Why Students Say "I'm Not a Math Person" — And How to Change It

Ask a secondary math teacher what's standing between a student and success, and it's often not a skill — it's fear. Kristen Smith, author of Cultivating Math Confidence and a secondary math teacher in Washington State, joins Larissa Napolitan to talk about what district leaders miss when they hand a teacher a curriculum and ask for fidelity, why personalized math software may be undercutting the thinking it was meant to build, and how something as small as saying a term out loud shapes what a student can do with it. TAKEAWAYS Math confidence is built through repeated experiences of earned success. Students who cannot say a math term out loud struggle to use it. Curriculum fidelity assumes prior-grade mastery that most students do not have. Probe for prerequisite skills in the lesson launch, before the curriculum task. Reteach a missing sixth-grade skill on the spot, then continue the lesson. Write your own spiraled review questions when the curriculum omits them. Call on every student to use math vocabulary rather than letting them opt in. Empower teachers to add access points instead of demanding strict fidelity. CHAPTERS 00:00 "Students sort themselves into who uses math words" 00:53 Introduction 02:03 From finance to the math classroom 04:37 Coming back from COVID: confidence, not skill 07:49 What both sides of curriculum adoption teach you 10:59 Fidelity vs. tailoring, day to day 14:00 A number line, a reteach, and a modification 16:52 Math PD trends that backfire 17:28 Why "personalization" software falls short 22:05 100 math terms by kindergarten 23:33 Tier 2 and tier 3 math vocabulary 26:51 Why saying "x squared" out loud matters 29:56 Safe classrooms and jokes about parabolas 31:41 Micro-moments of success and self-efficacy 34:47 What the curriculum leaves out 36:04 Give teachers time to collaborate RESOURCES Cultivating Math Confidence by Kristen Smith: https://www.amazon.com/Cultivating-Ma... Kristen Smith's Substack: https://kristensmith.substack.com/ Illustrative Mathematics: https://illustrativemathematics.org Implementing MTSS in Secondary Schools (free guide): https://www.branchingminds.com/hubfs/... The MTSS/RTI Software Buyer's Guide: https://www.branchingminds.com/mtss-p... LISTEN TO SCHOOLIN' AROUND Podcast page: https://hubs.la/Q04h3jK-0 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/508YOGv... Schoolin' Around is the Branching Minds podcast for K-12 leaders building MTSS that actually works. #MTSS #SecondaryMath #MathEducation #K12Leadership #TeacherPD #Curriculum