Mr. Purdy Math

10/15/2026

Is AI doing your students’ math homework? Here’s a question it can’t answer: how many times did YOU check your phone today? 📱
Only your students have that data, and that’s what makes data talks so powerful.

Join me for my NCTM webinar, Beyond the Graph: Building Data Literacy Through Classroom Routines, on October 22. You’ll leave with routines you can use the next day to get students noticing, wondering, and reasoning with data, including data from their own lives. NCTM - National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

📈 Free data talk: What Can 126 Dots Tell Us About Peace? It starts as 126 dots with no title, no labels, and no key, and students uncover the story of the Nobel Peace Prize one reveal at a time.
🔗 Registration link in my bio.
💬 Comment PEACE and I’ll send you the data talk

What’s the best data talk you’ve ever run with students? Tell me below!

10/14/2026

Go check out the latest podcast where John Staley and Kristopher Childs discuss creating environments where all students feel they belong in mathematics! 🔥🔥🔥 Dr. Kristopher J. Childs John W. Staley

10/14/2026

"I'm just not a math person." 🛑

I've heard it from students. From parents. Even from teachers.

But here's the truth: nobody is born a "math person." Math ability grows with practice, good teaching and the belief that mistakes are part of learning. If you are not good at math now, you're still learning it!

There's no such thing as a "math person." Everyone can do math.

3 phrases to swap in your classroom (or at home):
❌ "I'm not a math person." → ✅ "I'm still building this skill."
❌ "This is easy." → ✅ "Let's figure this out together."
❌ "You got it wrong." → ✅ "Show me your thinking."

👇 Finish this sentence in the comments:
"I started believing I could do math when ______."

📌 Save this for your next tough math day.
🔁 Share it with a teacher or parent who needs it.

Follow for daily ways to build math confidence.

10/14/2026

Can you calculate your odds of winning the tonight's Mega Millions?

1 in 290,472,336. That's the chance tonight's $385M Mega Millions ticket wins. You can calculate the odds with just middle school math!

Try to calculate the odds on your own, then swipe through for the answer. (it takes about 60 seconds) ➡️

BONUS: Slide 6 is a Powerball challenge.📌

💾 Save this for your probability unit
📤 Send it to the friend who just bought 20 tickets
➕ Follow Dustin Purdy for math that shows up in real life

10/12/2026

10/12/2026

This Indigenous Peoples’ Day take a moment to learn whose land you live on.

10/12/2026

Three months as an Amplify Education Desmos Math facilitator taught me one thing about teacher PD:
Teachers learn math teaching by doing the math, not by hearing about it.

The sessions that land aren't the ones with the best slides. They're the ones where teachers work a task together, get stuck, argue a little, and then see what their students will experience.

If I could tell every new facilitator one thing, it would be this: talk less, and let the math do the work.

Read my reflection on my blog. Link in bio.

10/11/2026

Excited to be presenting two sessions on Data Stories and Transformative Math Tasks.

Stop by and say Hi!

Hey AMTNYS Community!

The 76th Annual AMTNYS Fall Conference is right around the corner, and you won’t want to miss it! Join us this November 6–7, 2026, at the Marriott Albany for two days packed with inspiring sessions, fresh classroom strategies, and connections with fellow math educators from across the state.

From dynamic keynotes to practical workshops on building purposeful fluency, we’ve got an incredible lineup ready for you.


Secure your spot today and get ready for an extraordinary couple of days in Albany!

10/10/2026

Teachers, have you ever felt like this? 👇

If you’re anything like me, you wanted to honor Indigenous Peoples’ Day in your math classroom but weren’t sure how. How do you teach the importance of land acknowledgment and explore Indigenous cultures while still teaching your curriculum?

So I created three ready-for-Monday activities for grades 6–12. Each one works as a quick warm-up or a full class lesson:
1️⃣ Count Like the Maya. Students crack a base-20 number system with one of the world’s earliest zeros, then write 2026 the Maya way.
2️⃣ The Math of a Star Quilt. Angles, symmetry and counting patterns inside the eight-pointed star, a living art form of Lakota, Dakota and Nakota quilters. Includes a research extension on geometry in Indigenous art.
3️⃣ Whose Land Are We On? Students use the Native Land map to find the nations connected to your school, analyze the class’s data, and write their own land acknowledgment.

Every activity comes with an answer key, CCLS standards and a math vocabulary list.

💬 Comment INDIGENOUS 👇 and I’ll send you all three activities!

06/01/2026

I'm re-sharing an article I co-authored with Chad Uyehara and Megan Vosk for AMLE: Five Ways to Support LGBTQIA+ Students This Pride Month and Beyond.

As educators, we have the opportunity—and responsibility—to create learning environments where every student feels seen, valued, safe, and empowered to be their authentic selves. In this article, we explore practical strategies for fostering belonging and supporting LGBTQIA+ students throughout the year, not just during Pride Month.

I hope you'll take a few moments to read, reflect, and consider how we can continue building more inclusive and affirming schools for all learners.

Read the article here: https://bit.ly/3yJbAtH

Pride Month provides educators with an opportunity to reflect on current policies and practices in our schools and how we can best serve our LGBTQIA+ students. As teacher leaders, we believe we can do more to support our students. In this article we share five suggestions on how we can work toward a...