The REAL Reset: Math Moves That Matter – Tuesday Edition

Teaching on Empty: It's Testing Time Series

Part 1: Alexa, I have 3 standards left to teach and only 2 days until testing...

The REAL Story

Last year, around this time, I was absolutely exhausted. It was a Friday before the last full week before spring break, and I genuinely did not know how I was going to make it. And once we got back from break, we went right into testing. I had to figure out how to show up for my students when I was running on nothing and still have them prepared.

I was sitting there decompressing after a normal rowdy Friday with middle schoolers, feeling the overstimulation slowly drain from my body as I looked at the clock and listened to a building that felt almost eerie without them in it. With the last bit of energy I had, I pulled out my binder and opened my scope and sequence. I already knew I was not getting through everything before testing. That was just the reality. So the question I had to answer was what move could I make that would still give my students quality instruction in a short amount of time, with a teacher who was running on fumes.

I started by highlighting only the priority standards left in my scope and sequence, then looked at the key concepts within those standards and made a decision. I cut the lessons down to seven minutes. Yes, seven minutes. But here is what made those seven minutes worth anything. I did not lead with the rule or procedure. I led with concept, because I learned that lesson the hard way early in my career. When I first started teaching, I would race through content, teach the procedure, watch students fly through practice worksheets, and convince myself I was doing something. Then testing would come and those same students would not even recognize the math they had just practiced. They had learned the steps but not the idea behind them. After year five, I stopped teaching that way entirely.

I took the math tasks straight from the same curriculum I was already using, printed them on colorful cardstock, cut them into individual tasks, and placed students in pairs and collaborative groups. Chart paper went up for each task and the job was simple. Work through the math with your peers, showing how you got there, what it meant in real life, then put the final answer with explanation on the chart paper under your task.

I ran it that way all week, and on Friday I gave a short assessment covering a few major concepts, with one CER. Claim, evidence, reasoning.

It saved me time. It saved me energy. And it did not sacrifice quality because the students were doing the heavy lifting. You still have to facilitate and keep them on task, but telling them there is a quiz on Friday locks most of them in, and the rest are much easier to manage when the room is already working.

💡 3 Moves That Keep Quality Instruction Alive When You Have Nothing Left

1️⃣ Cut to what actually matters and lead with the concept, not the procedure.

It is not about how much time you talk. It is about how you use the time you have. We assume as teachers that because we are talking, students are listening, and that is not really the case. Cutting my instructional time down forced me to get intentional about every single thing I said because I did not have the luxury of rambling through it. The rest of the time belongs to the students. The more opportunities they have to speak, write, and work through the math themselves, the more opportunities you have to actually assess their thinking in real time.

2️⃣ Be intentional about the task you pick.

The task is doing a lot of the instructional work this week, so it cannot be an afterthought. Your curriculum tasks are a great place to start because they are already aligned to the standard and you do not have to build from scratch. But do not be afraid to add to them. Drop in a real-life context that gives the math meaning. Add a scaffolded entry point so students have a way into the problem before they hit the hard part. These additions are not extra, they are what allow students to work more independently instead of stopping every two minutes to wait on you. The more access the task provides up front, the more thinking students can do on their own, and that matters even more with testing around the corner when they will be completely on their own.

3️⃣ End the week with a short assessment that requires them to think, not just answer.

Friday does not need a full test. Two or three concepts, multiple choice and/or short answer, with the big concept of the week getting a CER. Claim, evidence, reasoning. Set that expectation on Monday so students know exactly what is coming. When they know a quiz is at the end of the week, most of them lock in from day one. And when the assessment requires them to write about the math and not just solve it, you find out quickly who actually understood the concept and who just followed the steps. That is the data you need going into testing, and it takes a fraction of the time a traditional assessment would.

The Close

I used to think that if I was not talking, I was not teaching. And I used to think that I had not arrived as a veteran teacher until I was able to get through every single lesson on the scope and sequence.

The reality is that a scope and sequence was not built for a real classroom. It was not built for disruptions, wide skill gaps, constant absenteeism, fire drills, and every other thing that happens during a school day that nobody planned for.

The best teachers know how to improvise in a way that still benefits their students without sacrificing their own sanity in the process. Seven minutes of the right instruction, a well-built task, and a room full of students doing the math together produced more than any exhausted, overpacked, theoretical lesson ever could.

You do not have to get through everything. But you do have to get to what matters, in a way that actually sticks. That is what your students need going into testing, and honestly, that is probably what you need too.

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Tiffany Smith, Ed. D., Your Culturally Responsive Math Specialist

Founder, Education Evolution, LLC | Creator, The REAL Framework™ | Creator of Mind the Gap Curriculum™

"Here’s to classrooms filled with real growth, real talk, and REAL results."

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