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Episode Summary:

Have you ever wondered how math education varies across the globe and what best practices you may have been missing out on when you are teaching math? 

In this episode Kyle and Jon dive into a fascinating conversation with Amy Bride, who shares her research and observations from her year-long sabbatical exploring what teaching and learning math looks like worldwide and is here to help compare your math class to international classrooms. 

Whether you’re a math teacher seeking fresh perspectives or an K-12 administrator looking to enhance your district’s math program, this episode will provide valuable insights into different approaches to teaching and learning math.

Tune in to this episode now to explore diverse global perspectives on math education and find inspiration for your own teaching practices!

Resources:

• Why Teaching Math Is Hard
• World2Math.com

Attention District Math Leaders:

How are you ensuring that you support those educators who need a nudge to spark a focus on growing their pedagogical-content knowledge? 

What about opportunities for those who are eager and willing to elevate their practice, but do not have the support? 

Book a call with our District Improvement Program Team to learn how we can not only help you craft, refine and implement your district math learning goals, but also provide all of the professional learning supports your educators need to grow at the speed of their learning. 

Book a short conversation with our team now. 

Episode Summary:

As a district math coach, Amy Bride has embarked on a year-long sabbatical, exploring innovative math education practices across the globe. From Greece to Italy and Norway, she has discovered that teaching math is hard but can be profoundly transformed by creative approaches. One such method, known as the Hanney method, turns math into a story, making the learning process more engaging for students. This story-telling approach aligns with the principles of Building Thinking Classrooms, emphasizing deep understanding over rote memorization. Inspired by educators like Pam Harris Amy plans to implement these global insights back home, including starting a pen pal program to connect her students with peers abroad.

Amy’s Diverse Teaching Background and Math Education Observations

Amy shared her diverse teaching background, including her experience as a district math coach and her current year-long sabbatical to research math education. She discussed her curiosity about math and her observations of students’ learning experiences, particularly her realization that there are many ways to approach math problems beyond simple memorization. Kyle and Jon engaged with Amy, seeking to understand her perspective on her own math education and the value of different teaching methods.

Discussing Math Teaching and Learning Practices

Amy and Jon discussed their observations of math teaching and learning practices in different countries. Amy shared her experiences as a traveler, noting the common use of math flashcards in European classrooms, and highlighted the collection and utilization of plastic bottle caps for educational purposes. Jon expressed interest in learning about Amy’s observations in various countries, and both discussed the similarities and differences between the approaches used in Europe and North America. Amy’s discussion underscored the diverse yet aligned methods used globally to teach multiplication and related concepts.

Classroom Observations and Interactive Math Teaching

Kyle prompted Amy and Jon to share their observations and experiences regarding classroom settings. Amy shared her experience from a university in Prague, where she witnessed students engaging in math classes in a unique and interactive way. The professor had introduced a teaching method called the Haney method, which involved making math a story and every part of the lesson a story. Amy also described another classroom in Prague where students played a game called ‘bus stop’, using toilet paper rolls to represent people riding a bus, which further reinforced their enthusiasm for math. Jon acknowledged Amy’s points, showing an interest in understanding more about these teaching methods.

Cultural Observations in Classrooms

Jon, Amy, and Kyle discussed their observations and experiences with teaching and learning in different cultural contexts. Jon emphasized the uniqueness of the teaching strategy Kyle witnessed in Prague, which he hadn’t seen before in North America. Amy highlighted the impact of cultural norms on student behavior and learning, sharing her experiences in a German school. Kyle then recounted his visit to a Norwegian classroom, describing how the students were able to take responsibility for their learning in the absence of a teacher, a scenario he contrasted with the liability concerns that might prevent a similar approach in North American classrooms. The team seemed to agree on the value of cultural exposure for teachers and students alike.

Discussing International Differences in Math Education

Kyle inquired about the differences in work ethic and student engagement in various countries, specifically focusing on math studies. Amy responded that she had observed some classrooms similar to those in North America, while others displayed unique cultural aspects, such as students removing their shoes before class or using fountain pens for writing. Amy also noted that the students seemed to take personal responsibility for their learning in a way she hadn’t seen before, describing it as a different form of body control. JON seemed to agree with Amy’s observations.

Fostering Independence in Classrooms

Jon raised concerns about the level of control and independence being fostered in modern classrooms, questioning whether teachers were enabling students to take ownership of their learning. Amy acknowledged these points, recognizing that safety concerns in North America could lead to over-assistance by teachers. She shared her experiences in other countries, noting that students there often had more responsibility, such as carrying their own belongings. Amy plans to implement these lessons in her own classroom by fostering more independence in her students.

