Math Teacher's Habits

Four habits of highly effective math teaching

If you were asked what the most important principles in mathematics teaching were, what would you say? I wasn't really asked, but I started thinking, and came up with these basic habits or principles that can keep your math teaching on the right track.

Habit 1: Let It Make Sense

Mathematics courses were and are still using the spiraling to teach, learn and achieve a concept as a complete big idea and this spiraling sometimes takes years to be accomplished.

Students are facing difficulties in mastering mathematics concepts due to the abstraction which characterizes them. So to make it easier for students to master these concepts, teachers should make learning these concepts as meaningful as possible and that can be done when relating these concepts to real life to make sense and motivate students effectively.

Habit 2: Remember the Goals

What are the goals of your math teaching? Are they...

• To finish the book by the end of school year?
• Make students pass the tests?

Or do you have goals such as:

• My student can add, simplify, and multiply fractions
• My student can divide by 10, 100, and 1000.

These are all just "sub goals". But what is the ultimate goal of learning school mathematics?

Consider these goals:

• Students need to be able to navigate their lives in this ever-so-complex modern world.
  
• Enable the students to understand information around us.
• Prepare the students for further studies in math and science.
• Teaching deductive reasoning.
• Let students see some beauty of mathematics. 

Our job, as teachers, is not to teach students the mathematics content as stated in books but it is our responsibility to teach them how to think critically and mathematically and to depend on logic and evaluation as well as creation when learning concepts and not only memorized facts and "sub goals".

Habit 3: Know Your Tools

Mathematics teacher's tools are numerous but the teacher is the one who is responsible for choosing the materials that help in class.

First of all of course the black or white board, or paper - something to write on, pencil, compass, protractor, ruler, eraser and the book the teacher is using.

Also we have computer software, animations and activities online, animated lessons and educational games.
There are workbooks, fun books, work texts and online texts.
Also there are measuring cups, scales, algebra tiles, games, and so on.

So to be good and effective teachers we have to seek for the appropriate materials that fit out learning targets and students so the tools bring effectiveness and motivation to achieve better results and have engaged learners managed in classes.

Habit 4: Living and Loving Math

You are the teacher. You show the way - also with your attitudes, your way of life.

And then: do you like math? Love it? Are you happy to teach it? Do you feel Enthusiastic?

To do what you love you have first to love what you are doing. So you have to love math and teach it through enthusiasm for your students also to be motivated and better achiever.

More for help http://www.homeschoolmath.net/teaching/teaching.php#1