Introduction

Hello! I’m Katelyn Rush, and I’m from Jefferson City, Missouri. I was born in Los Angeles, California, but my family moved to Jefferson City when I was three, and I’ve lived here ever since. Teaching is a big part of who I am because I’m passionate about what I do! My family is really important to me, and I love spending time with them, as well as with my dogs. When I’m not teaching, you can usually find me on the softball field or watching football!

I’ve wanted to be a teacher since I was 5 years old. When I was a child, I would go to my playroom and pretend to teach imaginary students math and other subjects. Being an only child, I would often play both the student and the teacher. One Christmas, Santa brought me an easel with a dry erase board on one side and a chalkboard on the other, which fueled my love for teaching even more. In school, I was always the student who helped others when I finished my work or when someone needed extra help. My desire to help others only grew as I got older, and my passion for becoming a teacher never faded. I was thrilled when I finally got my own classroom, excited to inspire the students who came through my door each year. I’ve been teaching 5th grade at East Elementary School in the Jefferson City School District since 2017.

As an educator, I believe learning never stops, even for teachers. I learn something new from my students every day. I've noticed that many students in my school really struggle with math, and I wanted to help them build a deeper understanding of it. In late 2022, I saw an email about the Elementary Math Specialist program sponsored by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), and it immediately caught my attention. I knew math was a challenge for our students, and as someone who loves learning, I wanted to discover new strategies to help them. From the moment I started the program, I was given useful resources and ideas that I could apply in my classroom right away. As I began using these new strategies, I realized that many of my students hadn’t been exposed to the types of practices we were learning about. This made me curious to see if implementing these techniques would benefit my students. Number talks, in particular, stood out as a powerful tool, especially since my students often struggle with mental math, discussing math, and finding multiple ways to solve problems. 

Before taking the Elementary Math Specialist classes, I didn't have my students participate in any number sense routines. Instead, we did a Daily Math Review where I gave them three different types of problems, we discussed them, and then did two quick mental math problems. It felt like we were just going through the motions, and my students weren’t really benefiting from it. I don’t like doing something just because it's required, so after learning about and trying number sense routines in my classes, I was eager to bring them into my own classroom. I wanted to see how these routines could impact my students' confidence and how they feel about math. I was curious about how giving students time to think and talk about math problems would make a difference. I felt excited about math while participating in number talks myself, and I wanted to bring that same energy and excitement to my students. 

This is important to me because I truly want my students to develop a deeper understanding of math concepts and why things work the way they do. I don’t want them to simply memorize an algorithm to complete a problem without understanding it. I want my students to feel confident in their ability to explain their thinking and share different strategies with their classmates. Number talks are a powerful tool to encourage this kind of engagement. They give students the opportunity to explore various methods, discuss their reasoning, and build a stronger foundation in math, which ultimately boosts their confidence and understanding.

I always considered myself good at math, but after taking these Elementary Math Specialist classes, I realized I was mainly good at following algorithms. What I was missing was the “why” behind the math and how different strategies worked. I struggled with mental math and finding multiple ways to solve a problem because I was never taught to think that way. I don’t want my students to have the same experience. I want them to feel confident in math, understand why a solution works, and know that there are many ways to approach a problem. Number talks provide a space for this kind of learning. I don’t want my students to believe there’s only one way to solve a problem.

As both a researcher and a participant in this study, I have a special chance to explore how teachers can help build students' confidence in math through number talks. My own experience gives me an insider's view of the challenges teachers face when asking good questions during these discussions. This helps me notice issues that others might miss, especially when it comes to how these questions affect how 5th grade students feel about math. Even though being both a researcher and a participant could lead to some bias, it also helps me understand the problems teachers face more deeply. My interest in improving the way questions are asked in number talks makes me more committed to finding ways that can improve both teaching and students' confidence in math.