‘Math talk’: Wheaton teacher uses visuals, language to educate multilingual learners

Being a teacher doesn’t mean guiding one person, it means finding a way to equally educate dozens of children with different backgrounds, and possibly languages.

Middle school math teacher Amanda Yost has managed to conquer this feat.

Yost was born in Amherst, Ohio, and largely raised in Wheaton. She attended Ohio State University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in French, with a minor in business.

“I love languages, so I was taking French and Spanish for a while,” Yost said. “I honestly didn’t know what I wanted to do.”

After college, Yost became a restaurant manager, but quickly realized it wasn’t the career she wanted.

“I did not enjoy that job at all,” Yost said. “But I did enjoy when … I worked at an after-school program in college.”

After the realization she wanted to work with children, Yost headed back to school and got her Master’s of Education degree from Aurora University in 2010.

The same year, she secured her first teaching position as a French instructor at Gemini Middle School in Niles. Since then, Yost has taught at four schools, educating middle school-aged students in French, social studies, reading and math.

Yost now is in her 11th year teaching at Franklin Middle School in Wheaton, part of Wheaton-Warrenville Unit District 200, where she studied as a child. This year, she’s teaching math to sixth and eighth graders.

With her English as a Second Language endorsement, Yost is able to instruct students not well-versed in English. She also teaches a class of students experiencing their first time in the United States.

“Now, we have a couple from Ukraine, Russia, a lot of South America and Mexico,” Yost said. “They come from everywhere. It’s really fun … there’s just so many different cultures.”

Yost not only has educated international students in math, but has helped them gain a sense of belonging in the American school system.

“Amanda is an expert at reaching the needs of multilingual learners in math class,” said Melissa Murphy, assistant superintendent for educational services for District 200. “Visiting her classroom is a joy. You see math come alive, and students new to the United States talking about math and working collaboratively.”

Yost incorporates visual models and discussions to connect with her non-English-speaking students, as well as hands-on work, using pattern blocks and diagrams to solve fractions. Most importantly, she helps them frame their sentences and talks long problems out with them. Her “math talk” routine is key to the students’ understanding.

“It helps develop number sense, fluency, place value understanding and, at the same time, gets students to practice language skills like speaking and listening,” Yost said.

Even while instructing math, Yost finds herself teaching a lot of vocabulary. She communicates with her colleagues to find out what her students will be learning in their other classes to be able to teach them helpful words.

“I know they’re using the word ‘examine’ a lot this week, or ‘analyze’, so I’m going to use that in math so they can see how it connects through different subjects,” Yost said.

Though she doesn’t consider herself fluent in either anymore, Yost finds her French and Spanish knowledge helps her communicate with some students. She also finds herself learning from her own students.

“Sometimes they think about it a different way and solve it,” Yost said. “And I’m like, ‘oh, that’s cool, I’m going to use that next period.’”

Yost said she loves her career not just for its inclusion of cultures and expansion of knowledge, but for how much fun she has working with kids. She’s discovered her days as a teacher fly by, whereas her two years as a restaurant manager seemed to last decades.

“The day goes so fast. There’s never a time I’m bored,” Yost said. “I like watching (the students’) growth, how much they’ve improved, and just hopefully that they’re enjoying math more.”