Episode 12: The Teacher As Mathematician with Ann Elise Record
How to reach Ann Elise Record:
Website and newsletter signup: https://www.anneliserecord.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/annelise.record.94
Twitter: @AnnEliseRecord
Instagram: ann.e.record
Email: aer@anneliserecord.com
Transcript:
(transcribed by kayla.r.fainer@gmail.com)
Melissa Milner 00:09
Hi, this is Melissa Milner. Welcome to The Teacher As... podcast. The goal of this weekly podcast is to help you explore your passions and learn from others in education and beyond to better your teaching. The Teacher As... will highlight uncommon parallels to teaching, as well as share practical ideas for the classroom.
In this episode, I interview Ann Elise Record. She is a New Hampshire certified K-8 educator, as well as a New Hampshire elementary math specialist. She's been an educator for 20 years in the roles of classroom teacher, K-5 math coach, adjunct faculty member for Plymouth State University, Bureau of Education and Research presenter, and currently an independent elementary math consultant providing training for both in person and virtually. She's a contributing author, too. Together with Dr. Alison Mello and Dr. Nicki Newton's book, Fluency Doesn't Just Happen with Addition and Subtraction.
Ann Elise works with school districts and presents at educational conferences. Her passion is working with educators to help them implement best practices within the three basic pillars of classroom math instruction that encourage growth mindset messages, math fact fluency, word problem structures, and understanding progressions of the standards. I hope you enjoy my interview with Ann Elise Record.
Welcome to The Teacher As..., Ann Elise. What would you like The Teacher As... listeners to know about you?
Ann Elise Record 01:37
Well, I am passionate about elementary mathematics and helping to create students that have a foundation of mathematical understanding that will follow them their whole journey and that they understand that everyone can learn math. It's not just certain math brains. That's a myth, and everyone can learn and grow.
Melissa Milner 01:55
Absolutely. You have done a lot of work with Dr. Nicki Newton with Running Records. I was part of the book club for Choral Collections & Counting Collections. You talk about the three pillars of math instruction. There's so much to talk about. Where do you want to start?
Ann Elise Record 02:15
Well, honestly, I think the start is Math Running Records, because I find that to be the key to help transform the math journey for not only the students, but the teachers as well. Because my undergraduate degree is in sociology. And so in order to teach, I needed to get my Master's degree. And I had taken some mathematics courses in college.
So when they look over my transcripts, they wanted to have the mathematics covered. I had one class in my grad program, and it was Math in Literature. So I love using picture books to explore math and all. But I really was not taught about the intricacies of building number sense and early numeracy. And so I came out certified K-8 to teach. But I really wasn't feeling any more qualified to teach kindergarten than I would have an eighth grade science class or something. I think the expectation was you would be getting a textbook and following whatever the lessons are in the textbook, and so indeed, I did.
I taught grade 5 for 13 years, and we had a textbook for most of those years. But all I knew was how I taught, which was rote procedure, and memorization, and valuing getting the right answer. And over the course of my career now of understanding mathematics and having kids talk about their thinking and build flexibility of thought and that the algorithm may not be the destination, all that work is embedded within the Math Running Record. Because it's getting us to be able to interview kids about their thinking and knowing for the research--
So Dr. Nicki spent 10 years researching math fact fluency, and then created this protocol of how we can interview students. She created a progression of strategies for each of the four operations. So we can find out where the students are, what set of facts are causing them a super slow down or inaccuracies or inefficient strategies, and then find out where they are on the trajectory of Baroody's research of counting all and counting on and then counting it all in their heads, and then derive strategies until finally developing a mastery with understanding. So it becomes a blueprint and a layout for the instructional response for the kids.
But in the process, when I'm training districts on how to do this, I'm really teaching them about early numeracy. And so everything else benefits. And then if we apply those same strategies to larger numbers, and eventually decimals and fractions, I mean, it unlocks the math journey for so many more of our students that typically had been excluded, because they weren't able to memorize or they weren't able to follow the 10 step procedures of long division. And so it just transforms the idea of mathematics. And I find a lot that teachers that really did not like teaching math, it becomes a favorite part of their day. And they had been literacy described people. But they're like, this is so amazing.
Melissa Milner 04:53
It is.
Ann Elise Record 04:53
I know!
