class: A window will pop up showing all your classes. You can scroll or use the search bar to find the archived class that holds the assignment you want. Click on it.
  6. Select the Specific Post: Browse the list of assignments, questions, or materials from that class. Click on the one you want to bring over.
  7. Manage Attachments (Crucial Step): Look at the bottom of the window for the checkbox that says “Create new copies of all attachments.”
    • Check this box if you want fresh, clean templates for your new roster.
    • Leave it unchecked if you are linking to a view-only resource or a public webpage.
  8. Click Reuse: Click the Reuse button in the bottom right.
  9. Edit and Assign: Google Classroom will open the post as a draft. Here, you can adjust the instructions, update the due date, modify your emoji-coded topic headers, and click Assign or schedule it for later.

2. Pre-Load Your Subjects with Emoji-Coded Topics

When you build your new shell for August, set up your organizational structure right away using Topics.

  • Group by Subject or Unit: Create clear, predictable categories to help your students navigate.
  • Add Emoji Coding: Use relevant emojis at the beginning of your Topic titles (e.g., 🔢 MathReps, 📚 Reading). Emojis aren’t just decorative; they serve as powerful visual anchors that help students scan, locate, and navigate their assignments instantly, reducing cognitive load.

3. Queue Up the “Welcome Advice” (Leveraging Student Voices)

One of the best resources you have right now is your current crop of students. Before they leave, have them create quick advice videos or tips for next year’s incoming class. Try using Padlet‘s video feature for this. Even if you don’t have welcome advice for your students, queuing up rules, procedures, and expectations can save you time and stress in August.

  • Go into your new August classroom shell.
  • Use the “Reuse post” feature to pull forward that student-created advice video assignment from your archived class.
  • Change the settings to Save as Draft or Schedule it for the first week of school. Hearing tips directly from peers is an amazing hook for day one.

4. Harness the Power of Drafts and Scheduled Posts

The secret to a calm start to the school year is controlling the flow of information.

  • Avoid the Information Dump: When students log into Google Classroom on the first day and see twenty active assignments, they immediately shut down.
  • The Strategy: Build your first week’s templates, resources, and baseline routines now. Instead of hitting “Post,” use “Save as Draft” or “Schedule.” This allows you to drip-feed the content to your students right when they need it, keeping their digital workspace clean, focused, and approachable.

By archiving the old, structuring the new with visual cues, and queuing up your first week as drafts, you can officially shut your laptop for the summer and truly relax. Your August self will thank you!