Cultivating Math Confidence – Kristen Smith

Delivering this message with an encouraging smile while squatting down to the student’s desk height gives a feeling of support and encouragement that cannot be replicated through a comment on a laptop screen. The age group of students can also be a factor when deciding whether to use verbal or written feedback. Verbal feedback can be especially effective for younger students, such as those in sixth and seventh grade, because it aligns better with their developing reading skills.

At this age, many students are still building fluency and confidence as readers, so lots of written feedback—especially when it includes unfamiliar vocabulary or dense language—can be difficult to interpret. Verbal feedback allows teachers to adjust their tone, pacing, and word choice in real time to match student understanding. It also gives students the opportunity to ask clarifying questions on the spot, making it more likely that they will fully grasp the feedback and know how to act on it. Finally, teachers can leverage their relationships with students to make intentional decisions about how feedback is delivered to maximize its impact.

Knowing my students as individuals—their personalities, preferences, and emotional triggers—has helped me to navigate the best way to deliver feedback in the moment. This may take time based on interactions that happen over the course of the school year. For a student who feels easily embarrassed or anxious when addressed in front of peers, a quiet written note or private check-in might preserve their confidence while still providing meaningful guidance.

By contrast, a student who is a verbal processor and thrives on connection may respond better to a brief, affirming conversation that acknowledges their effort before offering a next step. The stronger the teacher-student relationship, the more attuned the teacher can be to the cues that indicate how a student might best receive and respond to feedback.

See Table 6.3 for a summary of when to choose each type of feedback.

This guidebook helps you tackle roadblocks your students may be facing in their math understanding and confidence. Author, teacher, and instructional coach Kristen Smith brings together dozens of classroom-tested planning and instructional strategies that have shown measurable improvements in student proficiency. Written in an easily replicable format, these practices demonstrate the direct connections between math instruction, student behavior, and student learning, and how making these connections with your students boosts proficiency.

The book is divided into sections on planning, instruction, and coaching, addressing how teachers can use math content to both build student skills and drive student engagement and motivation, ultimately unlocking confident math learners. Chapters include examples and visuals like classroom photographs, sample materials, lesson plans, pacing guides, and coaching agendas. The author balances personal classroom anecdotes with student proficiency data collected across various educational settings, grade levels, and on all types of assessment. These markers include internal outcome-based assessments, state standardized tests, and performance tasks.

Designed with both classroom-level and school or district usage in mind, this resource offers strategies that can be immediately implemented or used in evaluation and professional development. Teachers, administrators, instructional coaches, and pre- service teachers in secondary mathematics courses can all benefit from this practical primer on building math proficiency among their current and future students alike. Kristen Smith is a Math Teacher, Instructional Coach, and Mentor Teacher and has taught secondary mathematics for the past 16 years at both the middle and high school levels.

She is recipient of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching and a former Math for America Master Teaching Fellow and Desmos Fellow. OceanofPDF.com Also Available from Routledge Eye on Education (www.routledge.com/eyeoneducation) Exploring Human Virtue in the Math Classroom: Teaching Practices for Student Flourishing in Grades K-5 Jonathan Thomas STEM Matters: Your Guide to Educational Purposes, Policies, Programs, and Practices Rodger W.

Bybee, Patrick L. Brown Math Problem Solving Through Small Group Instruction: A Guide to Increasing Proficiency in Grades K-5 Dani Fry Jackson Teaching 6-12 Math Intervention: A Practical Framework to Engage Students Who Struggle and Break the Gatekeeping Cycles of Mathematics Juliana Tapper Teaching STEAM Through Hands-On Crafts: Real-World Maker Lessons for Grades 3-8 Christine G. Schnittka, Amanda Haynes STEM by Design: Tools and Strategies to Help Students in Grades 4-8 Solve Real-World Problems Anne Jolly There is No One Way to Teach Math: Actionable Ideas for Grades 6-12 Henri Picciotto and Robin Pemantle OceanofPDF.com Cultivating Math Confidence Teaching Strategies to Boost Proficiency in Grades 6–12 Kristen Smith OceanofPDF.com Designed cover image: © Getty Images First published 2027 by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 and by Routledge 4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2027 Kristen Smith The right of Kristen Smith to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: 9355b57187c707fa
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 15,629,031 bytes (14.905 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• ISBN: 9781032943985, 9781032943978, 9781003570516
• Pages: 349
• Language: English (en)

Reading & Word Statistics

• Estimated Reading Time: 400.25 minutes
• Total Words: 80,051
• Total Characters: 491,666
• Average Words per Page: 229.37
• Average Characters per Page: 1408.79

Most Frequent Words

students (1276), student (392), math (318), teacher (305), time (284), learning (283), work (274), feedback (273), lesson (269), class (267), questions (266), practice (264), question (253), one (239), classroom (238), group (198), use (191), like (186), teachers (185), first (168), task (166), assessment (158), norms (154), problem (149), content (141), understanding (139), instructional (135), teaching (134), also (127), year (127), support (125), data (119), school (119), day (119), instruction (118), key (118), two (117), many (114), coaching (114), make (114), example (113), it’s (106), different (105), confidence (102), idea (102), need (102), grade (101), using (101), unit (101), important (100), specific (99), get (95), curriculum (95), way (93), new (93), focus (93), problems (92), notes (92), next (88), main (88), used (87), part (86), coach (84), thinking (84), review (84), inquiry (83), mastery (83), proficiency (82), assessments (82), minutes (82), response (81), every (81), often (80), skills (79), help (79), even (79), solution (79), number (78), know (78), see (78), clear (78), standards (77), mathematical (74), start (74), level (74), take (73), answer (73), common (72), right (71), table (71), skill (71), tasks (69), figure (69), build (68), well (68), engage (66), moment (66), provide (66), give (65), strong (64).

PDF Download