Who Is A Math Person?

Have you ever been told you’re more of a creative type than a math type person? Maybe you’ve said it to yourself, especially when you were faced with a tricky math problem that made you want to pull your hair out!

In our society, there is a long-held myth that some people are born to be good at math and some people aren’t. But researchers like Carol Dweck and Jo Boaler have shown that all of us have the potential to get better and better at math. And the key is to believe that the more your stretch your brain and engage in challenging problems, the more efficient and flexible your brain becomes. And the better you get at math! It takes time and effort, and a belief that you CAN do it.

Why Should You Use This Book?

In this book, you will find a series of problem-solving strategies that will help you solve messy, interesting, real-world problems. When you try out the problems for yourself (which we suggest you do!), you willl get to experience productive struggle through reasoning and problem solving—mathematical habits of mind and lifelong abilities that connect math to everyday life. These are the substance of math-positive mindsets!

Problem solving involves struggle–grappling, revising our thinking, trying out new strategies, and a tolerance for getting it wrong the first time. It also involves having lots of different strategies in your back pocket that you can pull out whenever you might need them. In this book, we show sample problems that “fit” the strategy well, but this doesn’t mean you can only use this certain strategy with this type of problem. There are many right ways to solve problems! We are giving some ideas and hoping you will feel confident in trying out many approaches to problem solving.

What Strategies Does This Book Include?

This book gives a broad overview of eight unique problem solving strategies common in middle school math.

The strategies include:

• Draw a Diagram
• Make a Systematic List
• Eliminate Possibilities
• Look for a Pattern
• Guess and Check
• Identify Subproblems
• Solve an Easier Problem
• Create a Physical Representation

The authors of each chapter provide:

• A strategy overview that describes the strategy in simple terms, describes the types of problems the strategy is or is not helpful for, and common misconceptions to watch for.
• Two example problems taken from the amazing problem solving course textbook Crossing the River with Dogs: Problem Solving for College Students (Johnson, Herr, & Kysh, 2018).
• Student self-talk questions you can ask yourself while using this strategy to solve these problems.
• Teacher notes and instructional tips.

Who Wrote This Book?

The authors of this book were students enrolled in Dr. Carrie S. Cutler’s University of Houston College of Education course entitled Teaching Problem Solving in Mathematics during Summer 2026. They were graduate students working toward a master’s degree and teacher certification in the state of Texas. Each author was assigned to become an expert on their assigned problem-solving strategy, and their chapter is the culmination of their semester-long deep dive into the strategy. They were excited to see their work openly available to students and teachers everywhere!