2025 MidSchoolMath National Conference

It is so frustrating to travel from a high-performing school to a low- or medium-performing school and note the structures, culture, collaboration and leadership in one and their absence in the other -- regardless of socio-economic status.  

This fast-paced, example laden discussion will highlight ten non-negotiable accessible elements associated with significantly higher math achievement. One-by-one we will look at these structures, actions and practices related to high levels of mathematics teaching and learning. Consider this a session to start framing your 2025-26 to-do list!

Are you an Administrator, Department Chair, Instructional Coach or Consultant? If you are, then this session is for you!

Too often, educators in these positions are tasked with pouring into our teachers and students -- yet we are sometimes pouring from an empty cup. Instructional leaders deserve refilling as well! Come ready to experience and to share excellent facilitation strategies that can support the math teaching and learning in your building.

Compared to the traditional fill-in-the-blank note taking methods of middle school math, visual note taking can support student engagement and influence mathematical identity. We explored this idea with our students, as members of the MidSchoolMath Certified Teacher program, and want to share our findings how how this approach impacted student engagement and learning outcomes!

You'll actively engage in the visual note-making process, practicing this strategy using a Core Curriculum by MidSchoolMath lesson to gain a deeper understanding of its structure and application. You'll leave equipped with strategies to integrate visual note-making in your teaching practices, enhancing student engagement and comprehension. You'll also receive access to digital resources to adapt this process for your students, with any math lesson from any curriculum!  

The session will address one essential element in meaningful mathematics: Mathematical Language Routines (MLRs) that help not just the English language learners, but any students who can benefit from a scaffold to understand and connect with mathematics.

You'll have the opportunity to learn about the 8 different MLRs in mathematics, while deep diving into a few, seeing the impact of these MLRs on math tasks. hose already familiar with using MLRs in the classroom, will have the opportunity to share and interact with others, and learn from each other.

You'll leave with an understanding of MLRs, plus templates and resources you can begin using with your students immediately!

What began as The Daily Dice and Domino Do Now (4-D Now) many years ago, has become a go-to activity, from the elementary grades through high school algebra.

In this session, I'll introduce and explore one of my favorite formats to use for openers, main lessons, reviews, and at-the-board games, with full classroom engagement, participation, and discussion. 4-D lessons involve all students. We'll use dice and dominoes to generate numbers to practice & confirm the 4 operations of fractions, decimals and percents on graph paper and The Square Abacus.  You'll leave with an understanding of this versatile and adaptable lesson.

We know we want our students to collaborate and work together but aren't sure how to facilitate this? In this session, I'll share how I move beyond saying "work with your group or partner" with collaboration routines!

I'll share three collaboration routines I have implemented and assessed in my own classroom: Collaboration Cards at vertical surfaces, Everyday Language Routines to apply to any problem, and Competitive Collaboration for game based engagement. You'll get to experience the collaboration routine as a student, discuss the impact, then review my collected data related to student perception and preference of the strategy. These strategies complement the recommended macro and micro moves for Building Thinking Classrooms while troubleshooting areas of concern.