Just-in-Time Math Intervention with Juliana Tapper

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What if math intervention didn’t mean going back three grade levels and trying to fill every gap a student has before they’re allowed to move forward?

In this episode of The Modern Math Teacher, I’m joined by my friend and math intervention expert Juliana Tapper, author of Teaching 6–12 Math Intervention: A Practical Framework to Engage Students Who Struggle, to talk about a different approach: just-in-time intervention.

And selfishly? I had questions.

This year I’m teaching an Algebra 1 Pro Lab designed to help students succeed in their grade-level Algebra 1 class, so I asked Juliana to help me think through what that class could actually look like.

One of my biggest takeaways was Juliana’s staircase approach to intervention.

Start with the grade-level skill students need—that’s the top of the staircase. Then ask: What do they need to know immediately before they can do that? And what do they need before that?

Keep stepping backward until you’ve identified the essential prerequisite skills students actually need.

Instead of trying to fix every gap from the past, we can strategically build the staircase students need to reach the mathematics in front of them.

We also talk about:

• Using the first week to learn how students actually feel about mathematics—and intentionally creating positive new math experiences
• The connection between intervention, math identity, and our recent conversation with Vanessa Vakharia
• Using routines like Notice & Wonder, Same & Different, Which One Doesn’t Belong, Number Talks, and Number Strings to build confidence
• How non-math contexts (including pictures from your own life!) can help teach these routines while building community
• Structuring an intervention class around the content students will encounter in their core math class 1–2 weeks later
• Mixing kinesthetic learning, explicit instruction, and meaningful practice
• How to use IXL as a planning and differentiation tool rather than parking students in front of a computer
• Using pre-assessments to determine which "stair" each student needs
• Combining small groups, IXL, Math Wars, and engaging whole-group activities based on student needs
• Building foundational fluency through Number Talks, Fun Fact/Fluency Fridays, Throwback Thursdays, and intentional review

If you teach students who have unfinished learning, this conversation is packed with practical ways to support what they need without lowering the expectations for where they're going.

Connect with Juliana

Learn more about Juliana, her intervention resources, and her work with secondary math teachers at CollaboratEd with Juliana.

Pick up a copy of Teaching 6–12 Math Intervention: A Practical Framework to Engage Students Who Struggle and check out the free companion resources for the book.

You can also find Juliana on Instagram at @collaborated.with.juliana.

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!

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