Teaching What's in your Head

Well, another quarter has begun and with that comes more BLOGGING!!! This quarter, however, I am presented with the challenge of blogging about math. It was only a few months ago that I thought math, being my favorite subject, would be easy to learn, teach, and talk about. The last quarter has shown me otherwise. I spent two days a week for the last three months in a seventh grade math class at Eckstein Middle School. This experience, although very exciting and extremely educational for me, has shown me that being able to do math and having the ability to effectively teach math are extremely different! Talking about something that happens so obliviously in my head has shown to be a very taughnting task.

This first weeks class has helped me think about ways to make teaching math more engaging and meaningful for the students. One specific thing that our class discussed was the actual amount of math students should be responsible for. We discussed how much more effective one good question is versus repetitive practice on problems that pushes for no deeper thinking. In class, we spent a lot of time looking closely at only a couple of problems. These problems force us to think about not only the simple math within the problems, but also different strategies for solving and real life application. I found it very interesting how everyone looks at things in a unique way and sees such differences. In class we also looked at patterns. This made it very obvious that all of us notice different things within the same information. One question that came up for me throughout todays class was in regards to all students being listened to in small groups. How does a teacher be sure that all students are heard in a group, especially when a student has an incorrect answer? We have been talking a lot the past two quarters about the process versus the correct answer. I think it is important that students with the wrong answer are not over shadowed by the majority (which are usually the group of students who had reached the correct answer) because seeing all students thinking can teach everyone something, even the students who got the answer right.

When I get a classroom of mine, I will be sure to think critically about the quality of questions I ask versus the quantity. My main focus will be on getting the students to think more in depth about one question instead of drilling simple math thinking applications into them. I will also be paying close attention to groups, in math and in all subjects, and try to create a community where all students have a voice and can bring great material to a conversation even if they do not always get the right answer. I am eager to get in the classroom and try out these strategies, but am also looking forward to my next couple of weeks in my math class to gain a better appreciation for teaching math.