To the Editor:
The May 23 article, 鈥�Three Ways to Build Student Confidence in Math,鈥� resonated deeply with on psychological safety and feedback in math classrooms. The article highlights formative assessments and student reflections as tools to gauge who needs help鈥攂ut I鈥檇 argue we must also ask: How do students experience help?
As an instructional coach, I worked with 4th and 5th grade math teachers who used poetry reflections after exit tickets (a short assessment at the end of a unit) to hear students鈥� perspectives. These daily poems disrupted the notion of math as neutral, surfacing students鈥� fears, longings, and identities. One student wrote, 鈥淚 want my teacher to pull me to the back table and help me.鈥� That line reshaped a teacher鈥檚 entire feedback strategy.
The poems revealed something powerful: Academic performance didn鈥檛 guarantee psychological safety. Even students who scored high on formative assessments expressed anxiety about making mistakes. Their poetry made clear that math identity is less about competence and more about feeling seen and safe in learning environments.
What made these reflections transformative wasn鈥檛 the poetry alone鈥攊t was the teachers鈥� commitment to respond. Each week, they analyzed the poems and adjusted their feedback practices to reflect what students said they needed. This reciprocal feedback loop鈥攕tudents write, teachers reflect and respond, students notice the change鈥攃reated classrooms rooted in listening, care, and belonging.
If we want to raise student confidence in math, we must go beyond identifying gaps in understanding. We must cultivate psychologically safe classrooms where students trust their teachers to help them learn鈥攁nd listen when they speak.
Rachel C. Cason
Special Education Instructional Coach
DC Scholars Public Charter School
Washington, D.C.
