Episode Transcript — Season 2, Episode 17

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Introduction:
Welcome to Season Two of Math, Universally Speaking, where we believe every student deserves access to meaningful math through strong, equitable instruction. I’m Ron Martiello, instructional coach, former administrator, and co-author of Conquering Math Myths with Universal Design. Your guide as we explore the intersection of high-quality math instruction and inclusive practices. This season, we’ll continue to bust common math myths, share practical strategies, and highlight stories from educators from all over the world. Whether you’re a teacher, instructional coach, or administrator, you’ll find ideas here to help all students thrive. Let’s keep building a community of educators who believe that math is for everyone. This is Math, Universally Speaking.

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Hey everyone — welcome back to Math Universally Speaking. I’m Ron Martiello.

I just want to take a moment from our well wishers around the world who have given their valuable time to follow and listen to this humble podcast. The number of followers are growing and our reach is extending across the globe.  For anyone who is new, please feel free to subscribe on the Math, Universally Speaking Website or follow us on your favorite platform. I hope your time listening to the podcast brings value to you, the colleagues you work with side by side, the families you support, and your students whom you nurture and care for each and every day.

Today, I want to dig into a problem of practice that comes up all the time in math classrooms — something I am always trying to improve upon in my own teaching and have heard from teachers everywhere — overemphasizing answer getting.

I want us to work on shifting our focus from myth of answer-getting to mindset using one of the effective teacher practices in Principals to Action (NCTM 2014). I’m talking about eliciting and using evidence of student thinking. We’ll talk about why this matters for students’ future learning, and some practical ways you can use it to push back against answer-getting tendencies.

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The Problem: The Myth of Answer Getting

So, first things first — what do we mean by answer getting?

In our book Conquering Math Myths with Universal Design, which I co-authored with my friend and colleague Dr. Jenna Rufo, we describe answer getting as putting too much value on the final answer, and not enough on the mathematical thinking behind it.

It’s when a student can spit out an answer quickly but they haven’t really made sense of the problem. But here’s the thing: when we focus too much on getting the right answer, we’re not preparing students for future learning. Those short-term wins feel good in the moment, but they don’t help students build the kind of understanding that will carry them through more complex concepts down the road.

Answer-getting also creates a win-lose mindset. “I am right or wrong?” “It is good or bad?” When we subscribe to answer getting, thinking takes a back seat and math becomes the “thrill of victory or the agony of defeat”. Growth is not part of the process mathematical identities get crushed. 

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The Solution: Eliciting Evidence of Student Thinking

So how do we start changing that?

One of the best ways is by eliciting evidence and making use of student thinking. Let’s dive into both parts of this practice. First, let’s chat about evidence versus data. I have a healthy respect for both, but I need to keep them both in context. I use data to identify trends over time. The data is a collection of results. It can tell me an individual’s and group’s performance over time, which does have value. 

Evidence of student thinking brings me closer to learning. I am focused on the interactions between me and my students, students with each other and students with the content. As the teacher, when I attend to these interactions, I can listen to and observe students’ thinking and respond.  I can respond in the moment through questions that assess and accelerate student thinking. I can also use that information to proactively plan for possible barriers and opportunities for extension. 

My thoughts start moving toward the bottom left corner of the UDL framework at the intersection of Multiple Means of Engagement and Executive Functioning. When we subscribe to Eliciting Evidence of student thinking and making use of it, we are building our students’ emotional capacity for math. We are teaching a bigger lesson about how we achieve goals through a process. When we think about building positive dispositions toward math, we need to make math less about correctness and more about thinking and reasoning as we help students move forward. We teach them to think about their thinking and reflect on what is working for them and where they may need to lean into the discomfort when learning a new topic.

Now, let me be clear — this doesn’t mean we don’t care about answers. Of course we do! We want students to work with precision from start to finish. However, precision is a journey. We want students to be able to explain how they got there, and to adjust their thinking when something’s off.

When we focus on students’ mathematical thinking, we prepare students for future learning — not just the next test. Reason being, if a student gets the right answer but doesn’t understand why it’s right, that weakness is going to show up later when the math gets harder.

So let’s talk about ways teachers can use eliciting and making use of student thinking to overcome the myth of answer getting.

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Ways to Overcome the Myth of Answer Getting

Opportunities During Learning.

This is where you can really start shifting classroom culture. When students are solving problems, use questions that stretch and extend their thinking.

Ask things like:

• What’s your entry point into the problem?
• Why did you choose that strategy?
• How have you used this strategy before?
• Is it working for you?
• If you’re stuck, can you find another way you could try this?
• What’s our goal today? What moves have you made to reach that goal? How can I help so you can move closer to it?

This line of questioning opens up a conversation about thinking and learning — not just correctness. It arms students with ways to communicate productively with you and other students. We want to empower students in the process, rather than enabling them when they want someone to rescue them from their thinking. When we ask about thinking, we’re inviting students to reflect, not retreat. And that’s huge for building confidence and understanding.

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Reflect and Celebrate

After a lesson or a week of instruction, ask students to share the work they’re most proud of — and tell you why. It could be through a quick conversation, a turn-and-talk, or posting something to a tool like Padlet or creating a single-slide presentation.

When students choose something they’re proud of, you get insight into what they value and where their thinking is strongest.

Ask Questions Beyond the Results

Now, let’s talk about assessments. When you give a quiz or test, remember: it’s not a defining moment. Assessments are opportunities.

Even beyond the test, there are always chances to revisit and maintain thinking and reasoning. When we treat a test as “the end,” learning stops. That finite thinking goes against the ideas that math is built upon a progression. Every tool a student acquires will be used to learn something new. It is an infinite process.

If a student gets the right answer but shows incorrect reasoning, that’s a moment for honesty. We can say, “Hey, this answer’s right, but the process isn’t quite there yet. Let’s talk about it.”

Try doing a quick interview assessment with that student — give them another shot. Ask follow-up questions to uncover their reasoning. It’s about the thinking, not the grade.

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Why This Matters for Students’ Future Learning

Eliciting and responding to student thinking takes time and patience — both for us and for our students. But it’s worth it.

When we slow down and focus on thinking, we send a powerful message: your value isn’t in the grade — it’s in how you reason, how you make sense of problems, and how you keep growing.

We want to inspire students to keep climbing, to keep moving forward, and to understand that math is more than right answers. It’s reasoning, reflection, and resilience.

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Thanks for listening. I know how hard you work every day to help your students succeed, and I hope today gave you a few ideas you can bring to life in your classrooms.

Until next time, keep asking about thinking. Keep looking beyond the answer. And keep reminding students — and yourselves — that learning math is about getting stronger in the process.

Take care.

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Closing:
Thanks for tuning in to Math, Universally Speaking. If today’s episode got you thinking, inspired a strategy, or challenged your mindset, I’d love to hear from you, and so would our growing Math Community. Let’s keep the conversation going on social media using the hashtag #MathUniversallySpeaking, or connect with me on LinkedIn. You can also follow us at Math, Universally Speaking on Facebook and Instagram. Don’t forget to subscribe at mathuniversallyspeaking.com to get updates delivered to your inbox. Follow the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, Castbox, or Spotify so you don’t miss an episode. Remember, math is for everyone—and together, we can make that a reality. I’m Ron Martiello. Take care.