Amy’s Classroom Experiences and Partnerships

Amy shared her experiences of implementing building thinking classrooms in middle schools and her plans to continue this approach while also considering the impact of culture on equity and inclusion. She expressed interest in connecting international classes for a pen-pal program and encouraged others to learn about her experiences through her website and blog. Jon and Kyle appreciated Amy’s contributions and wished her luck for the new school year. 

Refocusing on Student Outcomes in Education

Jon expressed concerns about misaligned priorities in their work, emphasizing the need to refocus on overarching goals rather than specific tools or resources. He discussed this issue with Kyle, highlighting the importance of prioritizing student outcomes in education. Jon argued against the common approach of focusing on resources, suggesting instead that resources should be used to enhance student experiences and outcomes. Kyle agreed, stressing the importance of having a clear end goal in mind and aligning teaching methods with this philosophy. Both agreed on the necessity of re-evaluating their current teaching methods.

Understanding Root Causes and Goals

Kyle and Jon discussed the importance of understanding the root causes and long-term goals when implementing changes in the math classroom. Kyle emphasized the need to ask ‘why?’ multiple times to ensure that the intended outcome is clear and that every teacher and student shares the same understanding and vision for the future. They highlighted the importance of focusing on student outcomes, specifically the development of adaptive reasoning skills, and how this would lead to better problem-solving abilities in unfamiliar situations, such as standardized tests.

Focusing on Mathematics Program Goals

Jon and Kyle emphasized the importance of focusing on the goals of a mathematics program before choosing the appropriate tools or resources. They argued that tools come and go, but the goals remain the same. They urged classroom teachers to continually remind themselves and their students about the program’s objectives, and to be able to articulate the reasoning behind the tools they use. Kyle further suggested taking inventory of current practices, identifying their outcomes and possible drawbacks, and using this to clarify objectives and prioritize tools. This approach, he believed, would empower educators’ professional judgment and foster a more unified approach across a district.

Focusing on Objectives and Values in Math Classrooms

Kyle and Jon discussed the importance of focusing on the main objectives and values in math classrooms to improve student outcomes. They emphasized the need for teachers to understand the “why” behind their lesson choices and to ensure they are aligned with the overall goals and vision for the class. Jon stressed the importance of focusing on the trunk of the proverbial tree, rather than just the leaves, to create a strong foundation for growth. They also encouraged listeners to engage with the podcast, provide feedback, and subscribe for future episodes.

FULL TRANSCRIPT

00:00:00:03 – 00:00:21:24
Amy Bride
I have seen flashcards used, say, as the start of the lesson or the end of a lesson. I’ve seen teachers randomly call out facts, that kind of thing. I’ve also seen where in certain countries, like in Italy, in Spain and Denmark, they asked me how I would teach it. And so they asked me.

00:00:21:24 – 00:00:46:08
Jon Orr
Have you ever wondered how math education varies across the globe and what best practices you’ve been? Maybe, you know, missing out on what’s happening in Norway, what’s happening in Italy, what’s happening in some of the countries in Africa and in Asia. We don’t know what’s out there unless you’ve either been there or you read about it. But hey, we’re bringing that to you here today.

00:00:46:08 – 00:01:14:20
Jon Orr
We have Amy Bryan, who’s been traveling a world map classes all across Europe and other parts of the world and is now here to talk to you about what math class looks like and maybe what you’ve been missing out on. And so you can put this into your classroom. Let’s go. Oh, well.

00:01:14:22 – 00:01:17:23
Kyle Pearce
Welcome to the Making Math Moments That Matter podcast.

00:01:17:23 – 00:01:22:02
Jon Orr
I’m Kyle Pierce and I’m John or we are from Make up moments Dcop.

00:01:22:04 – 00:01:32:03
Kyle Pearce
This is the only podcast that coaches you through a six step plan to grow your mathematics program, whether it’s at the classroom level or at the district level.

00:01:32:04 – 00:01:47:07
Jon Orr
And we do that by helping you cultivate in foster your mathematics program like strong, healthy and balanced SRI. So if you master the six parts of an effective mathematics program, the impact that you are going to have on your teachers, your students will grow and reach far and wide.

00:01:47:09 – 00:02:01:18
Kyle Pearce
Every week you’ll get the insight you need to stop feeling overwhelmed, gain back your confidence and get back to enjoying the planning and facilitating of your mathematics program for the students or the educators that you serve.