Melissa Milner 04:54
It's so diagnostic. It is time consuming, but it is so worth it. And it actually saves you time in the end. Because you realize how your kids think and what strategies they do use. And you know, I started doing them this year. I found I was underestimating what these kids could do.
Ann Elise Record 05:14
And the opposite, too.
Melissa Milner 05:16
Yeah. And these were kids that were historically struggling math students. And they were doing the most sophisticated mental math and taking these steps. And I'm like, oh, I get it now. I can play on those strategies that work for them and make them more efficient. And you know, it was amazing. It was amazing.
Ann Elise Record 05:39
I think it works the other way too, though. There are a lot of teachers that tell me that the kids they thought that would ace the Running Record did not.
Melissa Milner 05:47
Nope.
Ann Elise Record 05:47
Because they've gone down the memorization path, and they've got no strategy sense and no number sense at all. They're just-- they've memorized the answers. And they won't even try harder ones, which is why after I give the multiplication running record, that tends to be something that kids have traditionally memorized. I don't find many that have done it successfully.
But there are many kids who have successfully memorized the math facts. So I asked them when it's all done, when I'm assured that most of the higher facts are accurate and relatively speedy, I asked them 4 times 17. And that separates out the kids who have some kind of number sense from kids that don't.
The kids who are going down a path of memorizing, they literally will tell me, I haven't learned that one yet. They think it is a discrete thing. The kids who are going down a path of exploring their fluency, they've developed automaticity. They've developed their mastery of the facts. When I asked them 4 times 17, they're like, well, I don't know it offhand. But I could double double!
Melissa Milner 06:41
4 times 10. 4 times 7. Right, yeah.
Ann Elise Record 06:46
Exactly. They have some strategy of number sense to attack it, and they understand that they might make a mistake, but that's okay. And it just unlocks that math journey, and it can be much more accessible for many more of our students.
Melissa Milner 06:59
It's so exciting. And I mean, I was like you. I graduated in '91.
Ann Elise Record 07:04
Oh, I was '90.
Melissa Milner 07:06
Yeah. And it was absolutely like, here's the textbook, and here you go. And just the Build Math Minds site, being a member on that has changed my whole world. And I have to give my district credit. The other thing that pushed me into really looking into Build Math Minds and basic number sense, and Van de Walle, and all of it was that my district decided not only are we doing reading workshop and writing workshop, but we're going to be doing math workshop.
And I'm like, okay. I've got to think a different way to make math workshop work, you know? I can't be sitting in that book all day long in a math workshop. So that's what pushed me into it. And then I mean, Dr. Nicki, you know, we made the beaded number lines, and it's so fun, and it's so creative. I had no idea math was creative.
Ann Elise Record 08:00
Yes, exactly. The two of them have changed my life honestly. I had gone to a Bureau of Education and Research conference. It was a two day conference back when the core standards had just come out. So there were literacy sessions and math, you could choose which ones you wanted to go to. And one of the first ones I went to was Dr. Nicki. And she was showing me things I had never seen before with math, open number lines - it was the first time I'd ever seen an open number line - and double number lines. I'm like, what world is this?
And I stayed with her the entire two days. And then when I became a math coach in my district, we had some money to be able to hire her to come to our district for a week and do some PD with all the teachers. And she doesn't like to drive, and so I became a taxi driver. Because in Berlin, New Hampshire, in the north, there are no taxis. At least there weren't at that point. And so we became fast, close friends, and we put the entire week together. And she's one of my treasured friends, and so that began our collaboration together.
And then during that same year was when Christina Tondevold did her first number sense one on one course. And I knew becoming a coach K-5 that I had to learn about the early numeracy. I did not know how kids learned about early numbers. And so I took that course, and that changed my trajectory, as well. And so then that continued my journey with Christina and working with Build Math Minds, and then creating content for her site. I still do that to this day.
Melissa Milner 09:17
Yeah, it's fantastic.
Ann Elise Record 09:18
So those two have been my mentors, they have changed my life.
Melissa Milner 09:22
I was about to teach fluency for multiplication. So I went on, and I looked at the number sense, there's the four pieces, the subitizing, the--
Ann Elise Record 09:34
Is it the verbal counting, the object counting, the decomposition, subitizing. Yes.
