In the flavour of Chad Aldeman: if your child is behind in math DO. NOT. WAIT. ⚠️Even parents who have strong math backgrounds have told me they trusted the school to do its job, only to find their kid struggling in middle school b/c there was no urgency to teach math well. Math

Learning Science is on the move in the United States -- check out the latest from Dr. Jim Heal and me for Learning Forward: learningforward.org/2025/10/29/lea…

Why 4x8 and 6x8 are, perhaps surprisingly, some of the hardest multiplication facts for students to remember:

Timed practice does not cause math anxiety. Not knowing facts does. We unpack myths and share what actually helps kids. Give this a listen. Brian Poncy Anna Stokke Laura Stam @bamradionetwork bamradionetwork.com/track/unlockin… #TEACHers #math

“Handwriting isn’t an old-fashioned skill; it’s central to reading, writing and cognitive development.” The 74 the74million.org/article/the-po…

We confuse memorizing as a strategy with memorizing as an emergent outcome. Memory doesn’t care about your intent. If it’s retrievable, it’s memorized - whether by drills or decades of use. Drills rock because they shortcut the slow grind of exposure.

“The most effective teachers ensured that their students efficiently acquired, rehearsed, and connected background knowledge because this knowledge is necessary for skillful problem solving and critical thinking.” B. Rosenshire As a special education teacher, I have worked

Congratulations to the 2025 Illinois High School Association #IHSA 3A Girls X-Country Champions! This is back to back state championships and 3 trophies in row!

A few weeks ago I asked if I could honor Mike Newman at the state meet by placing a ladder at the finish line. IYKYK. I placed a ladder & Coca Cola. Kevin Dorsey placed a pic of Mike and his press pass. You're missed, Mr. Newman. Illinois HS XC/TF #ihsaXC #ihsa

The basic cognitive processes by which people transfer information into long-term memory (LTM) are broadly the same for everyone. Regardless of working memory capacity (WMC), successful learning depends on several key conditions: 1. Having the appropriate prerequisite knowledge

It’s Almost Time! NIKE Midwest Regional This Weekend! #FinishOnEmpty

Just before school started, I wrote a blog about my plan to be very explicit about explicit instruction and evidence-based teaching and the science of learning with families. One part of my plan was weekly update emails. Here’s a piece on automaticity in an email I just sent.

The CEO of Ford Motor Company has 5,000 mechanics jobs he can't fill, even at $120G. Says we need trade schools. We have CTE, but that doesn't stand for "Can't Take Exams." You still need to be good at math and reading. New from yours truly for New York Post nypost.com/2025/11/14/opi…

“Learning math is somewhat like learning to read: we can do it, but it takes time, effort and requires mastering increasingly complex skills and content.” Inspired by the recent UC SAN Diego report on the steep decline of students’ foundational math skills, I feel that this

For Integrated Math II (IM2), 71% of topics have IM1 ancestors. For Geometry, just 38% of topics have Algebra I ancestors. This means, in a traditional setting, 62% of Algebra I topics will have received no practice after studying Geometry for an entire year!

In just 2 months of “Facts on Fire” (4 minutes a day!), my class went from 0% to 47% at or above 3rd-grade math fact fluency. 🎉 3 students have already mastered multiplication & division and moved on to multi-digit work. Brian Poncy

I'll be on the NCAA XC broadcast again this year. Tune it Saturday, 10am ET on ESPNU! Hit me with your hottest and/or best takes and if they are good enough to steal I'll shout you out on air.

I have flipped flopped about these things over time. I was recently talking to my son, who was then learning derivatives of trigonometric functions (on Math Academy). He could quickly, efficiently, and accurately compute all kinds of things, but when I asked him *why*, say, the

“Academic accommodations for anxiety convey two harmful messages. First, they imply that the feared situation is truly dangerous. Public speaking, testing, or lunch with classmates are too risky for a student. Second, they suggest that the student can’t withstand the distress.