00:02:01:20 – 00:02:19:13
Jon Orr
Hey. Hey there, Amy. Welcome to the Making Math Moments That Matter podcast. We are excited to talk to you about your journeys and I’ll say journeys, plural, because you’ve got a journey on your hands and I think you’re currently still on this journey. We want to share what you’ve been learning on this journey with the math more maker community.

00:02:19:13 – 00:02:28:11
Jon Orr
So before we dig in to all of that, do us a favor. Introduce yourself to the audience and then where abouts in the world are you coming from?

00:02:28:13 – 00:03:01:14
Amy Bride
Oh, thank you very much. My name is Amy Bryd and I have been teaching in northern Massachusetts for 24 years about I started as a first grade teacher and then I became a fourth grade teacher because I got my principals license. And so I needed a little more diversity in my teaching background. So I did fourth grade, then fifth grade back to fourth and became a district math coach because I was working with the fourth grade and became really curious about math.

00:03:01:14 – 00:03:22:16
Amy Bride
So then I became the district math coach. And as the district math coach, I became even more curious about math. So then I wondered how math was taught in other countries. And so this year I’ve been taking a year’s leave to do a sabbatical type research on watching nine year olds learn math.

00:03:22:18 – 00:03:42:24
Kyle Pearce
I love it. I love it. I am so interested in digging into your math moment because when you had said that you had been teaching in first and fourth and fifth and then back to fourth, and then you were sort of intrigued by mathematics. I don’t want to say too much more because I don’t want me to make any assumptions here.

00:03:42:24 – 00:04:04:00
Kyle Pearce
But I’m curious, It sounds to me like you may have been more recently intrigued by mathematics than, say, when you began your career. But I want you to unpack for us when we say math or math class, what moment pops into your mind that you remember from your learning experience?

00:04:04:02 – 00:04:14:05
Amy Bride
Flashcards As third, fourth grade student, you had to know your multiplication facts exhilarating.

00:04:14:07 – 00:04:34:12
Kyle Pearce
Not Yeah. Yeah. It’s. Tell me more about that. Like, was it a good or a bad thing? What did that do for you when you think about it, are you thinking like, because John was the kid that actually liked it, Because it was like that was affirmation that like I got stickers, I guess. But for other kids, it’s the opposite, right?

00:04:34:12 – 00:04:50:05
Kyle Pearce
It’s like, Oh my gosh, I’m like, horrible at this. I’m not a math person. So what was that like for you? And then take us a little further down the road to like, what does that mean for you when you got into education and I guess comparing to where you are now and what you’re focusing in on.

00:04:50:07 – 00:05:30:21
Amy Bride
So flashcards were originally an easy win. You know, every Friday we had the multiplication test. I could memorize the facts for the 20 problems in a minute or whatever they would do kind of thing. So that was sort of an easy win until you had to use it for something better and you had to use it going forward, like for the long division and those kinds of things where I notice flashcards constantly coming back to me is in my travels for fourth grade math because often the students in my classes may or may not know their math facts and then traveling and learning.

00:05:30:21 – 00:05:55:18
Amy Bride
Now, the way I’ve been using and learning and doing math is through the newer methods that I might not know the fact, but I might know a helper fact or I might know a way to arrive at the answer by using some other method than just memorizing. And so that really became kind of the start of my excitement for math.

00:05:55:18 – 00:06:12:08
Amy Bride
Like I had never thought about multiplication problems other than memorizing and then using them for something else. And then when I started seeing there are so many other ways to do it, I thought that was really exciting. It made me more curious. And then I was wondering, like you’re saying, I’m on several journeys on this journey this year.

00:06:12:08 – 00:06:27:17
Amy Bride
I’m in Greece right now coming to you from Leros Island, and I was just wondering how other countries do their math because that’s a very, very common math standard in every country that have been to in Europe so far.

00:06:27:19 – 00:06:45:07
Jon Orr
Yeah, I think I want to dig in on that experience in specifically, we can talk multiplication, but other things, because I think we in the classroom teachers in North America, I wonder this for a long time is because we used to have international students come to us and be a part of our classrooms for a month, two months, sometimes a semester, sometimes a year.

00:06:45:09 – 00:07:06:06
Jon Orr
And you often wondered what is happening outside of our bubble, our bubble here in our little town, and then our bubble here in our province or our state. And then it’s like, well, what else is happening in our bubble in the country or in North America? We tend to kind of like live in our bubbles, but we often kind of go, Hmm, these are the students I see on a regular basis.