Melissa Milner 09:39
As part of my instruction for multiplication, I was really checking and making sure that the kids could do those things. And then I was getting ready for fractions. And she was like, same thing for fractions. I'm like, oh yeah, benchmarks. Okay.
Ann Elise Record 09:57
It all fits together. That's the beauty of it.
Melissa Milner 10:01
Amazing.
Ann Elise Record 10:02
It really is. The biggest one for me, when I'm doing parent nights with districts, I do like to have a parent night in the districts that I work with. Because we have to get the parents on board, they have to understand why we're doing what we're doing. And so I share with them some foundational understanding of fluency. But then I show some future impact. And I say 4/5 plus 3/5.
And a lot of the people have trauma with fractions, because that tends to be a gateway where some people have very negative experiences. Multiple I meet have negative experiences with math, but fractions tended to be one place where they're like, oh, I can't do it fractions. They have anxiety about it.
But then I talked to them about the same thing. I talked to them about basic fact fluency to break apart numbers to make a 10. And I'm like, well, what if you broke apart that 3/5 into 1/5 and 1/5, and just rename it as 1 and 2/5? I mean, it's so much more accessible than just add numerators, keep denominators the same. And it feels weird, because there's a large number on top, that whole thing just goes away, and we have conceptual understanding. And the parents are like, if I had learned it this way when I was younger, I wouldn't feel the way that I do now.
Melissa Milner 11:05
It's so true. It's so true.
Ann Elise Record 11:07
It's so true!
Melissa Milner 11:08
Yeah, it's really-- I'm like, I'm a mathematician. That is a shocker, because I really struggled in math. And I worked and worked and worked to just get by. And if it had been taught this way, I would have gotten it. I would have been zooming along, and maybe I would have decided to become a veterinarian instead. The math and science scared me.
Ann Elise Record 11:33
But I think that's also true of a lot of our students. A lot of our kiddos get put in interventions, because they can't follow the procedures. Because what we're expecting of them is to get a right answer and to follow algorithms. And they're not able to follow that with all those different steps when it has no meaning attached. Whereas if we taught it in these conceptual ways, we wouldn't have as many kids needing an intervention.
Melissa Milner 11:52
Yes. You mentioned the consulting. What do you usually ask to come and do in schools? Or what is your goal when you walk into a school or a district to make their math curriculum and teaching and pedagogy better?
Ann Elise Record 12:07
Well, first of all, I focus on the eight math practices. So these are gonna be in place for kindergarten classrooms all the way to high school. Things like having kids problem solving and persevering at that, modeling with mathematics, using math tools, talking about their thinking, the underlying structure, not only our number system, but also of word problems structures, as well.
So I imagine they're like three pillars to our math instruction. We want to give instructional time, too. There's the fluency piece, which needs to be given some instructional time and attention. There's the word problem and structures of those, so it's not just solving word problems and certainly not keywords. Those lead the kids astray.
That develops kids that are number pluckers, as Graham Fletcher calls them, where they pluck the numbers out and do a random operation of trying to find one word that tells them what operation to use to get the right answer. But if we explore the structures of the types based on the research of Thomas Carpenter and his colleagues in Cognitively Guided Instruction, then we can show what's happening with the situation and then give the flexibility to the kids to numerically solve it however they want.
But if we give a typical problem that people think of as being division, which really, there are three different types. And if one of the factors is unknown, then it could use division to solve it. But I could use addition, subtraction, multiplication or division to solve it. I don't have to use the division operation for it. So we need to get away from talking about problem types as being defined by the operation that we want kids to use to solve it, and instead talk about the structure of a situation.
Melissa Milner 13:34
Yeah, take that poster down, take it down.
Ann Elise Record 13:38
Yeah, oh my gosh, take down those posters. So when I go into a school, I'm certainly looking on the walls. Because Dr. Nicki says that the walls reflect what's important to you. And generally, what I see is 75% of the walls are covered in literacy posters. There usually is a calendar corner or a hundreds chart that I'll see.
But beyond that, I'm not seeing much else for mathematics in many places. And so I'm looking for that. And I'm looking for those keyword posters to have a conversation about why we don't want to have those on the wall. So typically, I've been brought in-- this is my second school year being a consultant. And I've also been presenting for the Bureau of Education and Research, which is a full circle for me to be a presenter at the same conference I met Dr. Nicki at.
