The Math Experience: Fluency

Tuesday, September 15th, 2026 | 7:00-8:30 EST

Computational fluency is built on foundations and good beginnings. These skills and the ability to use them with little thought or effort become strengths and potentially barriers to students realizing their fluency. This session explores these essential foundations, engaging participants in research-based strategies that teach and reinforce those skills. We will unpack how to support students in developing these skills, including estimation, decomposition, counting, structuring numbers, and reasoning through activities that can be applied immediately in classrooms to build fluency from the ground up.

Outcomes:

• Articulate how certain, often overlooked, skills and concepts contribute to students realizing their fluency
• Identify specific skills and their relationship to operations and fluency
• Determine how to develop fluency foundations into student strengths

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2026 | 7:00-8:30 EST 

We can do better than we have traditionally done to ensure every child learns and retains their basic facts! This session explores fundamentally more effective ways to develop automaticity with basic facts. One thing we know for certain about basic facts is that memorizing (including skip counting) has not worked for many students. The research is clear: students who learn through strategies outperform drill groups. This session will focus on how to teach foundational facts and strategies for addition and multiplication.

Outcomes:

• Explain why a fluency approach, including strategy-based instruction, is more effective than traditional rote practice methods  
• Explore a developmental sequence to ensure student success in learning their facts for life  
• Design intentional, strategy-focused fluency instruction for addition and multiplication

Tuesday, September 29th, 2026 | 7:00-8:30 EST 

Computational fluency is more than speed and accuracy—it’s about flexibility, reasoning, and strategic thinking. In this session, we explore how to design practice that actually builds fluency rather than just rehearses procedures. Grounded in Chapter 6 of Figuring Out Fluency in Mathematics Teaching and Learning, participants will examine high-impact practice structures, analyze tasks, and experience routines that promote retention and transfer. Walk away with practical strategies and ready-to-use ideas that support all learners in developing true mathematical fluency.

Outcomes:

• Describe the essential features of effective fluency practice
• Distinguish between low-impact and high-impact practice tasks
• Design and adapt fluency activities that promote reasoning and retention
• Plan for ongoing, coherent practice across lessons and units

Tuesday, October 6th, 2026 | 7:00-8:30 EST 

Do your tests measure flexibility and efficiency? Oftentimes, the focus is solely on accuracy. This session will explore other ways to assess (basic facts and beyond) and ideas for adapting existing quizzes and tests to infuse a fluency focus. Many protocols, tools, and prompts will be shared!

Outcomes:

• Analyze existing assessments to determine what aspects of fluency they measure and what they miss
• Revise traditional assessments to better capture student thinking, strategy use, and efficiency
• Design assessment prompts and tasks that elicit multiple strategies and reveal flexibility in thinking
• Use protocols and tools to assess fluency in ways that go beyond right/wrong answers