00:07:06:06 – 00:07:23:13
Jon Orr
And year after year after year, you see similarities in students, but they’re all from the same place. You’re not tend to move around a ton. Now, if you do, you’re probably seeing similarities within the country. But this is why I thought we wanted to kind of chat with you about this, is to think like what is some of those differences?

00:07:23:13 – 00:07:47:11
Jon Orr
Like what are we seeing outside of the country? Like we all grew up with flashcards. It’s the thing we all learned through flashcards in Europe where on most of us we’re listening to this podcast right now are on the journey that you’re saying is we are looking at and exploring different strategies and help our facts. I like that they all that term that you used to solve a problem or complete a multiplication statement.

00:07:47:13 – 00:08:05:11
Jon Orr
So I’m going to throw it back at you. You are on this journey. You’re in Greece. I think you were in Italy before this. There was a couple other countries you’re bouncing around you and what are you see? Let’s talk specifically multiplication. Like, are you seeing flashcards in these classrooms? Are you seeing the strategies that we’re focusing on here in in our classrooms?

00:08:05:13 – 00:08:08:19
Jon Orr
Talk to us about like what you’re actually seeing and what you’re seeing kids do.

00:08:08:24 – 00:08:36:18
Amy Bride
Yes. To all of that. So I have seen flashcards used, say, as the start of the lesson or the end of a lesson. I’ve seen teachers randomly call out facts, that kind of thing. I’ve also seen where in certain countries, like in Italy, in Spain and Denmark, they asked me how I would teach it, and so they asked me to show them what they would do.

00:08:36:18 – 00:08:55:13
Amy Bride
And it was sort of similar in a lot of ways. Like in Germany, they used what I called the help of facts. So if they were doing like 12 times six, they would do well, you know, ten times six and two times six. Now, add those together to get the 72 once and they would do that. That was the way they would start their lessons, things like that.

00:08:55:13 – 00:09:22:02
Amy Bride
Often the multiplication was used as the start of the lessons in Croatia. I saw them using here. They don’t drink the water out of the tap in a lot of the places I visited in Europe. So they use plastic bottles and they have the plastic bottle tops that the teacher had kept and just kept a collection, a massive collection of them, and use those to create arrays so students could see multiplication facts as they were laid out in arrays.

00:09:22:02 – 00:09:47:01
Amy Bride
And then she was working with the properties of multiplication to see how you can arrange it this way to make the distributive property, that kind of thing. And so it was really interesting in that way. I also seen that some people are using starting or sort of beginning with the building thinking classrooms and West knowing Joe Buller in Sweden, there’s a woman named Ola Old Burke, and she has something called Seeing Man.

00:09:47:04 – 00:10:08:15
Amy Bride
And so she does it’s very similar. Things seem very much in line with all those math and figure out of all Pam Harris type things. And in Spain and in Germany, I also saw the open number line and things like that for when they would try and add to get to the they would separate the number and then they would try and add it back to get to the product in the end.

00:10:08:15 – 00:10:17:19
Amy Bride
And so there were so many different ways that were all very much aligned with what we are doing. There is also traditional. And so I saw all of that.

00:10:17:21 – 00:10:39:01
Kyle Pearce
So I’m super curious because what it sounds like to me at a very this is very high level is that there’s a lot of what you’re seeing here in North America. But what I’m wondering is anecdotally, what is your thought? You’re probably going to run into availability bias here because you’re only seeing so many classrooms in so many places.

00:10:39:01 – 00:11:08:15
Kyle Pearce
But I’m wondering, like, what are you seeing that is maybe standing out to you? Are you seeing some similarities to what you noticed going on here? Like in I’ll give you an example here just to hopefully articulate my question a little more is when I walk into a classroom and I see you were talking about flashcards, when I see sort of this rote practice, what I don’t see is I don’t see kids sort of like engaging in math discourse at that time.

00:11:08:15 – 00:11:28:02
Kyle Pearce
Doesn’t mean it’s not happening any other times or I don’t see students with these big smiles on their faces. They’re just jumping for joy. What are you noticing? What’s standing out to you about some of the things that you’re seeing that maybe are similar? And then maybe contrast that with maybe some of the things that are different that maybe are standing out to you as well.

00:11:28:04 – 00:11:51:17
Amy Bride
Stand out idea comes from Prague and they were using something called the Haney method, this professor at the university there, I think it’s the Charles University. He started this teaching method and I saw students cheering for math class, literally cheering. And they did this beautiful thing of making math a story that, you know, how we strive for that.