Melissa Milner 14:20
Wow.
Ann Elise Record 14:21
Fabulous for me to have that. But so I work with districts. Very often the Math Running Records is the one that gets me in the door, because the fluency piece is just so important. And that is, I believe, the gateway to help fix everything else. But then once you've gone beyond exploring the strategies with the basic facts and how they apply to larger ones, then I tend to go into the problem solving.
And so the idea that there are 15 different problem types and involve adding and subtracting, and there are 9 that involve multiplication, division, single step, teachers are like, what? So if we don't know that stuff ourselves, then certainly we're not facilitating that learning with our students. So that tends to go into the next time, next phases, and then we go into daily routines, things we can do every day that can kind of get that fun and engaging way to get the mathematics out in front of the kids and having them talk about their thinking and building the flexibility and respecting each other's viewpoints. So there's not just one way to get an answer.
So all that kind of work tends to be what I've been doing so far in my consulting work. And then whatever districts want, I'll do. I've done workshops on fractions and place value, those kind of things. But generally, it's the Math Running Records, because it's really teaching everyone about early numeracy and then the problem types. Because I find those two pillars-- because we have the fluency, the problem solving, and then we have the regular content standards. How do I teach kids about subtracting two digit numbers in grade two? And that takes a lot of sophisticated thought.
It's not the algorithm. The algorithm should be in grade four. There's a reason why it's in grade four. There are other ways you can do it. But very often, when I ask people, I usually do 52 minus 38. And I ask them to think about how many strategies they can think of to figure out the answer. And I usually get two, three or four. But there are a lot more than that. But we just haven't exposed our brain to it yet.
So it's just a matter of exposing our brain and practicing it and just building those new neural pathways that allow us to think more flexibly about it. But I could apply that same thinking to mixed numbers and subtraction. So I no longer do that regrouping algorithm when you give me two mixed numbers. I have many other ways to think about it that are much more efficient for my brain.
Melissa Milner 16:31
Do you have any suggestions about doing this work that you've just talked all about, Running Records, and that deep word problem, delving into those different word problems and so on? Do you have any suggestions about how to do that with a remote model or a hybrid model when we're not in person with the kids all the time?
Ann Elise Record 16:57
Well, I've been doing a lot of virtual Math Running Records, actually. Because since the shutdown in March, all the districts I was planning on working in couldn't have me because the schools were closed. So my consulting and being on the road all the time came to a screeching halt. And so I had special time on my hands.
And I thought, you know, I should ask for volunteers to have kids talk to me about their thinking. And so I did a lot of virtual running records. And it actually worked out really awesome, because I could easily record it. I did it in Zoom. I would have my phone signed in as another device, and I just pointed it down. I put it on some Harry Potter books, because they're really thick, and put my phone facing down onto the desk and showed the benchmark expressions for the kids for the part one.
And then I talked about their thinking, and I could easily just record it and have it to go back to look at later. And then I could figure out from the interview where I want them to begin working on their fluency. And then I could suggest games and activities to the parents to help work on that with the kids. Because I want to engage parents in this learning. And I think basic facts and playing games is a really great entry level to it. They can feel comfortable with that.
And so it can help us fix that problem by encouraging the parents and encouraging positive interactions between the kids and the parents and not having it be this fearful, anxiety prone-- The parents don't understand what we're trying to do right now with math, and so they freak out, and they call their friend. Did you do tonight's homework. Or they go on Facebook, and they bash it. They need to understand that there's a larger thing at work here beyond what they see, what they don't understand. It's scary to them, you know?
So if we can have them play games with their kids and encourage flexibility of thought, yeah, it's a win win. And so certainly with the fluency piece, I like interviewing the kids. And a lot of teachers were meeting with their kids one on one anyway to kind of build a relationship. So while you have them with you, you take 10 minutes and ask them about their math thinking. And then that can help guide your decision on what you want them to do moving forward.
Melissa Milner 17:14
Yeah, that sounds doable. But my other question, I think it's still going on, your Cuisenaire course?
Ann Elise Record 18:54
Oh, yes.
Melissa Milner 18:55
Do you have remote ideas for manipulatives?
