Reagan Tunstall - Guided Math AMPED: Five Steps to Your Best Math Block

Tunstalls knowledge of the teacher experience coupled with her expertise in building upon the conceptual knowledge that each individual student brings to the classroom have the potential to change the trajectory of learners of math. Most educators have come to realize that the magic happens at the teacher table or during small-group instruction. If thats the case, Guided Math AMPED is the spell book.

Jennifer Salyards, MEd, principal, Chamberlin Elementary, Stephenville ISD

Guided Math AMPED provides educators with a practical framework for enhancing math instruction in a way that provides research-based practices, differentiated instruction, and fun, all while strengthening relationships with students and developing math mindsets. No matter your experience or tenure in education, Guided Math AMPED will give you tips and tricks to implement in your classroom. I personally flipped my classroom and saw the results firsthandscores increased, but my students confidence as budding mathematicians is what made me a believer.

Matt Beres, district administrator, Wooster, OH

Guided math is one of the best things you can implement in your classroom, and Reagan Tunstall is the best to learn from, thanks to her perfect framework and step-by-step instructions. She has thought through every potential roadblock and offers concise solutions because shes experienced it all in her own classroom.

Halee Sikorski, educator, A Latte Learning

Guided Math AMPED provides practical steps teachers can quickly put to use in their classroom that will impact student understanding of mathematical concepts. The clarity that Reagan provides for each component of guided math (warm-up, mini-lesson, guided groups and stations, and lesson reflection) will allow teachers to feel success and flourish in mathematics instruction.

Kim Johnston, coordinator of mathematics, Midway ISD

Dont you dare let another teacher borrow this book... you may never get it back!

From the first page to the end, this book is filled with practical ideas and guidelines guaranteed to take your guided math block to the next level. Reagan covers it allmaking it work in any classroom, handling the management to keep it effective, and guiding you through every aspect of implementation.

Lori McDonald, MEd, retired educator

What if I told you that your math block could be your favorite part of the day? Your excitement could build to teach lessons in new ways, and your students could be begging for math and cheering when you start the math block. This transformation is not only possible, its easier to realize than you imagine!

When I initially began teaching math, the structure known as guided math was not a known or popular teaching format. Whole-group instruction with an emphasis on procedural math thinking was the norm, and I, like the rest of my colleagues, stood at the front of the room, imparting my wisdom as the expert mathematician. Like you, I had the best of intentions, but ultimately all I did was implement a complicated formula that resulted in frustration, a lack of engagement, and burnout for both teachers and students.

For me, the moment I decided I had to make a change happened over two decades ago when I was struck with overwhelming teacher guilt while watching my class silently write my wise procedures and answers on their papers while never discussing, exploring, or internalizing the math themselves. This had been my own experience as a student, and much to my dismay, I saw I was merely continuing this pattern. I realized I was simply reinforcing the idea that math was stagnant memorization and not what math ought to be: exciting, engaging, and empowering.

I suspect you, too, have had such a moment, which is why youre holding this book in your hands. Like me, youve been faced with a decision: stay in a comfortable pattern of content delivery because it is familiar (albeit flawed) or find a better way to reach students who have a need to learn differently. When we create change, its also possible that we create discomfort. But I can confidently tell you youre already part of the way to conquering that discomfort by having found this book.

It was after my realization that my joy for math exploration and discovery was not translating to my students that I began my journey to this new way of running a math block. Unfortunately, that epiphany occurred back in the dark ages of teaching before the internet: no email, no computers, no wealth of information right at our fingertips. We received information by pulling paper memos out of our teacher boxes. New learning models and best practices were taught in education workshops or read about in education journals. We couldnt run to Google to grab the latest article on a topic or have a book delivered in just a couple of days from Amazon.