Beyond My Years

Helping students "not hate" math, starring Ian Brown

In the second part of our special Beyond My Years two-part math series, Ana is joined by Ian Brown, second-grade teacher at Mukilteo School District in Washington and author of the comic book I Hate Math, for a conversation focused on reducing math anxiety and creating positive math experiences. Ian shares his approach to helping students who genuinely dislike math, describing how he helps them get to a place where math success feels manageable and achievable. Together, Ian and Ana explore the power of honoring students' real feelings; creating classroom environments where mistakes don't carry shame; and using storytelling, humor, and metaphors to make abstract concepts concrete. Finally, Ana is joined by Classroom Insider Eric Cross to discuss making math feel safe, ways to give students both story and stage, and how the foundational work of differentiation and meeting students where they are is critical to the work of educators. Show notes: * Read I Hate Math by Ian Brown [https://www.amazon.com/I-Hate-Math-Ian-Brown/dp/B0CKTQ1WS1]. * Subscribe to Advice for the Math Classroom on Amplify’s YouTube channel: amplify.com/mathclassroomadvice  [https://www.youtube.com/@AdvicefortheMathClassroom]. * Subscribe to Advice for the Literacy Classroom on Amplify’s YouTube channel: amplify.com/literacyclassroomadvice [https://www.youtube.com/@AdvicefortheLiteracyClassroom]. * Follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/amplify.education/]. * Subscribe to Beyond My Years [https://amplify.com/beyond-my-years]. * Connect with Ana Torres [https://www.linkedin.com/in/anayansi-ana-torres-m-ed-26a10654/]. * Connect with Eric Cross [https://www.ericcross.org/]. Quotes:  "You can't force someone to love something or to like something. But you can kind of talk them into not hating something." —Ian Brown "I hate shaming children. I hate shaming anyone. I think shame is the most insidious thing in the world." —Ian Brown "Math is just a description of the world around us. We live in the world, we can do it." —Ian Brown "I don't attach any value to success or failure. I only attach value to hard work and kindness." —Ian Brown "It's gonna be a grind. We're gonna be here for 180 some days. Well, let's have fun doing it." —Ian Brown "You have to feel your feelings so you can think your thoughts." —Eric Cross "The boring work is the real work." —Eric Cross "You need both culture and rigor. If you have culture without rigor, then learning is hollow. If you have rigor without culture, that's what made students hate the subject." —Eric Cross

Putting teacher voices at the center of math adoption, starring Matt Cash

In the first episode of a special Beyond My Year two-part math series, Ana chats with Matt Cash, director of elementary curriculum and instruction for Lake Elsinore Unified School District, in California, about math leadership and change management. Matt shares his experience helping move his district from a localized approach to a unified system to provide centralized resources, professional development, and assessment. Together, Matt and Ana discuss the importance of listening to educators during adoption processes, the power of creating systems that support teachers, and the best ways to build unity around instructional approaches. Matt also shares practical advice for educators navigating curriculum reviews and pilots. Before the episode's end, Ana is joined by Classroom Insider Eric Cross, who reflects on how teachers can use their voices early in adoption processes, pilot with fidelity, and give themselves grace during implementation. Show notes: * Check out the full change management bundle [https://amplify.com/mathchangemanagement] — including the change management playbook— at amplify.com/MathChangeManagement [https://amplify.com/mathchangemanagement] * Subscribe to Advice for the Math Classroom [https://www.youtube.com/@AdvicefortheMathClassroom] on Amplify's YouTube channel: amplify.com/mathclassroomadvice [https://www.youtube.com/@AdvicefortheMathClassroom].  * Check out our new math change management playlist [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4qTTtnilmF7VRFVZgkrAnyG7xD-e1dVD]! * Check out our new student-centered math practices playlist [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTL1bhWq-mo&list=PL4qTTtnilmF437j8hELV_f9qk8gulc_58]! * Subscribe to Advice for the Literacy Classroom [https://www.youtube.com/@AdvicefortheLiteracyClassroom] on Amplify's YouTube channel: amplify.com/literacyclassroomadvice [https://www.youtube.com/@AdvicefortheLiteracyClassroom]. * Follow us [https://www.instagram.com/amplify.education/] on Instagram. * Subscribe [https://amplify.com/beyond-my-years] to Beyond My Years. * Connect with Ana Torres [https://www.linkedin.com/in/anayansi-ana-torres-m-ed-26a10654/]. * Connect with Eric Cross [https://www.ericcross.org/].  Quotes: "When you're removing variability out of your system, quality is going up." —Matt Cash "Professionals are obsessed with the idea of getting better." —Matt Cash "Advocate for your kids." —Matt Cash "Give yourself grace in year one, but stay engaged and keep asking for support." —Eric Cross "Instead of quietly struggling and going back to old materials, put that energy into requests and make your voice heard." —Eric Cross "Sometimes the buy-in comes when we understand things better." —Eric Cross