Ann Elise Record 19:01
Yeah, in fact, with my course, you get a four month subscription for a classroom to Brainingcamp. And Brainingcamp is a web page that has virtual manipulatives that are fabulous. And in fact, research has shown that virtual manipulatives have shown to improve engagement with mathematics, as well.
So doing it virtually, I mean, I totally believe that doing hands on things and getting concrete objects in the hands of the kids is really important. But virtual is not a bad second place right now when we're dealing with a pandemic and don't want to have to wash off any hands on things with germs and whatnot, right? So having it virtually is not a bad second choice.
Melissa Milner 19:38
Even if you're in, even if you're in school.
Ann Elise Record 19:40
Yes, exactly. And Brainingcamp actually is affiliated with Hand2Mind, which is the company that has the trademark on Cuisenaire Rods.
Melissa Milner 19:47
Oh, yeah.
Ann Elise Record 19:48
And so they've offered to give a four month subscription for a classroom to their app. And they have a Cuisenaire Rod app that is amazing. It's the best that I've seen. So yeah, that is a part of the course. I mean, in the course, I do go through the three pillars. I go through fluency, problem solving, as well as the content standards for each grade level. I have a K-2 version out now, and then also, I just released my 3-5 version.
Melissa Milner 20:11
And is it too late to get into the K-2 if people are listening and interested?
Ann Elise Record 20:16
I don't have plans to close it. I want it to be available for people when they want to learn about it. So no, I don't have any plans to close it. It is asynchronous. So there are videos and some resources within it that people can do it at their own pace.
Melissa Milner 20:29
Gotcha.
Ann Elise Record 20:30
So yeah, you've got the K-2 version and the 3-5, and then I go through each grade level of the content standards and how Cuisenaire Rods, they're my favorite manipulative. Because I think they have the key to help us move our kids from the counting phase of reasoning into strategies into additive thinking, and then from additive thinking into multiplicative reasoning. So it helps us move them all on the journey. Pam Harris has a wonderful graphic, that she developed on the development of mathematical reasoning.
And so we think of our kids entering kindergarten, they're in the counting phase of reasoning. When they go into addition, and particularly when we use the algorithm too soon, kids are doing the algorithm, which of course, is just single digit facts. And if they haven't developed the fluency yet with the math facts, they end up counting on within the basic facts of let's say a two or three digit addition problem. So they're doing a counting phase of reasoning in the context of a multi-digit addition.
So instead, I want to help move them into additive thinking, which has place value attached to it, as well. And then, very often, kids - beginning in multiplication - will start skip counting. And then they continue doing the skip counting for the basic facts. So in multiplication, we want multiplicative reasoning. They're doing a multi-digit multiplication problem, which is, again, just basic facts. They're ending up skip counting on the basic facts.
And so these are the things we're aware of in the Math Running Record to see where they are on that phase of that journey. And then we're able to explore those things with games, activities and daily routines to help move our kids forward on that journey. And the Cuisenaire Rods, the numbers exist as a group. So when I use Base Ten blocks, which I did in my fifth grade classroom to do subtraction for my kiddos who still couldn't do the algorithm up, I wanted them to understand why the algorithm worked.
So we traded in a 10 rod for 10 cubes, and we already had 8 cubes sitting there. And you can't subitize 18 cubes. The kids, then, would take away the ones that were being removed. And then they would count the ones that were left. And I realized, all they're doing is counting. They're not doing any strategies. So that, to me, the Cuisenaire Rods are the key to help moving that forward. And so that's why I just love them so much.
Melissa Milner 22:29
That sounds pretty amazing. And you said you're doing a grade 3-5, as well?
Ann Elise Record 22:33
It's already open. I opened it a few days ago.
Melissa Milner 22:36
Oh, great.
Ann Elise Record 22:37
And you can get a bundle, as well. You can get both classes for even less money.
Melissa Milner 22:41
You'll give us that information at the end.
Ann Elise Record 22:43
Yes, absolutely.
Melissa Milner 22:44
All right. So what are you zooming in on right now with your work?
[ZOOMING IN SOUNDBITE]
Ann Elise Record 22:51
So certainly, being in person and doing trainings is not feasible right now. But it's been actually kind of nice. I've been doing virtual trainings from my house. So I've had lots of sessions with Nebraska. I had Texas last week. I did New Jersey this morning. So I'm able to still meet with people in this virtual space. I do it through Zoom. It allows me to have breakout groups, and people can still be having those small group conversations.
