# Mathematical Journaling in Action: Helping Students Think, Struggle and Explain Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/thinking-deeply-about-primary-education-3470150/mathematical-journaling-in-action-helping-students-think-struggle-and-explain Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/thinking-deeply-about-primary-education-3470150/mathematical-journaling-in-action-helping-students-think-struggle-and-explain.md Podcast: [Thinking Deeply about Primary Education](https://stenobird.com/podcast/thinking-deeply-about-primary-education-3470150) Published: 2026-05-23T04:00:00+00:00 Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/kieran-mackle/episodes/Mathematical-Journaling-in-Action-Helping-Students-Think--Struggle-and-Explain-e3jocek Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/45dcc8b0/podcast/play/120385428/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-4-22%2F424683651-44100-2-f003a03ba8df1.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/thinking-deeply-about-primary-education-3470150/episodes/mathematical-journaling-in-action-helping-students-think-struggle-and-explain Duration seconds: 2203 ## Resource Get your tickets for the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ TDaPE Conference Online⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For show notes, links, and a summary episode, sign up for the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Hey! What You Reading For ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ newsletter. Mondays at 7am BST - https://tdape.beehiiv.com/subscribe ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠AI For Teachers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ newsletter For maths curriculum questions contact us ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or via support@alta-education.com Learn more about ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Story of Maths⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - www.alta-education.com/tsom-overview and www.acel.pro Episode 289: In this episode of Thinking Deeply about Primary Education , I’m joined by Mark Bowen to explore mathematical journaling in action. Following on from a previous episode with Kirsten and Holly on mathematical journaling, Mark shares how he took the idea, adapted it for his own class, and developed a simple classroom structure built around three phases: download, investigate and communicate . We discuss how journaling can help students move beyond surface-level calculation, become more comfortable with struggle, draw on prior knowledge, experiment with different approaches, and explain their mathematical thinking with greater clarity. Mark also talks candidly about implementation: what worked, what did not, why he introduced a classroom character called Trev, how he used modelling and scaffolding to support students, and why he would slow the process down if he were starting again. This is a wonderfully practical episode about helping students become more active, reflective and confident mathematical thinkers. If you are interested in pr… ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/thinking-deeply-about-primary-education-3470150/episodes/mathematical-journaling-in-action-helping-students-think-struggle-and-explain/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/thinking-deeply-about-primary-education-3470150/mathematical-journaling-in-action-helping-students-think-struggle-and-explain.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.