Get your students talking and taking ownership of their math learning!

Turn students into math teachers with Partner Talk!

Increase student engagement and mathematical understanding with Partner Talk!

Have you ever started the day feeling excited about a math lesson you’ve researched and meticulously planned but ended the day feeling completely clueless about what you actually accomplished?

Let me guess…

You were so confident that you were going to nail the lesson because you:

came up with a great way to explain the concept
thought through your lesson plan
read through your standards and checked them twice
considered the MANY individual learning needs of your students

But by the end of the lesson…

You felt like you did a lot of talking. (Maybe too much talking).
It seemed that Jenny and Treyvon were just talking for your benefit (even though they answered your questions correctly).
You think everyone “got it,” but you’re just not 100% confident that they really understood.

You are tired of spending SO much time prepping lessons only to end up feeling frustrated and uncertain of the outcome.

Imagine what it would feel like when you…

Create a student-centered classroom where everyone becomes a teacher because you stepped off the “teacher stage”
Complete a math lesson and feel completely confident that your students truly understood the concepts that you just taught
Prep less (so you can leave at the end of your contract hours for a change!)
Cover material faster (no more worries about not completing all of your standards before May)
Reduce stress and enjoy teaching more because you don’t have to worry whether or not that students are getting the mathematical foundation they need to be successful in the future

Partner Talk can do that for your students!

When students are comfortable with partner roles, you can:

Use less materials (i.e. less prep!)
Practice fewer problems
Facilitate small groups with less disruptions
Cover material faster (because students master content sooner)

If we don't have students process, repeat, rehearse, teach, and try it on with each other, they will only “get” a small portion of what we tell them.

Partner Talk gives STUDENTS confidence in their ideas while giving YOU assurance that they are truly learning the material.

Partner Talk allows students to:

Increase mathematical discourse/conversation
Repeat and explain important ideas after presentation
Accept personal responsibility for understanding content
Work through ideas and process before sharing with the whole group
Practice language and communication skills (excellent for non-native English speakers)
Build community
Increase engagement and participation with their peers
Collaborate
Teach their peers

Not only will students benefit from Partner Talk, you’ll be able to provide equitable access to content for all students while also gaining a formative assessment opportunity by listening to classroom conversations.

Why I want teachers to use Partner Talk

I wasn’t “good” at math as a student. I honestly faked understanding math all the way through high school. That makes my journey to running Empower Consulting, a math professional development consultancy, both unlikely and rewarding at the same time.

I started my career as an elementary school teacher, but once I started teaching after-school math intervention, the “light bulb” really lit up. Number strategies came alive and made sense for the very first time!

Afterwards, I began implementing more teaching methods that would require students to take ownership of their math learning rather than faking their way through like I did.

I wanted to hear every single math voice, every single day in my classroom.

I’ve seen partner talk transform classrooms from a place where students are bored and disengaged to a place where learners become math teachers who are growing and taking ownership of their math learning.

Now, it is my goal to bring partner talk strategies to as many elementary teachers as possible so that they can get students who talk every day in the classroom and confidently become more proficient at math.

Get real strategies that you can start using immediately!

You’ve probably heard of “turn and talk.” That’s the teacher term for kids talking to each other.

You might have even tried it in your classroom.

But it often ends up being another fairly ineffective teaching method to check off your “ideas-to-implement-in-the-classroom” list.

Partner Talk Level One workshop gives you the structures you need to actually make it work in your classroom.

When you sign up for Partner Talk Level One, you’ll get practical step-by-step guidance so that you can start using it in your classroom right away!

You’ll learn:

how to select partners

how to set up partner norms to keep the class running smoothly

how to teach appropriate partner talk methods

how to identify and implement goals for partner talk in your classroom

This training includes examples of real life experience and is delivered by an expert who has actually TAUGHT the program.

And because I know that your time is valuable, it’s delivered without all the fluff you see in some professional development programs.

“I’m obsessed with all the strategies you give to get ALL students talking and engaged because that is definitely something I struggle with.”

-Jamie

“As a veteran teacher with 35 years in the classroom, I love how there is still so much that can be taken away from PD such as yours.”

-Carin

“The structured (partner) talk ideas were great. I now have some great ideas for more productive turn-and-talks and ways to elicit the voices of my less engaged mathematicians.”

-Jenna

Partner Talk Level One: Explain

Partner Talk Level One is for teachers who…

have never used partner talk
have some form of turn-and-talk in place but struggle with consistency, structure or getting the results they desire

For only $24 you’ll get:

practical strategies to implement Partner Talk in your classroom right away
access to the course for 120 days
a printable workbook
ability to work at your own pace at your convenience
a Clock Hour Certificate (4 hours)

Looking for a full-staff solution? Bring Partner Talk to your school district!

A facilitator’s guide is included so your entire department can learn how to implement Partner Talk together.