There are also some ways virtually to get people active, like doing a Google Drive, like a sheet, a Google Sheets file. So people can access that file and collaboratively work together. So I'm still finding some ways to be able to do the trainings. But I'm able to have dinner at night with my husband and be home with our puppy.
Melissa Milner 23:30
That's amazing.
Ann Elise Record 23:32
And so I also still work. I do make content for Christina Tondevold's Build Math Minds for pay, professional development site. And facilitating the Facebook groups takes me a lot of time. I do the Build Math Minds for Christina. That's got over 56,000 members. And then my Math Running Records one, all working on fluency with Dr. Nicki's work, that's got over 13,000 people. I think for me, creating these online courses that teachers can access at a reasonable price for teachers and to be that support to people online is really the heart of what I'm doing right now.
Melissa Milner 24:08
That's great.
Ann Elise Record 24:09
I'll get back out in person as soon as there's a vaccine for it, but I'm not in any hurry to get out there because this is scary stuff. And Dr. Nicki had COVID.
Melissa Milner 24:19
I know.
Ann Elise Record 24:20
And she was in a coma for two months, but she is getting stronger every day, which we talked yesterday. She's looking great. But you know, it's a long journey to recover. So, you know, this is no joke. So I'm not in any hurry to get out there traveling or flying around the country like I was doing.
Melissa Milner 24:36
Absolutely. It's not worth it. Can you tell us about the book that you worked on with Dr. Nicki?
Ann Elise Record 24:42
Sure. Dr. Nicki and also Dr. Alison Mello and I collaborated together on a book called Fluency Doesn't Just Happen with Addition and Subtraction. So it's all about this fluency work and exploring strategies and number relationships with kids. But what we're bringing to the conversation is also about using concrete pictorial and abstract ways to explore the strategies.
So in the book, there's guides about creating fluency plans and including parents on the journey and the foundation of the flexibility of thought. But also, for each of the strategies, you get ideas for videos you could show the students, and picture books you could use, and all kinds of ideas for your workstations that are concrete, pictorial and abstract, word problems you can use, and even a quiz to help measure at the end of working on a strategy whether a student's ready to move on to the next strategy.
So we have not yet begun to write the next one on multiplication and division. But that's certainly our goal, to get that one done, as well. But yeah, it's a wonderful, wonderful book. It's really the next steps to the Math Running Records. The Math Running Records by Dr. Nicki Newton, that book is about how we talk to the kids about their thinking with all four operations and then the codes involved with that, because the research informed that went behind that. And then this book is the next steps.
Now that I have the Math Running Record done and I know what strategy I want each student to be working on and what level they are with that progression of counting all, counting on, doing that also within their head, and then derive strategies to mastery, how can I help them move forward? These are getting all kinds of ideas at your fingertips that you can do with the kids.
Melissa Milner 26:13
That makes me so happy. Because it is! It's like, great, I have all this great information about each of my students. And I think I know what to do next. So that's really, really helpful. And I know everything you guys do is based in research and work with real students.
Ann Elise Record 26:30
Absolutely. And if anyone's interested in that, I do run the Facebook group called Math Running Records. And with that, I've created what's called a Padlet, which is a web page. So it's not affiliated to Facebook or social media. So if you're not doing social media, totally fine. It's a web page that has lots of resources on there for you. And there are also some videos of me giving running records that you can see. And Dr. Nicki has her own site called mathrunningrecords.com. And that's where you can get the downloadable sheets.
It's all free. There's no cost to them. And so you can check out her site, and there's some videos of her giving them, as well as the downloadable recording sheets. And then on my Padlet, I have lots more information for you. It's a rabbit hole of time, but you can get access to that, as well. So there's lots of resources for no cost out there.
Melissa Milner 27:16
Very cool. Are you on Facebook and Twitter and stuff like that, too?
Ann Elise Record 27:21
I sure am.
Melissa Milner 27:21
Do you want to share that? You can share that with us, yeah.
Ann Elise Record 27:24
Sure. So on Facebook, you can befriend me at Ann Elise Record. But look for the logo that is a growth mindset tree. If you see a picture of me and my adorable Marty McFly puppy, then that's my personal one, and you'll see pictures of my kids and my three year old niece and the dog. But if the growth mindset message tree, that's all my math postings. I only post in Facebook on that profile math things. And so I have that.
