Philosophy
of Teaching Mathematics
Mathematics is all around us. Every thing we do, we use math. Not everyone is aware of this though. As an educator, one of the most common questions heard during a math class is “when are we going to use this in real life?” The answer is, “always.” There is an infinite amount of things in the world that function because of mathematics. A big problem we have to solve in the classroom is getting students to understand just how much they use mathematics in their every day routines.
When teaching math, I think an effective strategy to use in the classroom is a hands-on method. Some students need to physically see how to do the math. Math is not a subject that should be taught fully through lectures. There are so many different ways to teach students math in a hands-on way. During my student teaching experience, we used many manipulatives to help students understand what they were learning. One of the students’ favorite things was Math Theater. During Math Theater, the math that the students were to learn was being acted out for them using either people, or little bears. This gave the students a chance to understand what the problem was and apply it to a real life situation. Plus it was fun!
When the students were starting to learn how to use a number line, we used a life-size number line to help them. The teacher would put a problem on the board. One student would be standing on the number line and jump so many spaces either up or down, depending on the equation. Each student was so excited to have a chance to jump across the timeline. Giving the students a chance to actually become a part of the math problem, gave them a chance to really understand what they were learning.
The process of getting students to enjoy, love, desire, and crave to learn is in the palm of the educator. The educator has the power to make learning fun and exciting, or dull and painful. The best way to solve the equation of getting students to love learning math is to add manipulatives and hands-on activities, subtract the boring lectures, and multiply the love of learning.
Mathematics is all around us. Every thing we do, we use math. Not everyone is aware of this though. As an educator, one of the most common questions heard during a math class is “when are we going to use this in real life?” The answer is, “always.” There is an infinite amount of things in the world that function because of mathematics. A big problem we have to solve in the classroom is getting students to understand just how much they use mathematics in their every day routines.
When teaching math, I think an effective strategy to use in the classroom is a hands-on method. Some students need to physically see how to do the math. Math is not a subject that should be taught fully through lectures. There are so many different ways to teach students math in a hands-on way. During my student teaching experience, we used many manipulatives to help students understand what they were learning. One of the students’ favorite things was Math Theater. During Math Theater, the math that the students were to learn was being acted out for them using either people, or little bears. This gave the students a chance to understand what the problem was and apply it to a real life situation. Plus it was fun!
When the students were starting to learn how to use a number line, we used a life-size number line to help them. The teacher would put a problem on the board. One student would be standing on the number line and jump so many spaces either up or down, depending on the equation. Each student was so excited to have a chance to jump across the timeline. Giving the students a chance to actually become a part of the math problem, gave them a chance to really understand what they were learning.
The process of getting students to enjoy, love, desire, and crave to learn is in the palm of the educator. The educator has the power to make learning fun and exciting, or dull and painful. The best way to solve the equation of getting students to love learning math is to add manipulatives and hands-on activities, subtract the boring lectures, and multiply the love of learning.