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“Projects sound great…but when are students actually learning the math?”

That’s a fair question—and the answer isn’t simply putting more calculations into the project.

In this episode, we’re talking about how to intentionally keep deep, rigorous mathematics at the center of PBL using one of my favorite project-design tools: milestones and milestone markers.

Using my Wasted Space Geometry Project as an example, we’ll explore how students can use surface area, volume, modeling, constraints, and optimization to redesign product packaging—and how intentional checkpoints make their mathematical thinking visible along the way.

We’ll talk about:

• The difference between a deadline and a mathematical milestone
• How milestone markers give you evidence of student learning
• Checking individual understanding during collaborative projects
• Using project evidence to decide when students need instruction or practice
• Why the final product should never be your only evidence of learning

Milestones organize the learning journey. Milestone markers give us evidence that the learning happened.

✨Ready to design your own meaningful math PBL experience? PBL Kickstart is my $17 on-demand workshop designed to help you get started with the mathematics you already teach. Enroll in PBL Kickstart Today

Reflection: If I looked only at the milestones in your project—not the final product—could I tell what mathematics you want students to learn?

This podcast is a member of the Teach Better Podcast Network. Better Today. Better Tomorrow. And the Podcasts to Help You Get There.

Connect with Kristen:

• Follow on Instagram @moorethanjustx
• Join the Facebook Community: The Modern Math Teachers Movement

More About the Modern Math Teacher Podcast

Kristen Moore, classroom teacher and instructional coach at Moore Than Just X, empowers modern secondary math teachers to transform the student experience with the strategies and the confidence to implement project-based learning, mastery-based assessment, and student engagement strategies in their classrooms.

Whether you're a math education newbie or a seasoned veteran, you'll find something new and inspiring in every episode. You’re already a listener, why not join the Movement inside ✨The Modern Math Teachers Movement Facebook group. Join the community of math teachers who are not afraid to shake things up and make math class the best part of the day for our students. So tune in each Tuesday, have some fun, and let's elevate our math teaching game together!

*Amazon orders may provide a small affiliate payout at no extra cost to you. These payouts help keep the podcast free for all!

Let’s chat—send me a text!

“I’d love to do more projects…but I just don’t have time.”

If that sounds familiar, this episode is for you.

Because somewhere along the way, we started assuming that good project-based learning has to mean a massive, multi-week project complete with research, presentations, fancy final products, and approximately 47 things for the teacher to manage.

It doesn’t.

In this episode of The Modern Math Teacher, we’re talking about how to right-size PBL for the mathematics, your curriculum, and the instructional time you actually have.

We’ll explore the continuum from rich tasks and performance tasks to mini-projects and full PBL experiences—and why bigger doesn’t automatically mean better.

I’m also sharing four practical ways to shrink a project without shrinking the mathematics.

In this episode:

• Why good PBL doesn’t have to take three weeks
• How to right-size a project around the mathematical goal
• The difference between rich tasks, performance tasks, mini-projects, and larger PBL experiences
• Why smaller projects aren’t watered-down PBL
• How “project bloat” steals instructional time from the mathematics
• Four ways to make a project more manageable
• Why you can weave a project into instruction instead of saving it for “project week”
• What you should NEVER cut when shortening a project
• Why starting with one manageable project is enough
• The goal isn’t to find more time for PBL.
  It’s to design PBL that fits the time you actually have.
  
  

Ready to Get Started with PBL?

If you’ve found the place in your curriculum where a project makes sense but you’re still wondering how to turn that idea into an actual learning experience, PBL Kickstart is for you. Enroll in PBL Kickstart and Start Planning Now

PBL Kickstart is my $17 on-demand workshop that walks you through planning your first project-based learning unit in three simple steps—without assuming you have unlimited planning time or three empty weeks in your pacing guide.

Because you don’t need to transform your entire classroom.

You need one good place to start.

This podcast is a member of the Teach Better Podcast Network. Better Today. Better Tomorrow. And the Podcasts to Help You Get There.