00:11:51:17 – 00:12:12:23
Amy Bride
And they did this beautiful thing of making every part of that math lesson a story. Grant do they only was there a short time, like you said, that I’ve only hit the tip of the iceberg here. I just want to keep going and going. But this hating method was beautiful, it showing math as a story. And so in the beginning of one lesson, the teacher sat down.

00:12:12:24 – 00:12:31:06
Amy Bride
The students read a circle on the rug with the teacher, and she had a hat. And underneath the hat she was telling a story. Now this is all in Czech. I can’t understand a single thing, and I’m just sitting there waiting with bated breath to see what they’re going to do. And I see that they a teacher is saying something about her sons or something like that.

00:12:31:06 – 00:12:54:06
Amy Bride
She’s kids or somehow I figured that out. And under that hat she has six sets of socks and she says that she has two sons. So the student gets all excited. They’re all talking to each other, and then they share out that each son can get three pairs of socks because she has six socks, two sons, and then they write it on the board and then they share it and continue to do it that way.

00:12:54:06 – 00:13:21:23
Amy Bride
And so it was the story around that that kept the students engaged. And then in another classroom in Prague, I saw something that hits on the culture of life there because the students ride the public bus to get to school there and they have a game called bus stop where the students each they just took a random box, made it a bus, and then the students came in with toilet paper rolls and made them into people riding the bus.

00:13:21:23 – 00:13:41:13
Amy Bride
And there are more than themselves. And then it goes into positive and negative numbers that way because they the number of people getting on and the number of people getting off at the bus stop again cheering for math in that classroom. So there I would say that Prague was definitely a standout as far as the cheering for math.

00:13:41:15 – 00:13:45:19
Amy Bride
Sorry, go back to your other part of the question. I get so excited.

00:13:45:21 – 00:14:04:07
Jon Orr
Yeah, thinking about differences. So I think you kind of saying like here sounds like what you’re saying is teaching through story and I would agree with this too is that it’s not very common over here. We’re not seeing that on a regular basis, whereas you saw that in Prague as like a stand out moment, memorable moment for you.

00:14:04:09 – 00:14:20:15
Jon Orr
That’s different than, say, what’s happening at home on a regular basis. And that was that question was like, well, what are you seeing? That’s like standing out as something that you were like, Hey, because part of it is I know that you’re going to go back in to be the coach in your home district. So it’s kind of like, Well, what are you bringing back with you?

00:14:20:15 – 00:14:39:03
Jon Orr
What do you see as like those things that we like that was a standout moment. That’s actually a really great strategy here that I haven’t seen before. And that’s really the question is so so what else is kind of standing out as like these are things that I’m seeing that I normally don’t see that I wish more teachers from North America would do or be exposed to.

00:14:39:08 – 00:15:07:23
Amy Bride
The exposure piece is huge because the impact of culture on math, what’s that show on sells cultural surround. You know how important all that is? I would not have known that had I not done this, because one of the schools I went to I was connected with from a former student who is German, and he was the most fantastic student roll follower wanting to succeed, persevere, always trying to get to the right answer.

00:15:08:03 – 00:15:35:17
Amy Bride
And I had no idea. I just thought he was a great student. Right. And then I get to Germany, and that is the cultural norm. The same thing in Scandinavia. They have this cultural way of being that’s a very collectivist way of being rather than I’m clearly used to the north American individual style, whereas the kids in one of the schools that I went to, the teacher left the room for a few minutes and everybody just kept on going and nobody had a problem.

00:15:35:17 – 00:15:46:16
Amy Bride
They’re just sort of helping each other. And I was happily impressed with her discipline in it. And everybody said, it’s not discipline, but she did all I mean, that’s just our culture, a way of being.

00:15:46:18 – 00:16:12:08
Kyle Pearce
I love that. I love that. It reminds me when I was in Norway, I did that. Nor can project we actually have an episode where we brought Craig Guthrie on and we had Jim Strachan, who was a part of the North Camp project, and you reminded me of this one classroom we were visiting. We walked into the classroom and the kids were there, and I’ll be honest, it looked like a North American classroom from work ethic, sort of what you would anticipate.

00:16:12:08 – 00:16:30:05
Kyle Pearce
So there were some kids kind of joking around a little bit, and then there was a group of kids kind of working hard. And just a typical thing that you might see in a typical classroom where and no behaviors by any means. So we’re not talking about this being in a wild class by any means. It was just kids doing their thing.

00:16:30:05 – 00:16:50:12
Kyle Pearce
They were high school students, probably around a grade ten, age. And I walked up to one of the students and I said, Well, where’s your teacher? Your teacher’s not here. And the student’s like, Yeah, he is. And I’m like, No, no, there was nobody here. He’s like, He’s on the tour with you. And I, like, turned around and the teacher, that was his class and they just didn’t have a teacher that day.