Season 2 wrap-up: Six takeaways from Ana and Eric

Host Ana Torres and Classroom Insider Eric Cross recently recorded a video with their six takeaways from Season 2 of the Beyond My Years podcast. Listen right here, or watch the takeaways video on our new YouTube channels, linked below. * Watch: Beyond My Years season two wrap-up [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2i0dTwHAexo] * Catch videos of host Ana Torres and Classroom Insider Eric Cross on our new YouTube Channels: * @AdviceForTheMathClassroom [https://www.youtube.com/@AdvicefortheMathClassroom] * @AdviceForTheLiteracyClassroom [https://www.youtube.com/@AdvicefortheLiteracyClassroom]

Special: Building Literacy Across The Curriculum: Why Every Teacher Is a Reading Teacher

In this special episode, we're bringing you an inspiring conversation from a recent edWebinar that will transform how you approach literacy across every subject area.  Join Ana Torres, Beyond My Years podcast host, Eric Cross, our Classroom Insider, and Susan Lambert, host of our sister podcast, Science of Reading: The Podcast as they share how literacy fits into every subject area, why this is such an important topic, and what it looks like in practice.  In this episode, you'll: - Discover strategies to weave literacy seamlessly into your classroom. - Learn strategies and tactics for supporting multilingual learners. - Get strategies for developing academic language across all subjects. - Explore what literacy instruction looks like in an adolescent classroom.  Show notes: * Watch the Beyond My Years season two wrap-up [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2i0dTwHAexo] * Catch videos of host Ana Torres and Classroom Insider Eric Cross on our new YouTube Channels: * @AdviceForTheMathClassroom [https://www.youtube.com/@AdvicefortheMathClassroom] * @AdviceForTheLiteracyClassroom [https://www.youtube.com/@AdvicefortheLiteracyClassroom] * Watch the edWebinar video and earn CE credits [https://home.edweb.net/webinar/literacyhero20260225/] * Subscribe to Beyond My Years [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-my-years/id1754361513] * Subscribe to Science of Reading: The Podcast [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/science-of-reading-the-podcast/id1483513974]

Embracing productive beliefs to transform your teaching, starring Mike Flynn

To celebrate this second season of Beyond My Years, Ana is joined by Mike Flynn, nationally recognized expert in mathematics education and online learning. He explains how "disorienting dilemmas" can bolster our productive beliefs and lead to transformative change in our teaching. Mike and Ana also discuss the importance of teacher advocacy, the power of collective voice, and ways to overcome barriers to change. Our favorite Classroom Insider, Eric Cross, joins Ana to discuss how important it is to challenge our assumptions as we continue to grow and change. Show notes: * Connect with Mike Flynn on LinkedIn  [https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-flynn-ed-d-84b1921b/] * Learn more about Flynn Education [https://flynneducation.com/]: https://flynneducation.com/ [https://flynneducation.com/]  * Subscribe to Advice for the Math Classroom on Amplify’s YouTube channel: amplify.com/mathclassroomadvice  [https://www.youtube.com/@AdvicefortheMathClassroom] * Subscribe to Advice for the Literacy Classroom on Amplify’s YouTube channel: amplify.com/literacyclassroomadvice [https://www.youtube.com/@AdvicefortheLiteracyClassroom] * Follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/amplify.education/] * Subscribe to Beyond My Year [https://amplify.com/beyond-my-years]. * Connect with Ana Torres [https://www.linkedin.com/in/anayansi-ana-torres-m-ed-26a10654/] * Connect with Eric Cross [https://www.ericcross.org/] Quotes: "Leadership comes in a lot of different formats, but anyone interested in influencing change can orchestrate experiences to disrupt unproductive beliefs." —Mike Flynn "Don't be afraid of your own teacher voice and exercising that. Advocacy is one of the best things you can do." —Mike Flynn "Sometimes it gets really hard before it gets better. It just always reminds me to remember the long game." —Mike Flynn "As a learner, you have to have humility. Otherwise you won't grow." —Eric Cross "Change really behinds when you look at the unintended consequences of our practice." —Eric Cross