In this article, you will find three ways that principals and math coaches can get feedback from mathematics teachers. We will be looking at math survey questions for teachers, principal evaluation forms for teachers, and conversation prompts. In addition, you will find free printable teacher feedback surveys that can be used to survey teaching departments and curriculum/school evaluation forms that can be used by principals and coaches to survey a variety of educational stakeholders.

If you are feeling like your methods and strategies in teaching mathematics have gotten a little stale, it is time to breath new life into your teaching! In this article, I explore the dreaded "teaching slump" and how incorporating new strategies into instruction is the quickest way to kick the boredom and negativity.

One of the most powerful professional development experiences for me was working with Lucy West. She was hired as a consultant to the urban school district where I was working as a middle school math coach. Her work with our district transformed my view of professional development and changed the way I teach. I am thrilled to be able to share three resources from Ms. West with you.

One of the hardest things to do is change the way we teach. We learn in educational programs that engaging students with each other and individualizing instruction are some of the keys to keeping students on track. Yet I sometimes find myself stuck in the mode of “talk and chalk,” leading the whole class through “I do, we do together, you do” activities. One of the solutions to getting out of this pattern of whole group instruction is the use of rotations and math centers. I am including one of my favorite math center activities as a download for this post.

It has been difficult for me to learn how to stimulate vibrant discussions about mathematics among students. I realized very early in my teaching career that in order to get students engaged in mathematical discourse I needed to foster community in the classroom, to help students feel safe expressing ideas, and to demonstrate that math can be fun!

Because I was never a struggling learner in math, at first it was hard for me to understand why students struggled so much. In my journey as a math tutor, a math instructor from fifth grade through college, and a math specialist focused on the middle school grades, I have had to learn to connect with my struggling students. It is when that connection is made that they open up to me and are able to accept help using the research-based strategies that I know work.