Podcast – Amplify Teaching

When you think of what goes on behind the scenes of building Amplify Classroom lessons, you probably envision carefully calculated math formulas and complicated equations, right? Not exactly. Meet Sara Barring and Sean Sweeney from our interaction development team! They create animations and interactions for many of our most popular math lessons, and one day they decided to record some of their work sessions. What began as a simple “Wouldn’t it be fun…” conversation turned into something pretty remarkable: a front row seat to their joyous exploration of math. Sean and Sara spend their days bringing math problems to life using Activity Builder, Amplify Classroom’s lesson-building tool. Their goal is to encourage students to explore their own thinking, moving beyond traditional right-and-wrong feedback. Instead of being told “no” when a guess is off, students get visual Responsive Feedback that demonstrates the meaning behind their thinking. In the grade 6 lesson Weight for It, for example, the animation shows them what would happen if the dog actually weighed what they guessed! Sean and Sara help create a safe, playful space where making a mistake isn’t a failure, but a visual stepping stone that encourages students to try again. This creative process is exactly what they decided to capture on camera. Their video series, “Graph Time With Sara and Sean,” reveals what happens when pure curiosity guides work in graphing mathematics. Each episode opens the window into a genuine, surprising discovery, showing the magic happens when you stop worrying about perfection. Watching these videos, even those who feel intimidated by math or think math isn’t for them may feel inspired to try it themselves. Redefining mistakes as happy accidents In any field, the word “mistake” can feel loaded. But for Sara and Sean, the process of creating math animations is less about avoiding mistakes and more about seeing what happens. A great thing about working in Activity Builder’s graphing calculator, Sara notes, is that you can immediately see how every adjustment affects the animation. This instant visibility helps shift your perspective—an unexpected result isn’t a failure, but a happy accident. According to Sara, these moments provide a pivot point into a new, unplanned direction. Take one episode of “Graph Time” that wouldn’t exist without a happy accident Sean had while trying to create a firework animation for one of our lessons. That “mistake” led to the discovery of unexpected mathematical patterns that the team may not have found otherwise. These patterns seem to magically emerge from simple sine and cosine functions, revealing flower-like designs, perfect circles, and intricate geometric shapes that feel limitless in their variety, proving that mathematical beauty often reveals itself through curious experimentation rather than careful planning. Sara and Sean hope to show viewers the reality of their work–with all the struggles, detours, and joy. You might expect someone who creates math animations all day to have their steps carefully mapped out. “We don’t,” Sean says, “and that’s part of what we like about it.” The ripple effect: Transforming math culture Sara and Sean’s playful approach to building curriculum content creates waves they hope will extend beyond their own creative joy, inspiring a new generation of math explorers. For teachers, these videos offer more than just creative techniques—they provide a blueprint for shifting classroom culture. Sean emphasizes that viewers are seeing “the real work they do every day,” providing educators with an authentic model for bringing genuine excitement to mathematical learning. Sara, drawing from her teaching background, recognizes the transformative power of just changing the narrative: “Math gets such a bad rep a lot of the time, so even if Graph Time with Sara and Sean just offers a positive rebrand on some things, I think that’s powerful, too.” When students see people having fun with math, through teachers or videos like “Graph Time With Sara and Sean,” they begin to see math as an invitation to explore. Sean and Sara are hoping they can help students find their own magic, making math less about intimidation and more about fun. Check out Sara and Sean’s videos to see their graphing creations in action! Ready to create your own amazing math adventures? Check out our Lesson Building Toolkit for bite-size tutorials on making your own lesson creations with Amplify Classroom. The post Building math lessons: The playful side you never knew existed appeared first on Amplify.

Episode #6: So You’ve Got Some Technology. Now What? Where can we start with meaningful tech in our lives? What one thing can we do tomorrow? Join Katie and Kristin for this new episode of the Amplify Teaching Podcast all about getting started with meaningful and thoughtful technology use in the classroom. Be sure to subscribe in order to get the latest posts delivered direct to your device. You can find us on the web at Amplifyteaching.com or on Twitter @KatieMuhtaris & @KristinZiemke. There is also a growing community on Facebook: Amplify Teaching Group.

Episode #5: Go slow to go fast. What does it take to get started with technology? In today’s episode we talk about going slow at the beginning so we can go fast later on. Join us for this conversation on how to launch meaningful tech in your classroom. Be sure to subscribe in order to get the latest posts delivered direct to your device. You can find us on the web at Amplifyteaching.com or on Twitter @KatieMuhtaris & @KristinZiemke. There is also a growing community on Facebook: Amplify Teaching Group.

Episode 4: Kristin shares her reflections and aha moments from 2015. Kristin shares her end of year reflections for 2015 live from London. Be sure to subscribe in order to get the latest posts delivered direct to your device. You can find us on the web at Amplifyteaching.com or on Twitter @KatieMuhtaris & @KristinZiemke. There is also a growing community on Facebook: Amplify Teaching Group.

Join Katie and Kristin as they reflect on their favorite moments from the NCTE ’15 conference. Episode 3: The NCTE ’15 Recap where we talk about the power of play and great informal conversations that lead to learning.   Be sure to subscribe in order to get the latest posts delivered direct to your device. You can find us on the web at Amplifyteaching.com or on Twitter @KatieMuhtaris & @KristinZiemke. There is also a growing community on Facebook: Amplify Teaching Group.

Join Kristin and Katie as they reflect on their Digital Literacy session at NCTE with Franki Sibberson, Colby Sharp, Katharine Hale, Ruth Ayers and Pernille Ripp. Episode 2: The NCTE ’15 Recap where we share some great tidbits from our presentation. http://amplifyteaching.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Amplify-Teaching-Podcast-Episode-2-NCTE-Digital-Literacy.mp3Run Time 17:16Artist Kristin Ziemke & Katie MuhtarisComposer Kristin Ziemke& Katie MuhtarisAlbum Podcast – Amplify TeachingYear 2015Genre PodcastFile Name Amplify-Teaching-Podcast-Episode-2-NCTE-Digital-Literacy.mp3File Size 15.96 MBFile Type MP3Mime Type audio/mpegAudio Info Be sure to subscribe in order to get the latest posts delivered direct to your device. You can find us on the web at Amplifyteaching.com or on Twitter @KatieMuhtaris & @KristinZiemke. There is also a growing community on Facebook: Amplify Teaching Group.

Episode 1: Welcome to the new Amplify Teaching Podcast with Katie and Kristin! In the first episode of the Amplify Teaching Podcast Kristin and Katie share a bit about their new book, talk student creation and celebrate their tribe. Join the Amplify team in this audio adventure!   http://amplifyteaching.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Amplify-Teaching-Podcast-Episode-1.mp3Run Time 14:06Album Podcast – Amplify TeachingYear 2015Genre PodcastFile Name Amplify-Teaching-Podcast-Episode-1.mp3File Size 13.07 MBFile Type MP3Mime Type audio/mpegAudio Info Be sure to subscribe in order to get the latest posts delivered direct to your device. You can find us on the web at Amplifyteaching.com or on Twitter @KatieMuhtaris & @KristinZiemke. There is also a growing community on Facebook: Amplify Teaching Group.