The beauty in math comes from its ability to be incorporated many times over into our everyday lives. It becomes so familiar to calculate commute times in the morning, compare prices in the grocery store, or strategize the best way to beat a level of Candy Crush, that the math becomes unrecognizable. But for many students, math has morphed into a dreaded topic that is a daily struggle in their lives. As a future elementary school teacher, my job will be to instill a love of math in my students, beginning with an acceptance and understanding of it.
The main barrier I have seen between students and math, through observations and my student teaching experience, is that students find it difficult to think meaningfully. They can follow and copy examples put on the board. They can follow steps dictated to them to solve a problem. Then, when they have to think and apply their knowledge, they stumble. For example, my second student teaching placement was in a fifth grade classroom where the students were learning about metric conversions in math. When the teacher reviewed problems on the board and called on random students to supply answers, almost every student demonstrated understanding. However, on assessments focusing on the same skills taught and reviewed by the teacher, most students failed. My thoughts about this occurrence and the many others like it, are the premise for my philosophy of teaching math.
The most beneficial way of teaching students to think meaningfully is to have them apply mathematical concepts and processes in meaningful contexts. Students should be moving around the classroom as they are learning different skills. They should be working together to find common solutions. They should be encouraged to try something, and if it doesn’t work, to try something else. After all, mathematics is about the discovery, more than the destination. I know from experience that the current Common Core Math Modules introduced in New York State require the use of daily worksheets, from the beginning of the lesson to the end. In my future classroom, I would love to manipulate this “worksheet” model as much as possible into different models of Cooperative learning, to encourage my students to work together before bringing their questions to me. They will have a deeper understanding of the information if they are challenged to answer each other’s questions. The students will have daily math stations to visit that target different problem solving skills. During the math stations, I will be working with small groups of students in order to differentiate the instruction, allowing me to target each student’s needs. Ideally, I would love to use a project based math curriculum, where students are required to work through application problems as small groups. They would need to work together and use problem solving skills to develop solutions. These projects would be based upon Inquiry models of teaching, where the students ultimately have little to no teacher guidance (once the teacher has taught and implemented the Inquiry model). This encourages the students to think meaningfully and work together towards a common goal.
Finally, math should be fun! Students should walk into the classroom each day eager to learn something new. They should want to be engaged in learning math and challenged to do their best. I equate this idea to teaching tricks to a puppy. If the puppy enjoys each training session without becoming and remaining frustrated, it will be more likely to learn the trick. If students enjoy the math they are learning and the teacher can address and relieve any frustration, the students will be more likely to retain the information. They will be more likely to like math.
The main barrier I have seen between students and math, through observations and my student teaching experience, is that students find it difficult to think meaningfully. They can follow and copy examples put on the board. They can follow steps dictated to them to solve a problem. Then, when they have to think and apply their knowledge, they stumble. For example, my second student teaching placement was in a fifth grade classroom where the students were learning about metric conversions in math. When the teacher reviewed problems on the board and called on random students to supply answers, almost every student demonstrated understanding. However, on assessments focusing on the same skills taught and reviewed by the teacher, most students failed. My thoughts about this occurrence and the many others like it, are the premise for my philosophy of teaching math.
The most beneficial way of teaching students to think meaningfully is to have them apply mathematical concepts and processes in meaningful contexts. Students should be moving around the classroom as they are learning different skills. They should be working together to find common solutions. They should be encouraged to try something, and if it doesn’t work, to try something else. After all, mathematics is about the discovery, more than the destination. I know from experience that the current Common Core Math Modules introduced in New York State require the use of daily worksheets, from the beginning of the lesson to the end. In my future classroom, I would love to manipulate this “worksheet” model as much as possible into different models of Cooperative learning, to encourage my students to work together before bringing their questions to me. They will have a deeper understanding of the information if they are challenged to answer each other’s questions. The students will have daily math stations to visit that target different problem solving skills. During the math stations, I will be working with small groups of students in order to differentiate the instruction, allowing me to target each student’s needs. Ideally, I would love to use a project based math curriculum, where students are required to work through application problems as small groups. They would need to work together and use problem solving skills to develop solutions. These projects would be based upon Inquiry models of teaching, where the students ultimately have little to no teacher guidance (once the teacher has taught and implemented the Inquiry model). This encourages the students to think meaningfully and work together towards a common goal.
Finally, math should be fun! Students should walk into the classroom each day eager to learn something new. They should want to be engaged in learning math and challenged to do their best. I equate this idea to teaching tricks to a puppy. If the puppy enjoys each training session without becoming and remaining frustrated, it will be more likely to learn the trick. If students enjoy the math they are learning and the teacher can address and relieve any frustration, the students will be more likely to retain the information. They will be more likely to like math.