Math Anxiety: The Hidden Barrier in Tier 2 and Tier 3 Support
Math anxiety has been described as a silent epidemic in education because it affects so many students, yet often goes unnamed or untreated. For students receiving Tier 2 and Tier 3 support, math anxiety is not a side issue, it…
Joy Is Not a Bonus: Why Intervention Works Better When Math Feels Good
Intervention Is About Healing Students’ Relationships with Math For many students, math intervention is not just about filling gaps in skills, it is about repairing a relationship with math. By the time students are identified for intervention, many have come…
Number Portraits: Number Sense Meets Project-Based Learning
Why Fluency Needs Creative Application The ultimate goal of fluency and number sense practice is not speed, it’s the ability to think flexibly about numbers and apply them in meaningful ways. A simple multiplication fact like 5 × 8 doesn’t…
From Research to the Classroom: A Research-Aligned Approach to Fluency
Developed by a team of scientists, mathematicians and teachers, our approach to number sense and fluency is research backed, evidence-based, and firmly grounded in educational theory and cognitive neuroscience. What Tile Farm Academy Is Designed to Support Tile Farm Academy…
What Makes Tile Farm Academy a Different Kind of Fluency Tool
What Fluency Is and Why It Matters Whether it was doing times tables worksheets, practicing flashcards, or playing computer games to practice math facts, we all have memories of working on fluency in school. But in an age of calculators,…
Tile Farm Academy: ESSA Tier 4 Evidence
Tile Farm Academy is supported by ESSA Tier 4 evidence (“Demonstrates a Rationale”). Under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), Tier 4 evidence includes a well-specified logic model grounded in high-quality research suggesting an intervention is likely to improve relevant…
A Visit to a STEAM Lab: When Math, Art, and Joy Converge
This week I visited a Title I elementary school in the Southwest where STEAM Lab teacher Ms. Bell invited me to work with her 4th- and 5th-grade classes and walk her through our new Tile Farm Academy dashboard. I do…
Apply to Become a Tile Farm Teacher Fellow
We’re excited to introduce the Spring 2026 Tile Farm Teacher Fellowship, a new initiative for K-12 educators who want to bring more joy, creativity, and beauty into math learning.
Building Number Sense with Engineer It
When we think of math’s greatest powers, one stands out: its ability to help us build. From baking cookies to painting a mural to designing a rocket ship, math allows us to take what we’ve learned and apply it creatively…