00:16:50:14 – 00:17:08:05
Kyle Pearce
So like I came to class and imagine that in a North American classroom, it’s like, no, there would be you can’t open the door to the classroom because of, you know, liability, because of all of these things. And this group had come in. There was what they needed to do up on the board and kind of what they needed to work on to work on independently.

00:17:08:05 – 00:17:29:02
Kyle Pearce
Now, again, I want to clarify, though, it wasn’t like you could hear a pin drop and everyone was doing exactly what they were supposed to do. They were being teenagers, but very appropriately. And it just sort of hit me when you were describing that scenario that this particular class, that they were trusted in order to be able to come into class and do what they need to do.

00:17:29:02 – 00:17:54:07
Kyle Pearce
And ultimately at the end, there was some accountability there. But this sort of sets me up for the next question I have for you is what are you seeing in terms of we’ll call it overall work ethic or maybe I’ll call it the value, like the value that the students, which of course would be instilled by teachers and parents and so forth in terms of math, study is in certain countries.

00:17:54:07 – 00:18:18:12
Kyle Pearce
That is a really important thing. And it’s very students are very focused and honed in. I’m wondering, what are you noticing? Do you, when you walk into a classroom, feel like it just feels kind of like a typical North American classroom, or are there any sort of standouts that you’re noticing where students are maybe more focused, more engaged, or putting in a harder effort, or are you seeing something different?

00:18:18:14 – 00:18:46:20
Amy Bride
It’s a mix. So I would say there are some classrooms that look like any North American classroom. And then there are some that you walk in, you take your shoes off, you put your indoor shoes or your slippers on, and then you get to work. And some have like in Germany, the students use those fountain pens so that somehow brought the work to a different level for them in their notebooks when they were writing.

00:18:46:20 – 00:19:10:10
Amy Bride
I don’t know how to describe that. Again, it’s a cultural piece that was interesting. Just like the putting your slippers on in school or walking around in your socks during math class. And then I would say overall, I did feel like the students were independent. In a way that’s something different than what I’ve seen in my teaching experience.

00:19:10:12 – 00:19:26:05
Amy Bride
And that was that they were sort of personally responsible for their items, for keeping their body in control in a different way, that then what we have had in the U.S., I don’t know how to describe that exactly.

00:19:26:07 – 00:19:42:10
Jon Orr
When soon as you said that. I think I basically linked it to what you guys were just saying before. Chew about not being in the classroom and the class just going on as if they could be independent. They could take ownership of their own learning. They didn’t need that teacher like put their thumb on them at all times.

00:19:42:10 – 00:20:01:01
Jon Orr
And I wonder and this is just a thought I had just even today, is that I wonder if we’re doing this to ourselves. You know, I used to think this about parenting is kind of like you want your kids to be more independent, but then are you helicoptering them so that you’re actually preventing them from doing that? Well, you had said this here in North America, we would be like, you can’t leave the classroom because of liability.

00:20:01:01 – 00:20:16:23
Jon Orr
And it’s like, Yeah, that’s true. We don’t want to do that. But are we like, are all these rules that we putting into place are all these things that we’re assuming kids can’t learn? You have to be there to make sure that they’re like on pace getting this done, Like we’re taking all this ownership away from them. I think that feels like that to me.

00:20:16:23 – 00:20:39:08
Jon Orr
And I don’t know if you’re feeling like that here in North America, too, Amy is like, whereas maybe there are like these other countries that are saying keeping that independence, keeping that ownership back on the learning more than us, or it’s like maybe it’s still hit miss based off what classroom we’re going to. But I can’t help but think like, are we if we want to create independent thinkers and I think this is a Dan Meyer line like we just need to be less helpful.

00:20:39:09 – 00:20:57:12
Jon Orr
We need to like have a conscious effort that these are the things we want to do to be to create independent thinkers. But we have to take a step back and go like, we’re not going to like, structure every second of your day or every section of your time, but we’re going to help you make good decisions so that you can learn how to be independent, learn how to be a thinker.

00:20:57:12 – 00:21:04:09
Jon Orr
So I don’t know if you’re seeing that similar connection in some of these classrooms that you’re visiting.

00:21:04:11 – 00:21:32:04
Amy Bride
Great point. I think it’s one of those things you’re raising your kids and my nieces and nephews are in that era of safety ism because in the US we where we are in North America, Canada too, we worry a lot about safety for our students, for our children. I know as a teacher I worry and I’ve over helped probably too many students because I want them to succeed as many of the teachers do, especially the ones that I hear on your show.

