More Than Math Facts: Building Confident, Capable Math Learners

What happens when a child decides, “I’m not a math person”? And how early does that belief begin?

Yvette Lehman and guest host Kathryn Colins explore what it really takes to build confident, capable math learners—and why the answer is about much more than math facts. Yvette is an Ontario Certified Teacher with over 16 years of experience across the classroom, district leadership, and math education. She now serves as Chief Academic Officer for Make Math Moments,

💥 The role teachers’ own attitudes and beliefs about mathematics play in shaping how students see themselves as learners.

💥 Why games and joyful experiences can be powerful entry points to mathematical thinking.

💥 How productive struggle helps students develop reasoning and resilience, and why we need to rethink how we approach fluency and math facts.

💥How do you teach a classroom full of students who are all at different levels?

💥 How assessment that actually helps teachers understand how children think

💥 The importance of small-group instruction, purposeful practice, repetition and automaticity, and the challenge of deciding what mathematics is truly essential when teachers are faced with an overwhelming number of curriculum expectations.

Most importantly, Yvette challenges us to look beyond “Can the student get the answer?” and ask:

How does this child think about mathematics—and what do they need from me next?

Because the goal isn't simply to get children through the math curriculum.lehman

It's to help them see themselves as capable mathematicians.