Welcome!

I’m Jessica Palumbo

After just two short months during my first year teaching at a very low performing public school, 100% of my students started passing math. I created fun and engaging math lessons that cut my planning time in half, and they got me results fast without teaching to the test. I’m very happy to now be able to share these lessons with you!

Former 2nd and 3rd grade teacher and elementary math blogger

My First Year Nightmare

I remember my first year teaching like it was yesterday. The stress, the amount of work, the exhaustion. I had never experienced anything like it.

I was working for one of the largest school districts in the country teaching 3rd and 5th grade math and science. Then six weeks into the school year leveling happened. That’s when the district finalizes student enrollment for each school and makes staffing changes. We had about 10 staff members reassigned to different schools across the district, and I was reassigned to our second grade self-contained classroom. I was informed at 3pm on a Thursday, and had to report to my new classroom the very next day. I had not a single thing planned for my first day teaching second grade.

I spent all day Saturday and Sunday moving my belongings from my original classroom to my new classroom. Two sections of second graders were being merged into one, and I had to organize all of their supplies so come Monday they would have what they needed to basically restart the year with me, their new teacher.

In a big public school district, the pressure to get good test scores is tremendous. In the spring, I was told that my second graders were going to be given a substitute every day for science and social studies so that I could help prepare fourth grade for their state math exam. I was completely against this idea, but I had no choice. So every afternoon I’d leave my second graders, head upstairs, and go over sample test questions with nearly 50 fourth graders crammed into one room. It was stressful, chaotic, and incredibly ineffective.

The Good News

I ended up loving second grade. Teaching reading was amazing. I had two full hours and could spend weeks teaching one skill.

Math was trickier. There was so much content and never enough time to get through it all. I needed my lessons to be incredibly efficient and engaging so that I could reach as many students as possible in a short period of time.

That led me to create what is now Math on Point, math presentations for whole group instruction. My students LOVED these lessons because I incorporated stories about their lives, and I used visual representations whenever possible to simplify complex topics. It also allowed me to quickly identify students in need of small group support, so no one ever fell behind.

I couldn’t believe it when two months after using these lessons I got my district math exam results and 100% of my students had passed. I decided if I put the work in upfront by continuing to create math presentations, I’d get time back for myself in the future. And sure enough the following year when I taught second grade again, all I had to do was open the lessons and teach. I had eliminated lesson planning for math!

Fast Forward

My teaching career went on to include third grade at a wonderful private school. I developed Math on Point for both second and third grade and my students had tremendous success with it!

I got married in early 2020, moved across the country from Texas to Michigan during peak covid, and had my first son in October 2020. Life got busy! I welcomed a second baby boy in March 2022 and we moved to Illinois shortly after.

I am now a proud stay at home mom to two wonderfully energetic toddlers, and I’m so happy to be able to share my strategies and lessons with you in hopes that it makes your life as a teacher a lot easier!

 FAQs

  • I attended the wonderful Indiana University, go Hoosiers!

  • I worked for a digital math curriculum company, where I helped teachers across 30 elementary schools implement the program with their students.

  • I am a proud Texas teacher!

  • I taught the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), but I used Common Core aligned curricula at the private school where I taught 3rd grade, so I am very familiar with both!

  • I would love to create Math on Point lessons for kindergarten and first grade!