00:21:32:04 – 00:21:57:21
Amy Bride
And you’re right, if we set them up better for that productive struggle that we keep talking about as being a necessary part of their learning. And we set parents up to understand that too, because I think it’s that’s got to be a hard balance for parents. As and I hear it with you, when you said like, well, I didn’t want to say anything to my kids teacher, but and then having your child try and go in and talk to the teacher, that’s a hard thing to to correct the adults.

00:21:57:23 – 00:22:24:01
Amy Bride
So creating that balance is tricky. I do think there are certain ways that it’s inherent in the in that culture and in the schools, because the aisles at 7:00 in the morning in Germany on the public bus, getting to the same school, those kids were at eight years old carrying their little metro cart to the school. I don’t think I would see that without a parent where I’m from in Boston area, I don’t think I would see that.

00:22:24:01 – 00:22:41:13
Amy Bride
So that inherently helps them to be calm, independent on their own. That’s just one way. And so then when they get to school, I do. They are certainly responsible for their own belongings, their own things like that. There are students who are forgetful. I did see that, but it wasn’t an issue in the classes. They just moved on.

00:22:41:13 – 00:23:01:20
Amy Bride
And then students were sort of asked or expected to be differently independent insofar as having their own belongings. And if they forgot their sneakers, their mom didn’t drop them off. They just didn’t go to whatever that was that day or they left it or the sneakers were there for some other reason or something like that.

00:23:01:20 – 00:23:42:24
Kyle Pearce
Yeah, well, the one thing that I’m curious about and it sounds like there’s, of course, many similarities. We’re all human, we’re in different places and there’s different cultural sort of influences. On how we learn, how we value education, how we maybe teach the mathematics. And my wonder for you is now that you’ve engaged in this experience, if you were to tomorrow you go back to the classroom, what would you say is maybe the biggest idea take away thing that you might do differently now that you’ve had this experience compared to before you left on this journey?

00:23:43:01 – 00:23:50:06
Amy Bride
That’s exactly what I’m going to be doing. I’m going into fourth grade to see how I will respond.

00:23:50:08 – 00:23:55:05
Kyle Pearce
And now I want you to envision it. What’s that going to look like when you go back?

00:23:55:05 – 00:24:21:10
Amy Bride
So I definitely need to foster more independence and not worry as much. I always worry about the standards. And you were talking about standards. In the U.S. we have the Common Core and the state standards, and Massachusetts is pretty strong on the standards and keeping aligned with our programs with that for our math. So I was like, how can I do that and do building thinking classrooms in there?

00:24:21:10 – 00:24:44:08
Amy Bride
Because I saw that I was invited to middle schools, three middle schools, which I didn’t even think I would enjoy when I was away. But in one middle school, this teacher just did building thinking classrooms so well that she was in Croatia and that we got together afterwards because then I was doing the coaching. That teacher coaching is in student centered learning and I said, Would you want to try it?

00:24:44:08 – 00:25:09:14
Amy Bride
So we did it for volume and we did it for circles for her class. And so now we’re going to do it back. She’s going to work with me when I get back. So we’re going to go continue this conversation around that to make sure that I can try and get all those building thinking classroom pieces in there, keep the math pieces going, and use what I now know about culture and the impact of culture for equity, inclusion, language, everything.

00:25:09:14 – 00:25:20:21
Amy Bride
Like it’s so huge. So I want to continue that and hopefully inspire other teachers to do what I’ve done because I would like to set those up for anybody who is interested.

00:25:20:23 – 00:25:43:23
Jon Orr
Love it. And I think that’s one of the I find that one of the best parts of our careers, our jobs, is blending different approaches, bringing different strategies, blending different pedagogical techniques, you know, that fit your personality for your students personalities. That’s my favorite part, is trying to figure out what is going to work here today for these students in this room on this topic.

00:25:43:23 – 00:26:04:03
Jon Orr
Even, and being creative enough to kind of bring these ideas together. And I think you’re getting exposed to different things to help you formulate like what is the blend look like and that’s super exciting for you to kind of keep going on that journey and learn more and more and more so that you can come back and show us all how to blend in different ways that maybe we hadn’t seen before.

00:26:04:05 – 00:26:23:15
Jon Orr
Amy, I want to thank you for joining us here on the podcast to share the experiences you’ve had so far on this journey across. Sounds like Europe right now and we would love to have you back a little bit later and see once you come back to the classroom, come back to supporting teachers who were in your district, what did you kind of put into place and what does that look like now?