And then within the groups, the Math Running Records Facebook group, as well as the Build Math Minds Facebook group. And I have my own one called Elementary Math with Ann Elise. And that's for any topic of elementary mathematics, fractions, anything else you want to talk about. And then on Twitter, I'm just @AnnEliseRecord, just my name. And in Instagram, I'm ann.e.record.
So I'm active in all three areas, mostly Facebook. I find Facebook is my home. That's where I live. Because I'm able to share something so easily within the Facebook, videos, and links to webpages, and then the Padlet that has links to everything.
So the Padlet has everything that I offer. I have the free version for the Math Running Records. But I also have a version for my consulting work, because of course, that's my livelihood. So I will not give that link away, but I will give the free one away.
Melissa Milner 28:42
No, that's awesome. Have you ever thought of doing a Twitter chat?
Ann Elise Record 28:47
I had actually led several within the Elementary Math Chat. So it's a #elemmathchat. So I've led several of those. I've got one that was coming up at the end of September. I'm not sure whether it will correlate to the date that this releases. So I do participate in those. I haven't yet led my own special hashtag one, no. I have not done that.
Melissa Milner 29:11
I think you should.
Ann Elise Record 29:13
An interesting idea. I've never thought of that.
Melissa Milner 29:17
Yeah, it's time consuming. But I think a lot of people would love to, once a week, be able to interact with you and ask questions or however you want to structure the chat. I think it would be great.
Ann Elise Record 29:30
Well, what I've been doing, actually, I have held some Zoom calls with my Elementary Math with Ann Elise group.
Melissa Milner 29:38
Oh, cool.
Ann Elise Record 29:39
So if you're a member of that Facebook group, then I share a Zoom link, and then we get together and just chat.
Melissa Milner 29:44
That's great!
Ann Elise Record 29:45
Oh, yeah. I find Twitter to be a little constraining with the characters.
Melissa Milner 29:50
Yes, I agree. All right. So my last question is very-- I don't know how to say it. A lot of people have found it to be difficult. What is your favorite movie, and why?
Ann Elise Record 30:01
One movie that I will watch over and over and over again is While You Were Sleeping.
Melissa Milner 30:06
Oh, I love that movie!
Ann Elise Record 30:07
Have you seen that one with Sandra Bullock? I just love that whole storyline of the family taking her in and falling in love with the other brother. And yeah, that's the one that if it's on television, I will just sit and watch it. I just love it.
Melissa Milner 30:21
That's definitely a guilty pleasure movie.
Ann Elise Record 30:25
Yep.
Melissa Milner 30:26
Bill Pullman is great in that.
Ann Elise Record 30:29
Oh, he's so good.
Melissa Milner 30:30
He's so lovable.
Ann Elise Record 30:31
I know it. And then the end when he puts the ring in the-- Oh my gosh, I just-- And then the whole family is right there, too. It's like, oh!
Melissa Milner 30:40
That is such a funny movie. And she's so lovable. She's such a great actress.
Ann Elise Record 30:43
Oh, she totally is. Yeah.
Melissa Milner 30:45
Thank you, Ann Elise. This was absolutely wonderful to talk to you. And I appreciate you taking the time out to do it.
Ann Elise Record 30:51
Oh, thanks so much for having me. It's been a treat.
Melissa Milner 30:56
If you enjoyed this episode, and have not done so already, please hit the subscribe button for The Teacher As... podcast so you can get future episodes. I would love for you to leave a review and a rating, as well, if you have time. For my blog, transcripts of this episode and links to any resources mentioned, visit my website at www.theteacheras.com. You can reach me on Twitter and Instagram @melissabmilner. And I hope you check out The Teacher As... Facebook page for episode updates.
I am sending a special thanks to Linda and Lester Fleishman, my mom and dad, for being so supportive. They are the voices you hear in the Zooming In soundbite. And my dad composed and performed the background music you are listening to right now. My intro music was "Upbeat Party" by Scott Holmes.
So what are you zooming in on? I would love to hear from you. My hope is that we all share what we are doing in the classroom in order to teach, remind, affirm and inspire each other. Thanks for listening. And that's a wrap!