Hopping Towards Mathematical Success

“Because movement is such a big part of culture, that’s why we’re using the Math & Movement mats,”

– Gina Cordaro, a Rochester City School District teacher helping rewrite the curriculum.

Gina explains how the Board of Education came to the decision that the standard Common Core curriculum isn’t helping their students reach their full potential.To support the students that have not responded successfully to the Common Core, Gina has been augmenting their learning with kinesthetic strategies and materials. She has been writing grants and purchasing Math & Movement mats for the past nine years.

These days, Gina spends her time holding community math nights at different schools where parents, teachers, student teachers, and, most importantly, the children can jump and learn. The goal is to increase math confidence and enjoyment which will, in turn, bring higher achievement scores. Gina talks about how young children don’t want to be sitting and how it’s natural and healthy to be getting up and moving.

Incorporating movement into their math learning wakes up the sleepy brain, helps the children reinforce math operations, and teaches them math while having fun! She believes that every teacher should have at least a few Math & Movement mats so they can collaborate and share with other teachers. Having a wide variety of mats also allows them to host math nights of their own.

Gina tells viewers, “That’s what gives us our success. We involve the family, we involve the community, the student, and the teacher; we create a relationship with them. That’s how the kids are going to succeed.”