00:26:23:18 – 00:26:25:00
Jon Orr
Would you be open for that?

00:26:25:02 – 00:26:46:05
Amy Bride
Absolutely, Yes. I have to keep going with this because now anybody who has an Italian student, I can tell you you need they’ll know money. They understand cash because they use it. But a Swedish student won’t because nobody uses cash. So it’s all those little takeaways like that that I have. And if anybody’s interested in doing like, I would love to continue.

00:26:46:05 – 00:27:06:19
Amy Bride
I think I told you last time we talked about math, £10. If anybody’s interested in having international math pen pals, I would love to connect your class with a class in any of these countries in Europe I’ve been to. If anybody would like help in setting up, I had now have so many connections who are wanting to work with us.

00:27:06:21 – 00:27:17:07
Jon Orr
Well, where can they go and learn? I know that you’ve got a website and you’re kind of blogging at your way through this, so let everybody know where you can go. Read about your adventures and learn a little bit more about the pen pal idea.

00:27:17:09 – 00:27:36:19
Amy Bride
It’s world to math w0rld the number to math met dot com and my email is a me world to math at gmail.com. And you can see me there and you can see my blogs and I’ll set up some places so that people can reach me there for services like that.

00:27:36:19 – 00:27:59:10
Kyle Pearce
I love it. I love it. World to math dot com the number two and folks you can reach out to Amy there Amy it’s been awesome having you here and sharing some of your experiences once again thank you On behalf of the math moment maker community and hey, good luck as you gear up for this new school year back on home ground.

00:27:59:12 – 00:28:00:15
Amy Bride
Yes.

00:28:00:17 – 00:28:01:14
Jon Orr
All right. Thanks, Amy.

00:28:01:15 – 00:28:03:22
Amy Bride
Thank you very much.

00:28:03:24 – 00:28:25:18
Jon Orr
Okay. I hope you enjoyed that interview with Amy. And I know that I’m excited to bring Amy back onto the show a little later when she returns to her coaching position and her teaching position in her district and starts to do some of that comparison and bring into her classroom some of the practices that she shared with this here on the podcast that she’s brought from other countries.

00:28:25:18 – 00:28:51:15
Jon Orr
And if you think about parts of our Qri, we talked specifically about some teaching moves as the branches of our tree, which is, you know, our pedagogical content knowledge. Our teacher moves to strengthen up classroom experiences for our students. We talked a lot about that. We talked about the soil, the water, the sunlight, which is kind of like our mindsets and our beliefs around what education is and what other countries are and how they’re viewing educational practices and educational philosophies.

00:28:51:15 – 00:29:11:05
Jon Orr
So we want to always strengthen the six parts of our trees. And I think we helped you do that here today. And maybe there’s another part of the tree that you you were like, John, I strengthened or I thought about strengthening this part from the show here today. Hey, reach out to us on any social media platform at McMath moments and we want to hear about it.

00:29:11:05 – 00:29:37:12
Jon Orr
We want to hear what is the piece of the tree that you strengthened. If you want to learn more about the tree and the six parts of an effective mathematics classroom tree and maybe which part you should focus on more going into the school year or if you’re listening to this later and it’s midway through the school year, you’re saying, Hey, I want to strengthen my classroom tree up, We’ll send you a full report head on over to make map moments dot com for this report.

00:29:37:14 – 00:29:52:09
Jon Orr
Click a button there and sign up And we’re going to basically give you a little assessment, kind of an audit of what’s happening in your classroom. And then we send you a customized report to say, Hey, these are the areas of the tree you should focus on first and give you some next steps on how to strengthen those up.

00:29:52:09 – 00:30:14:02
Jon Orr
So head on over to make that moment dot com for such report and and get started over there folks I want to thank you for joining us here on this episode of the podcast. If you’ve listened before, please leave a rating review. If this is the first time you’ve listened, then welcome. And don’t forget to hit the subscribe or follow button so you can get notified of the episodes as we put them out every Monday morning, early Monday morning.

00:30:14:02 – 00:30:22:22
Jon Orr
You can catch that episode there to listen on your way to work or while you’re working out or whatever floats your boat. But thanks for joining us.

00:30:22:24 – 00:30:27:09
Kyle Pearce
All right, their math moment makers. Until next time. I’m Kyle.

00:30:27:09 – 00:30:35:08
Jon Orr
Pierce. And I am John or high fives for us. And a high bar for you. Oh.

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