Power Up Your Math Community: A 10-month Practice-based Professional Learning Guide, Grades K-5

A yearlong learning adventure designed to help you build a vibrant math community

A powerful math community is an active group of educators, students, and families, alive with positive energy, efficacy, and a passion for mathematics. Students, teachers, and leaders see themselves and each other as mathematically capable and experience mathematics as a joyful activity.

Power Up Your Math Community is a hands-on, 10-month guide designed to help you and your school maximize your students’ math learning and strengthen your mathematics teaching and learning community. Each chapter offers a month’s worth of practice-based professional learning focused on a desired math habit alongside parallel math problems and learning activities for teachers to use themselves and with students. This format allows educators to work together to improve math teaching and learning across a school year, building a strong foundation for students′ mathematical proficiency, identity, and agency.

The book ignites solutions and advocates for rigorous and joyful mathematics instruction for everyone―including school leaders, teachers, students, and their families. Authors Holly Burwell and Sue Chapman provide educators with a detailed roadmap for creating a positive and effective math community that supports all students′ mathematical learning by

• Offering guidance on building a math community with chapter vignettes and prompts such as Mathematical Me, Let’s Do Some Math, Since We Met Last, Let’s Try It, Math Talks, Manipulatives and Models Matter, Game Time, and more
• Emphasizing an assets-based approach to teaching math that recognizes the unique strengths and experiences of each student
• Providing strategies for promoting growth mindset in math and equity and inclusion in math education
• Focusing on both classroom-level and building-level improvement as well as offering support for teachers, instructional coaches, principals, and district leaders

Power Up Your Math Community will inspire you to reimagine the way you teach math and empower you with the tools to make a lasting impact on your students′ mathematical understanding. So, get ready to power up your math community and watch as your students thrive in their mathematical journey!

Holly Burwell is a teacher, math specialist, learning facilitator, and instructional coach with students and educators in grades Pre-K through 12. She consults through her business Inspired Mathematics supporting math educators across the country and regularly presents professional learning sessions at conferences including NCTM, NCSM, and the Model Schools Conferences. Holly worked as a math specialist in Great Falls Public Schools to lead and grow math achievement for 10,000+ students. She blogs about math experiences in the classroom on her website at inspiredmathematicsmt.com. Holly is committed to bringing joy to teaching and learning mathematics in schools.  

Sue Chapman has served students and other math learners for over 40 years in the roles of teacher, mathematics coach, campus administrator, district curriculum coordinator, and teacher educator. She currently teaches mathematics methods courses to preservice teachers at the University of Houston Clear Lake and provides virtual professional learning and coaching support to teachers and leaders across the country. Sue is the co-author of the book MathVentures: 33 Teacher-Coach Investigations to Grow Students as Mathematicians (Math Solutions, 2021) and has written numerous blog posts and articles about coaching, teacher leadership, instructional improvement, and math education. Sue is passionate about building capacity and collective efficacy in educators, teams, schools, and districts. You can connect with Sue at SueChapmanLearning@gmail.com and @SueChapmanLearn.