Math Chat Mondays #3: The Benefit of Routines in Math Instruction
A Math Moment with John SanGiovanni, K-5 Reveal Math Author
Welcome to Math Chat Mondays, a series where we highlight many of the expert authors, advisors, and thought leaders behind our new Reveal Math K-5 core mathematics program. Each Monday we will introduce a Reveal Math contributor, asking them questions about their mathematical research and expertise, their contributions to the Reveal Math curriculum, and above all, why they are passionate about all things math. Read on to meet our third guest, John SanGiovanni!
Meet John SanGiovanni!
John SanGiovanni, who currently serves on the NCSM Board of Directors, is an elementary mathematics supervisor in Howard County, MD, where he oversees mathematics curriculum, digital learning, assessment, and professional development. He is the coauthor of the best-selling Daily Routines to Jumpstart Math Class and Productive Math Struggle. He is an adjunct instructor and coordinator of the Elementary Mathematics Instructional Leader graduate program at McDaniel College as well as a national consultant for curriculum and professional development. You can follow him on Twitter @JohnSanGiovanni.
1. Why have you chosen a career supporting math classrooms?
I have always loved mathematics and solving problems. It comes from a love of playing board/yard games, playing with Legos, and love of sports (and statistics). I discovered at an early age I thought about math differently than others (or at least differently than the way it was taught). For example, strategies that have become mainstream like partials and adjusting were something I used but weren’t endorsed by my math teachers. This combined with my passions for teaching and learning. I was lucky to have opportunities early in my career to pursue math education and even more lucky to have exceptional mentors and supervisors.
2. How do you encourage students to enjoy math?
I think you help them see how math plays a role in their everyday life. Math is a tool for whatever they want to do or are doing for that matter.
Math gives individuals power over their hobbies, interests, and professions. Math itself is nurtured through puzzle and play rather than procedure and drill.
3. Describe Instructional Routines and how educators might use them effectively today.
Instructional routines are familiar, yet adaptable, protocols that provide structure and flow to a mathematics classroom. They can be leveraged for developing number sense, problem-solving, and language development. Teachers can use them effectively by learning about them, planning for them, modifying them, and well simply using them everyday.
Watch John’s webinar with District Administration below:
4. How did you get involved with Reveal Math and what are you most excited about?
Being part of a special, large scale project, like developing a textbook series has been a professional dream for as long as I remember. But it also had to be the right project with the right potential and the right cast of characters. MHE (via Linda Gojak) introduced me to Reveal Math and invited me to review some of the early developments. That blossomed into me becoming an author/advisor.
I’m excited about many of the new features that to me are game changers. In no particular order:
- Teacher choice as to how they implement the lesson.
- A unit dedicated to SEL, community, identity, and the math practices (this is really big).
- A program that starts each and every lesson with a number sense routine.
- A program that makes use of student curiosity and wonderment by framing each lesson in a problem.
- Each lesson/problem leveraging a reasoning routine such as Notice and Wonder, Which One Doesn’t Belong, etc.
- A robust elearning/distance learning solution.
Learn more about using mathematical practices in the classroom:
5. What is the most important aspect of elementary mathematics today and how do you see it evolving?
I think the most pressing issue in elementary mathematics — if not all of mathematics — is equitable access for each and every student. This includes access to highly-skilled teachers, to high-quality resources, to high-expectations, and so many other things that form what mathematics teaching and learning should/must be. Access to high-quality teaching practices and rigorous content positions students to have options about what they want to pursue in life.
For tips on promoting equity in mathematics instruction, read our blog below:
6. What is your fondest math memory?
I have so many. I think one of them has to be the day an elementary student taught her very young/inexperienced teacher intern about square numbers. Simply, she observed that rectangles were squares when both factors were the same. Obviously, the teacher (me) wasn’t going to teach third-graders about square numbers. The best part is that I really never knew why they were called square numbers. I was taught squares and square roots, etc. BUT my learning of math never dwelled in concepts or visuals. So, even though I could compute them (pretty well I might add), I didn’t make the connection about WHY they were called squares. Keep in mind I was 21. After this “discovery” I then figured out why they were called cube numbers.
