Madison Nash, a 7th grade math teacher at Alan Shawn Feinstein Middle School of Coventry (RI), has been named the Open Up Resources Teacher of the Month for May 2025. Nash is being recognized for her outstanding work in her classroom and ongoing support of teachers across the country as a member of the Open Up Resources National Professional Learning Community.
Nash’s work with Open Up Resources 6–8 Math makes her one of the most innovative teachers in the country. The Open Up Resources 6–8 Math curriculum inspires a new way of teaching math by transforming classrooms into hives of activity focusing on discussion, questioning, debate, and the deeper conceptual learning of mathematics that follows.
Nicola Scheib, a colleague at Alan Shawn Feinstein Middle School, nominated Nash for her successful facilitation and implementation of Open Up Resources 6–8 Math. Scheib shared, “Maddy has truly embraced and works at strengthening her delivery of the Open Up Math curriculum, including instructional strategies, quiet think time and walking the line of conceptual understanding and procedural fluency. In Ms. Nash’s classroom, students are doing the math, working together, and she facilitates as needed. Students are encouraged to solve math with strategies that make sense to them and they are encouraged to share their thinking. Ms. Nash synthesizes the learning and supports the active engagement of all students.”
In her nomination, Scheib described Nash’s supportive classroom community: “Maddy’s classroom is a culturally vibrant place where students are encouraged to take risks through classroom norms (following Open Up’s instructional routines) and using ongoing formative assessments.”
Nash told us about one of her favorite lessons in the curriculum: “In 7th grade, we learn about the circumference and area of circles in Unit 3. In Lesson 8, students take circles and reconstruct one of them into a parallelogram to understand the area formula and its relationship to circumference. This lesson is one of my favorites because not only do we get to do a fun hands-on project, but the students’ reactions at the end of the activity fill me with so much joy. The ‘oh that’s why’ expression is heard all around the room because students are finding the connection between a formula and why it works.”
And she offered some advice to those considering the Open Up Resources 6–8 Math resource, “Taking the leap to do something new is always scary at first, but it is so worth it with this curriculum. With every unit and every lesson students are continuously building on previous skills and applying those to new situations. When you move on to the next unit, those skills from the previous don’t just stop. Plus, this curriculum makes math personal with characters and stories that are relatable to all students in my classroom.”
Open Up Resources is a non-profit publisher in pursuit of delivering the highest quality learning experiences for all students by providing educators best in class, research-based PreK–12 curricula and professional learning so they may support every student’s academic success and create in-class experiences that celebrate, honor, and empower all students. Learn more at www.openupresources.org.