Math on the Rocks

CMC Central
  • 5.0 (4)
  • EDUCATION
  • UPDATED MONTHLY

We are three mathematics educators who love to talk about math, math education, and the politics of math...often while drinking a beer. Our podcast is an attempt to invite more people into our conversations. For the video versions of our episodes, go here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvolZqLMhJmlKZXVW-HMWHmGsXXaeH09f

  1. MAR 5

    Ep 68 - Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching

    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

    32 min

  2. MAR 3

    Ep 67 - Teaching Through Problem Solving

    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/g88Uvzp4dC0Episode 63: https://youtu.be/hYIMw7rut_MEpisode 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

    32 min

  3. FEB 24

    Ep 66 - Janet Lee-Ortiz and Rachel Lambert are rethinking disability and mathematics

    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

    1h 1m

  4. FEB 17

    Ep 65 - HOW to teach mathematics through problem solving

    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

    38 min

  5. FEB 10

    Ep 64 - How to support teachers to grow mathematically

    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

    26 min

  6. FEB 4

    Ep 63 - Scott and Duane are still talking about TTP 

    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

    30 min

  7. FEB 2

    Ep 62 - Howie Hua is building mathematical confidence 

    Howie Hua (professor, speaker, and social media communicator) joins us to explore what it really means to be “good at math” and how we can help students build a strong math identity. Through quick routines, mindset moves, and rich examples, Howie shows how shifting from answer-getting to sensemaking can transform classrooms into safe, collaborative spaces where students truly believe: I can do hard things. This episode is equal parts practical and inspiring, and it gave the MoTR crew a lot to reflect on. CONTACT / RESOURCES: Howie Hua hhua@csufresno.edu (email for the slide deck) Find Howie on social media for math explainer videos, teaching tips, and math memes. 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

    54 min

  8. JAN 27

    Ep 61 - Scott and Duane talk about Teaching Math Through Problem Solving

    It has been a while since we got together to record an episode of Math On the Rocks, so Scott and Duane got together to catch up. We refresh our conversation about the Teaching Through Problem Solving instructional strategy. TTP is like Building Thinking Classrooms…but different. TTP is like the 5 Practices…but different. Listen to this episode to begin your journey to learn about TTP. All our webinars are published on our MOtR channel, but there are also found here: https://www.cmcmath.org/online-learning 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

    13 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

We are three mathematics educators who love to talk about math, math education, and the politics of math...often while drinking a beer. Our podcast is an attempt to invite more people into our conversations. For the video versions of our episodes, go here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvolZqLMhJmlKZXVW-HMWHmGsXXaeH09f

Information

  • Creator
    CMC Central
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    70
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © CMC Central
  • Show Website
    Math on the Rocks

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