Join us for our new podcast called Math and Other Things! I’m Courtney Flessner, and I’ve spent the past 25 years of my educational career deepening my understanding of the very best ways to meet the needs of students because I believe every child should have the opportunity to learn. Over the years, I’ve discovered a lot about teaching. But you know what I found deep in my soul? Math. I’ve settled on a mission to help students – and teachers – realize we are all math people. We can teach math in ways that are so compelling, not only can we change the narrative of “math isn’t really my thing,” we might even have a little fun while doing so.

In our new podcast, we will create a space where we examine the small steps you can take to make big change in your classrooms and schools. As educators, we are charged with creating cultures where children are inspired to inquire, explore, and take risks. We want them to ask questions, debate, and eventually agree on the solutions they find to the problems they face. As the instructional leaders in our classrooms and schools, we must be willing to take risks as we create these collaborative environments. When we do so, our students and their unique thinking thrives, and every member of the classroom is empowered to be the architect of their learning.

Each episode of Math and Other Things podcast will highlight a topic in schools and/or the world of mathematics, include thoughts, suggestions, stories, and anecdotes from educators in the field, higher education, or perhaps other educational thought leaders, and hopefully leave you inspired to make a baby step in your own classroom or school. We’ll talk about math – but we’ll also talk about other things because the teaching and learning of mathematics does not live in a world by itself. It’s using what we know about how children learn, how schools are organized so every child can be successful, and who we are as educators and individuals that makes us the very best educators we can be – even in mathematics!