Connect with Kristen:

• Follow on Instagram @moorethanjustx
• Join the Facebook Community: The Modern Math Teachers Movement

More About the Modern Math Teacher Podcast

Kristen Moore, classroom teacher and instructional coach at Moore Than Just X, empowers modern secondary math teachers to transform the student experience with the strategies and the confidence to implement project-based learning, mastery-based assessment, and student engagement strategies in their classrooms.

Whether you're a math education newbie or a seasoned veteran, you'll find something new and inspiring in every episode. You’re already a listener, why not join the Movement inside ✨The Modern Math Teachers Movement Facebook group. Join the community of math teachers who are not afraid to shake things up and make math class the best part of the day for our students. So tune in each Tuesday, have some fun, and let's elevate our math teaching game together!

*Amazon orders may provide a small affiliate payout at no extra cost to you. These payouts help keep the podcast free for all!

Let’s chat—send me a text!

Two hundred episodes ago, I thought I had a much clearer idea of what kind of math teacher I was.

I was a project-based learning teacher.

Since then, I’ve taught using the Modern Classrooms framework. I’ve embraced Building Thinking Classrooms. I’ve changed the way I think about mastery and assessment. Now I’m teaching with Illustrative Mathematics and falling in love with inquiry, mathematical discourse, and giving students more opportunities to make sense of mathematics together.

And somewhere along the way, I realized:

I don’t actually need to choose.

For Episode 200 of The Modern Math Teacher, we’re taking a break from strategies, resources, and the usual back-to-school conversations to reflect on how my teaching has evolved—and why I hope it never stops evolving.

I’m sharing how my relationship with EdTech has changed, why I’m increasingly interested in AI as a tool for teachers rather than something we need to put into students’ hands simply because we can, and why I no longer think being a “modern” teacher means chasing the newest thing.

We’ll also talk about what hasn’t changed.

PBL still has my heart. I still want students experiencing mathematics that is real, relevant, and rigorous. I just have a much bigger instructional toolbox for getting them there.

In this episode:

• How I’ve evolved from a PBL teacher using Modern Classrooms to BTC and now an inquiry- and discussion-focused IM classroom
• Why I no longer feel like I need one instructional identity
• What each phase of my teaching has added to my instructional toolbox
• How my relationship with EdTech has changed
• Why I’m rethinking the role of AI in the math classroom
• Why “modern” teaching has more to do with intentionality than technology
• Why PBL still has my heart—even though I don’t need every day to be a project
• The value of staying curious enough to keep changing your mind

Let’s Stay Connected

For Episode 200, I just want to hear from you.

What’s something you’ve changed your mind about as a math teacher?

Reply to one of my emails, find me online, or send me a message and tell me what the teacher you are today believes that the teacher you used to be didn’t.

Thank you for listening, reflecting, experimenting, and learning alongside me for 200 episodes.

Here’s to whatever we learn in the next 200.

Until next time, keep it real!

This podcast is a member of the Teach Better Podcast Network. Better Today. Better Tomorrow. And the Podcasts to Help You Get There.

Connect with Kristen:

• Follow on Instagram @moorethanjustx
• Join the Facebook Community: The Modern Math Teachers Movement

More About the Modern Math Teacher Podcast

Kristen Moore, classroom teacher and instructional coach at Moore Than Just X, empowers modern secondary math teachers to transform the student experience with the strategies and the confidence to implement project-based learning, mastery-based assessment, and student engagement strategies in their classrooms.

Whether you're a math education newbie or a seasoned veteran, you'll find something new and inspiring in every episode. You’re already a listener, why not join the Movement inside ✨The Modern Math Teachers Movement Facebook group. Join the community of math teachers who are not afraid to shake things up and make math class the best part of the day for our students. So tune in each Tuesday, have some fun, and let's elevate our math teaching game together!

*Amazon orders may provide a small affiliate payout at no extra cost to you. These payouts help keep the podcast free for all!